THE GARDEN

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12406, 27 March 1926, Page 19

THE GARDEN

SEASONABLE HINTS INTERESTING NOUS BY “RATA” JTIDY UP THE KITCHEN GARDEN Giro marrows and pumpkins a good watering with liquid manure. Burn , all garden refuse, ex--eept soft weeds—these are better dug in the bottom spit. IN THE FLOWER GARDEN Dig flower borders deeply, break up the bottom soil, and >vell manure the top spit. Plant the seeds of hardy an. huals. in boxes. - Repot maidenhair ferns. Take cuttings of hydrangeas, fuchsias, heliotrope, and gerani turns. HOEING IN THE KITCHEN GARDEN • All young crops cabbages, leeks, spinach, Brussels sprouts, and kale—--1 shodld be encouraged by, the soil being loosened with the Dutch hoe on eveyy far durable-- opportunity. JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. If cot yet done, cut back the stems of these to about three feet high. -This prevents the stems being bent or broken by the wind; and also helps the tubers-, to swell out.. SPINACH. This vegetable was sown a few weeks ago; and the plants will needthinning out to about nine inches apart in the rows. A dressing of soot will .be beneficial to the plants, and will Check slugs and snails. KIJEP THE KITCHEN GAR DEN .f. - ' CLEAN. . Just now kitchep■ gardens are beginning to present, a rather 1 bedraggled apptarancC, owing toythe presence of, weeds and the . dying-off of * various crape.. />- ‘ : Every effort should be made to weed the ' garden thoroughly and to burn the weeds together with other garden rubbish. It is especially important to deal with diseased potato foliage in this 'manner. The ashes should be. spreid on the garden whilst they aro (fry and dug in. |j CABBAGES. Seedling cabbages age- in cases ready to transplant to their permanent positions. They thrive best-in- - firm’' ground- That which has just - been cleared of onions is very suitable. A jjressing of soot or lime (not both) will render it sweet and friable, and if well hoed in no other treatment is necessary.

WOI*K IN THE FLOWER GARDEN

Sufimer is still lingering on, and a general tidy up now will have a pleaqibg effect during the.next few weekfc should 'the mild weather still prevail. Dead foliage flowers and weeds should be removed, while grass edges should be trimmed, and Walks freed.- from weeds. A-tie here and there, where necessary, will greatly tend to give the beds a tidy appearance.

SPRING FLOWERING PLANTS. As a ground work for bulbs there is much’’to be said in favour of using forget-me-nots, auhretea, alyssum, arabii; polyanthus, mosey phlox, etc., in beds and borders. Only about half the dumber of bulbs are required, and if heavy rains occur while tnese planfe are id’bloom the foliage presents to a considerable extent the splashing of the flowers, whilst the colour scheme can ha made very effective. FLpWERS FQR, DRY BANKS.. . Thef last‘d wo or three surpmers have been A testing* time far plants in the drier parts of the. cotratry, especially where s planted 'on dry and sunny banks. _lt is -not difficult to make such places, interesting and pretty if suitable flowers are planted after the removal of the deep rooted' weeds ' arid •stubbly growth of grass. It will add to tho beauty if the bank can be faced with rough stone, which, if tilted inwards, will turn the rain into the face of the bank. In the interstices of tfiese place young plants of helianthuiri, alyssum, iberis, nepeta, tufted pinks, erinus, hypericum, cerastium, and variegated thymus. GAY PLANTS FOR. THE BORDER. Herbaceous' pbloxs when well grown are amongst the'-most showy of hardy border plants, ' .especially when the newer kinds' ate grown* as there have been , marked improvements in * these flowers in late years. When , they are neglected, however, particularly during the dry weather, few occupants of the flower border look more miserable. They are unable to stand prolonged pefToas of dry weather without being ■watered, and although proper attention to other cultural details -will enable them to do better, watering thoroughly at frequent intervals is usually essential. Naturally they suffer less when planted in borders shaded from the sun. but the best results are al'"’riys obtained by planting in an open position in well prepared soil. Any. available materials can be dug in to augment the supply of manure when preparing the ground, such as leaf mould, decayed garden rubbish, etc.

K great mistake to leave perenyiial pnTox in the same positions year after year, as most of them form into hard clumps after tho first couple of

seasom. ■ The finest blooms are always produced on the smaller plants, therefore it is advisable to lift and divide the old plants in the autumn, ot early in the spring, replanting small outside portions in new soil, and discarding the worn-out centres. If the growths on young plants are reduced to not more than six. milch finer blooms will he obtained. ’ifFese growths treated as cuttings fom another method of propagation. Few hardy perennials respond so free!-- to the work of the cultivator in trenching the ground IV to 2ft deep. Failing a supply of decayed manure give the ground a dressing of superphosphate or basic slag. Almost any soil can ho made suitable for the growing of phlox. Some of the bast, varieties are “Elizabeth. Campbell,” light salmon shaded; “Iris,” bluish violet; “Pantheon,” deep pirife, white centre: “Wider,” rosy lavender; “Sheriff Ivory.” light pink, crimson eye; “Le Mnhrli,” violet blue; “Antonin Merrier,” mauve white eye.