HOME GARDEN

New Zealand Herald, Volume 80, Issue 24758, 4 December 1943, Page 4

HOME GARDEN

ATTEND TO ONIONS No#| THIN-OUT FRUIT CROPS 1 BY KEPOS Onions attacked by mildew should be dusted with sulphur occasionally while c the foliage is damp. Another urgent task in the vegetable garden is to thin out the seedlings ot carrots, beet, parsnips and turnips; this work gets best results if done when the soil i s moist. Firm in the seedlings that are retained anil then run the hoe between the rows. It is unwise to cut asparagus after the first week in December. The plants must be allowed to make top growth for the rest of the summer to strengthen the crowns for next season. Give a good topdressing of a compound fertiliser or liquid manure. Autumn-sown onions may be showing a tendency to go to seed in many places. The flower heads should be 1 picked off as soon as they are noticed. The seeding plants are Hot valueless, as some imagine. They will make useful bulbs, although they will not keep well. Similar remarks- apply to the flowering of shallots. So long as the' flower heads are picked off in sufficient time no great harm will result to the crop. Sowings of Beans Continue to plant autumn and winter greens whenever the weather is showery. Make successional sowings of irench and waxpod beans; it is also a good plan to make another sowing of peas, choosing a quick-maturing early variety. The celery should be planted at the first opportunity. This crop likes plenty of water and the trenches should be well, soaked before putting out the plants. Pick off and burn any leaves showing signs of the leaf miner. Make a sowing of swedes for winter use.

In the orchard the thinning of plums may need attention, but usually these trees manage to carry all the crop they set. It, is mainly with apples, pears, peaches and nectarines that thinning is necessary. A preliminary thinning of apples may be given, but do not forget that the natural summer drop occurs about December and the final thinning should be deferred until after this has taken place. Strawberries will be helped now by copious applications of liquid manure, following a soaking_ of water or after heavy rain. Grapevines will also take plenty of water alternated with liquid manure.

Pick off and burn all blistered or distorted leaves on peaches and nectarines. Keep the young canes of raspberries and loganberries tied up to their supports and remove surplus suckers between the rows. Flowers for Shady Borders In the flower garden many perennials can be raised from seed sown out-of-doors now. Violas, pansies, primroses and polyanthus should, for preference, be sown on a shady border. Patches of ground that have -become vacant in the borders can still be sown with hardy annuals. Sow thinly and evenly and thin out boldly when the seedlings come up. Make a sowing of iceland poppies in a shady, cool position for flowering during winter. Keep the newly-planted violet bed well supplied with water and spray the plants frequently overhead with water to keep down red spider.

As soon as the tuberous begonias are planted in the beds, mulch the surface with an inch of leafmould or finely-sifted compost to keep the roots cool. All shrubs and evergreens planted recently should be watched in case a few days of dry weather stops growth; water is essential.