THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19045, 15 December 1923, Page 3

THE GARDEN.

NOTES BY D. TANNOCK, F.R.H.S. WORE FOE TEE WEEK. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. The seedlings of such greenhouse annuals as primulas and cinerarias should be pricked out into boxes of nice light soil as soon as they are large enough to handle, and they must be kept in the coolest part of the propagating house until they are established in their new soil. The most difficult thing in growing greenhouse annuals, to flower next winter and spring, is to keep them cool, and“ to maintain a steady growth throughout the summer. They do not require artificial heat at any time, and must not be coddled Or kept in a close, stuhy atmosphere. They are really most satisfactory in a cool pit or frame, shaded during hot sunshine and open to the weather whenever it is at all favourable. The potting of the chrysanthemums will now be 'in full swing, and it is well to remember a few of the rules which have to be observed. In the first place the pots should be clean. Plenty of crocks are also necessary to ensure good drainage, for quite a lot of water has to pass through the pots before next autumn. On top of the erodes place some of the turfy loam and then a little of the potting soil, which has to be made firm before the plant is put in. Next lip the plant cut of the pot, remove the crocks and a 5 much of the surface soil as possible without damaging the roots, place it in the middle of the pot, and with the left hand put the soil in evenly all round, ramming it firm with the potting stick, and finish even and level about an inch below the rirn of the pot. Single varieties or those grown for cut flowers can be grown quiie satisfactorily in tins. First make some cuts in the bottom of the tin and rpund the side near the bottom to provide an ' outlet for the surplus water, put in at least two inches of crocks for drainage, and then about two inches of potting soil. Three plants can be grown quite satisfactorily in each tin. but the soil need not come to within an inch of the, top. About 2in above the old ball of soil will do, and a top-dressing' can he added later on. As soon as the pelargoniums begin to go off they can be removed to a sunny place outside, and water gradually withdrawn, to ripen up the w-ood to provide good cuttings later on; but the process must bn gradual or the wood will become thin and hard, and refuse to root. Yine borders, whether outside or in, willrequire watering during very dry weather, but this must be done thoroughly once or twice, care being taken to see that the water goes right through. To merely damp the surface is worse than useless, and to water unnecessarily cools the soil too much and checks the growth and the development of the berries. Tomatoes, too, have to be watered with great care, and a dry, buoyant atmosphere maintained in the house. Those intended for open-air cultivation will now be showing their first bunch of flowers, and they can be planted out in a warm, sheltered position. Provide a stake or some other means of support at once and shelter with a few pieces of scrub for a day or two. THE FLOWER GARDEN. The first crop of roses is still hanging on and the second one is developing steadily. Continue to disbud and feed, to pick off old blooms, and to keep the surface soil stirred up. . Carnations are also coming on rapidly, and to get fine blooms these should be disbudden to one on each shoot, but we do not consider disbudding carnations so necessary as disbudding roses. Seedlings are turning out a poor lot with us, and there arc very few worth layering; still, even the singles are useful for house decoration. Delphiniums were doing very well this year, and some of the newer seedlings are sendin- up splendid spikes. The Belladonna typo is quite good for cut flowers, but the tall growing kinds are most effective in the garden. By cutting the flower stems over after flowering they will make a second growth and flower again in the autumn Continue to stake all herbaceous plants which require support; feed phlox, Michaelmas daisies, and delphiniums, and keep the surface soil stirred and cultivated. It is considered quite a good time to lift, divide up and replant the bearded iris immediately after they flower; then they have time to become established before the winter, and are ready to flower in the spring. They like a well-drained soil, not too rich, and must have lime, which can bo added in the form of basic slag or basic superphosphate when preparing the soil for planting, or a little powdered lime can be added after planting, and worked in. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. It will be desirable to take advantage of the welcome rains to get on with the planting of the winter preens such as cabbage, savoys, leeks, broccoli, and curly kale. The ground will now break up with ease, and it should be made as fine as possible, for rough soil is a fine shelter for slugs, and drying winds get into the roots of the plants. There is a great difference between a loose, fine, cultivated surface and a rough, lumpy one. . . With the hoe draw a drill about 4in in depth anti in this plant out with either a dibhler or a trowel, taking care to make a hole largo enough to allow the roots to got in without breaking nr twisting them, and to place them straight down. Press the soil firmly against them, and give one good watering to settle the soil and to wash the fine particles in among the fibrous roots. Should the weather continue warm and sunny shade for a few days at first with a few piooes of green branches, but don t cover with inverted pots or tins. Beeks aro a very useful vegetable, quite hardy in all districts and most acceptable in spring and early summer. To get largo

show specimens it is necessary to. sow the seed early, in heat, to prick out the seedlings, treating thetn like half-hardy annuals, and when hardened off to plant them in trenches which have been heavily manured with stable manure. Keep growing by giving frequent applications of water and liquid manure, and as they grow blanch the stems by binding them round with brown paper collars, which are drawn up as growth proceeds and the soil filled in from time to time Very useful leeks can be grown with less trouble, and after drawing the trench as advised for cabbage and broccoli holes can be made with a dibblor at a distance of 6Tn to 9m apart and a depth of about 6in. Gift the leek plants, trim off a few of the tips of the leaves and the tips of the roots, and drop one into each hole. Give a good watering, which will wash down sufficient soil to cover the roots and soil will trickle in from time to time until the hole is filled up. Later on they can also receive applications of liquid manure and clean water if the season is dry. The trench can be filled up as growth proceeds, and in time the soil can be drawn round them to encourage an upward growth and to blanch the stem. Seeds of silver beet can be sown now either where they are to grow if there is any space available or in a seed bed and afterwards planted out when the early potatoes have been dug. This is a very useful vegetable when spring cabbages become scarce and for growing on soil too badly infested by club root to admit of their successful cultivation. Make sowings and plantings of lettuce, radish, spinach, etc., earth up growing crops, stick peas and beans, and keep the surface soil cultivated. I should have mentioned that if there is no space available for winter greens, and the early potatoes are not dug, that they can be planted in among them, the foliage being Kept back from smothering the cabbage, etc., by means of strings stretched along the rows, with supporting stakes at intervals. Broad beans are now flowering well and some are setting pods. It is not advisable to expect all the flowers to develop into pods; in fact, they won’t, so it is better to pinch out the tops of the stems when they have set five bunches of pods, and in this way we got rid of the black fly which so often attacks the growing tips of beans. Black and red currants will have to be protected in some way from the ravages of small birds, and this can be done very easily by surrounding them with fine mesh wire netting ..and stretching old fish nets over the top. ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “Seaside.”—Your Michaelmas daisies are attacked by mildew, a very common disease this season on the young shoots of apples. Spraying with Blackloal 40 won’t do any good, but either lime sulphur or Bordeaux mixture will be effective in checking ii Michaelmas daisies should be grown m an open sunny position. The shoots should be thinned out and then staked out to give the buds on the sides of the stems room to develop. “L. A.”—-Slugs are not so troublesome in most gardens this year; they don’t like dry. dusty soil. One very effective method of keeping them in check is to have your soil in a fine state of cultivation When the soil is rough and lumpy the slugs bide under these lumps during the day and come out ai night to cat up anything they can got. The best remedy is newly-slacked lime, which should be dusted round and among your young plants, and renewed after every shower. Dusting at night is most effective.