THE GARDEN

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12075, 28 February 1925, Page 13

THE GARDEN

NOTES BY “RATA” WHAT TO DO JUST NOW IN THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Sow silver beet and onions. Plant broccoli, savoys, leeks, and celery. Place all soft weeds on the compost heap, and sprinkle them freely with lime. IN THE FLOWER GARDEN. Sow wallflowers, mignonette, and stocks. Put up freesia bulbs. Take cuttings of bedding plants. Give dahlias plenty of water.

THE VEGETABLES ASPARAGUS BEDS Encourage as much growth as possible, and feed the plants with some artificial manure. Clay’s fertiliser is suitable, sprinkled over the beds and well watered in. Keep the beds free from weeds, and secure the tall growths to stakes, to prevent them being broken by high winds. AUTUMN SOWINGS The time is now at hand for sowing onion seed. The methods differ according to the size of the bulbs desired. For medium sized onions the seed should be sown where the -crop is to ripen, and White Lisbon is the best variety. It is mild flavoured, and a useful size. To grow large onions for exhibition, purposes, it is best to sow the seed thinly in specially prepared beds, where they will stand the winter, and be ready for transplanting out early in September into rich ground in rows twelve inches apart and ten inches between each plant. The varieties most suitable for "the latter purpose are Tripoli, Giant Rocca, and Ailsa mended is Carter’s Autumn Queen; it mended is Carter’s Autumn Queen, it grows to a large size, is of nice appearance, and very solid. TOMATOES

Attention must be paid to plants growing outside, and all the laterals must be regularly removed, and where the foliage is very dense a little may be cut away gradually to admit the sun to the fruit. Water the plants freely, and give liquid manure weekly. VEGETABLE SEEDLINGS Spinach, turnips, silver beet, and cabbage seedlings are now coming on rapidly, and to induce healthy growth the hoe should be kept going between the rows. xl the spinach and turnips have been sown thickly they should be thinned out at once, or weak spindly plants will result. A sowing of lettuce should be made now. Hercules is one of the best varieties to stand the winter, MARROWS AND PUMPKINS To promote a good supply of marrows and pumpkins, it is essential that the plants should have a liberal amount of liquid manure; this, combined with careful stopping of the tips of the vines, will increase the size of the fruits considerably. Nitrate of soda is the most beneficial fertiliser. ( USE THE HOE Every effort should be made at this time of the year especially to keep down the weeds. If they are left, to mature, much trouble will follow in the spring. The ' Dutch hoe, used frequently, is most effective in destroying them. Care must be taken amongst the rows of parsnips, turnips, and carrots not to cut or damage the roots. HEDGES The clipping of hedges is a matter of great importance. The top of the hedge must be kept narrower than the base, otherwise the lower part will become bare. In ouick-growing hedges clipping must be done every few weeks during the summer. This time of the year is best to plant evergreens for a hedge. Barberries and lucerne are two of the best. IN THE FLOWER CARDEN BEGONIAS Begonias in pots and baskets should now be at their best, but ns the plants have filled the receptacles with roots, feeding must be undertaken. To preserve the colour and the health of the foliage applications of liquid manure, twice weekly, are of great value. THE ROCKERY The rockery is apt to be neglected at this season of the year, when so much other work is necessary, and weeds obtain a footing. As soon as opportunity offers, overhaul the structure, and tidy it up generallv. Some of the plants ripen seeds freely, and if these are permitted to remain on the plants will most probably ’ cause a lot of trouble another year. Some of the more robust growers often crowd out their weaker neighbours if not trimmed back at intervals.

BULBS Plant bulbs of the Madonna lily and. such early-flowering spring bulbs as crocus, tulips, snowdrops, and ranunculus. The soil best adapted for the successful cultivation of bulbs is of a light loamy nature, moderately deep and well enriched with old manure. If the bulbs have been lifted as soon as the foliage died down, the ground should have been well worked m the interval. This is sometimes impossible, owing to the ground being occupied by other plants; but an endeavour should be made to move them every third year, when the clumps can be separated and replanted. Care should be taken to replant them before any root action was started. FREESIAS Freesias are general favourites on account of their sweet perfume. They do well both in the garden and also as pot plants. A tew planted in pots now will flower about July. Plant the bulbs lin deep and Uin apart. When growth is well advanced water freely until they come into bloom. The old-fashioned cream variety is the most fragrant. LILIUM AURATUMS These handsome bulbs are now in full bloom, and are general favourites with many gardeners, as their lovely blooms add considerably to the beauty of the garden. They thrive best when undisturbed for three or four years, or even longer than that, and the quality and number of flowers will increase proportionately. They are propagated by off-sets, which they yield every year. These may bo removed, ■ when the bulb is dormant, by carefully moving the soil from around the bulb with a blunt tool, so as not to disturb tbo roots, and the off-sets can be quite easily taken off tlie parent tuber, with the thumb and finger, and planted in beds a foot apart, there to remain a year or so until required in the flower garden. ’ ■ CUTTINGS Take cuttings of viola, pentstemon, pansies, and geraniums; of the latter, the ripe, hard shoots make the best plants. Fuchsias, verbenas, petunias, and pentstemon, on the other hand, strike hotter from points of young growing shoots.