OUR COTTAGE GARDENS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14899, 30 July 1910, Page 5

OUR COTTAGE GARDENS

HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY LECTURE. SOME USEFUL INFORMATION. "The Management af a Cottage Garden'' was the title of a very interesting Iccturc delivered under the auspices of. tho Horticultural Society on Tuesday evening by Mr A. Marshall. There was a largo attendance of members, and Sir James lteimio was chairman.

The Iccturcr fast statcil that ground was divided into such small allotments in Dunodin that'not much enort was required to keep a cottago garden; and building contractors, by their arrangement of tho grounds by filling up with everything fropj brickbats to tin cans, did not consioer tho gardening tendencies cf futuro tenants. He spoke of tho agreeable and healthful results that attend assiduous gardening, and said that the three things necessary for a fluid garden,' apart from tho plants themselves, were «oil, sunshine, and shelter -xind none of _these conditions could well be dispensed with. Long and patient preparation was necessary when a garden was proposed, in trenching, in manuring, and in studying tho chemical aspect of dealing with soil, lie considered picket fences odious, and commented on the beauty and general desirability of hedges. Tho" test protecting fonco wliilo u hedge >yas gvowing waa a post.and singlo-rail fwico with iincmssh netting. Ho advocated as hedges Lnglish holly, Por star's 01ca.ria, and the coprosma known in tho north as "tuapata." All required .frequent clipping, ujid stood cutting excellently. A nolly hedge ehoul<L be cue in January, When a frcan growth took placo. and gave a good appearand before winter.

11l regard to a flower savdaii, it was difficult to Avoid t.hc iippKir.incc of fonnu* lity; therefore it v>-a» anlviftablo to a.void miniature b;ds, box odgings, vocdon Btnkes and tallies?. .For dsad mils, lie recommended sudi climbers as Pyrus japoiuca, Forsythia suspMsa-, the, email and large towering clematis, rts?s Out kept their foliage ail the your. For suppoxta, bamboos were preferable, but any sticks with the bark left on would ret be noticeable amongst t-ho plants. For edgings, gives borders leaked well, and could easily bo kept in order. With cure, and by (Jig exclusion of rampant growers, a surprising! number awl variety of flowers coiiM l;o grown—daifcdiL; anil hyacinths, rosea and poppies, etc., etc. No .-.plant should l:o overcrowded—trader his rule, it was l:ct tho weaker tlrai went to tho wall, or wisnt over it. _ fin srojr, in his garden, about ICO varietic.-) of daffodil —a tower wh«'n hart attained to great otaifiaico during- the last 30' years, and was now an important feature of a spring garden. ! Ho udvecated the cultivation of the rose: Ji-a know of no flower -with such possibilities, awl in pcr-f-2t-t cultivation it possessed orciy quality which lovers of flowers could desire. Doap cultivation, .proper plan-tin™, aiKl judicious pruning were ebiofly what the rcse required. and they must not be overshadowed in any way by cc«ir3er-g-rowin'£ specimens. Clcorl blooms were most easdy obtained from the less double and -fins i;in;lc varieties.

One of- tho problems of the smalt garden was how to provide- a goodly succession of liowori for, sav, three-fourths of the Year.

"A very lino ofFeol can be prodcexl Jjy'confuring one's efforts to the making cf a pursly spring pwdcir. Most,-amateur gardeners, howorer, arc desirous of having a mora prolonged season of blcorn, aral those who eucccd in (tosug so in- a firstclass manner' require to spjwl much time and labour to accomplish . their object-. _ Fine displays can bo obtained by limiting 0110 bed 6? border or two kind; of flowers only. A long lira of yoliow aly-wam (sarcabile), fronted by phlox Nelsoni, giv-ss a. charming effect in tho early airing months. Another fino combination for the late summer nwnths';wßs a. border of fuchsias end asters, The mixed border, however, must always bs tho chiof feature of a oottage gairden, '<uwl some years back, before I 'became bo much of a iw, enthusiast, I devoted much more time and spaci to the cultivation cf g'ood herbaceous plants and annuals. With such tilings as fuchsias, East Lothian stocks, wallflowers, .sweet William, aavj such annuals as petunias, asters, coreopsis, and many mow, I was abb to produce a much finer summer display than I do irow. It meant tho raising of a. great-number of 'sscdlings on Jtctbeda, and was somewhat in the naturo of a task to keep eveiything going. t"H is a great mistake to plant huge shrubs and even forest trees in a umall garden, and an. even worse remedy to cut then* into round formal shapes, awl thus wholly destroy their natural form a,nd habit of growth. ' Shrubs cair ba pruned, but it is mora advisable, when this h necesswy, to remove one or more bnuichos wholly from tho tree. Thore arc two subjects which I kKstikc to see in a small gulden ; a, mocrocarp:i. hedge is one, and the other is tire common green ivy, which latter is best left to Nourish iir churchyards and on' ruins. Of satisfactory shrubs I can recommcnd flowering plums and cherries, ba.robccs, Japaureo raapltss, choisa, tornata. Ocrtoneaster frigida,, Brunus piw-mli, I'aara rnicrophvlla, and several varieties of Cydonia japcoica. Whatever is put irt should ba.allowcd to develop naturally. a.5 this constitutes the charm of the specimen. • " About one-quarter of tho section is' ! siven up to the fruit tress. Apples and pears do fairly well; plums do eo in o«a----sional years; apricots do not mature their fruit as well as tho peach dees; and limall fruils do best of all. For a, really line dessert plum Jefferson's Gage can be re-cosi-mahded. " If the amateur gardener looks for a solid ■recompense 110 part of the garden will so reward his labours aS the vegetable quarters. Personally, I ratbar begrudge tho time which their cultivation occupies, but ■ 1 contrivo to got a fair return 11W a rather limited area. Very careful planning is liepdcd to nHikc sine.of a consUiiis .-iu | cession. In order to secure a rotation of ! crops, my pcctica is to manure the ground liberally with rich ctmipast and plant caulifloweroosr s broccoli, following, say, with potatoes, and using chemical manures; then lo sow root crops; such as parsnips and carrots. Peas and bc.ius, onions and salads I'gro'.v anywhere I can got room for them, irrespective of any succession. Aftor many tiiiik, I find my own grown potatoes make t-lie best seed; they arc exposed until planting time m shallow trajs, ;md w'r.on wc-il 'sprouted only the bust sprouts are loft on them before setting thnui in the earth. Shallow planting and tho application .of basic slag and kainit as manures seem 'to givo tho best- results. To defeat the sparrows, cotton thread has to bo strung along the ordinary vegetable seed rows, Otherwise they would frequently stir the seeds out of place, especially in tlt-3 case of peas. Club rcoi is apt. to attack the cabb&#>, '■ tribe imheu the plants can be given nt-w ground each time of planting. Resting tho soil and' liming it seems to bs tho most effectual remedy. I spray or wash the fruit trees annually, chiefly to combat the' attacks of scale insects on the pear and apple, or shotholo fungus oil plums or apricots. In former years ray plants suffered greatly from the incursions of myriads of slugs, but latterly 1 have been able to banish them completely. If the ground is cleared of all leaves and refuse at -midwinter, and then thoroughly dusted with quicklime in a powdered state, the surface being hoed over at tho «ur,e time, these pests will disappear for a considerable period." . : Having replied to a number of ques- j tions, Mr Marshal! was very heartily; thacked for his paper. J