The Garden.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1032, 11 December 1891, Page 27

The Garden.

WORK FOR THE MONTH. FLOWER GARDEN. Stake all plants requiring support. Peg ; down trailing plaDts. Pick off irregular shoots from plants in beds and borders. Should a failure occur in the beds, fill it up at once. Commence budding roses. Layer carnations and picotees. Pat in pipplnga or cntting3 of pinks, cuttings of pansies and chrysanthemums. <Take up bulbs as the leaves decay. Cut Off decaying flowers and fiower.stams from roses, pinks, &c. Plant out seedlings iu vacant places. Attend carefully to mulching, hoeing, watering. Clip hedges and edgings. GREENHOUSE. Camellias, heaths, and other hard-wooded plants, having completed their growth, should be placed outside in a sheltered situation. Re-pot balsams and cockscombs, giving them a rich compost. Fuchsias, geraniums, &c., must be carefully treated ; do not allow them to flag, or they will receive a check from whioh it will be difficult to reoover them. Ite-pot chrysanthemums, pinching them so as to obtain the form required. Gloxinias, gesnerias, and achlmenes will now be growing well. Put neat stakes to gesnerias, and achimenes. Tha latter make good basket plants ; for that purpose they should be allowed to fall over the side of the pots. Keep the house dean. Pick off every dead leaf and flower. Syringe freely, and shade effectually. FRUIT GARDEN. Remove suckers from raspberry beds. Strawberries now require frequent wateringsThin out the over-luxuriant growth in gooseberries, a 3 directed last month. Look over the grafts, if not already done, loosen the ties, and put stakes to them to keep them from being broken off by the wind. Pinch the laterals from vines carefully ; tie in the bearing shoots, and commence thinning the berries. The vine border will require liberal supplies of water. KITCHEN. Plant out broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and cabbage. Plant out maio crop of celery. The trenches should be abont 15 inches wide, and 4 feet from centre to centre. Dig in tha tranches a good dressing of rotten manure ; water well both before and after planting. In planting the young plants should be taken up with a small ball of earth to each ; pat the plants nine Inches apart. Shade them till thsy have established themselves. Plant out leeks. Top broad beans. Sow French beans, some early sort of peas, turnip, radish, lettuce, spinach, and musta’ d aud cress. Cut herbs for drying.