THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19276, 13 September 1924, Page 3

THE GARDEN.

WORK FOR THE WEEK,

NOTES BY D. TANNOCK, F.R.H.S.

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. Continue to prick out sendings of halflard v annuals as they become large enough to handle. Place those which are well established out. into the cool house, giving them more light to sturdy growth, and make the last sowings of kinds which come on quickly. Geraniums can now be placed out in the coU]j frames to be gradually hardened oft and chrysanthemums for bedding out can be placed outside altogether. Dahlias should be brought into heat at once, and tuberous begonias can also be brought from their resting place, -watered and stood in the warm house. Watering has to tie done very carefully at first, one good soaking and sprinklings afterwards will be quite sufficient until growth commences and roots arc formed. The primulas, cinerarias, and cyclamen will be about their best just now, and any varieties which it is desired to perpetuate should be pollennted to secure seed. The colours and types all come very true from seed and local saved seed is always fresher, it germinates Better, and the plants are stronger and healthier. 1 Chrysanthemum cuttings which were put in early should be well rooted now and ready to be potted up into Sin pots. Use a good potting mixture composed of turfy loam, leaf mould and a little sand with a sprinkling of bone meal, and after potting shade for a few days until the roots have an opportunity to take to the new soil. THE FLOWER GARDEN. The present is a very busy time in the flower garden, all alterations and improvements should be completed as soon as possible so .that it may be neat and tidy for the spring display. Edge beds and borders, scuffle hoe and break up all soil among the roses, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, top-dress, roll and mow lawns, and complete the planting, of roses and shrubs before the' end of the present month. After the first cutting the lawns can be put in order if, this necessary. First all hollows and depressions should be removed by lifting the turf, filling in to the level with good soil and making it firm before returning the turf,, which should be beaten well down with the spade. Next weed out all daisies, plaintains, or other weeds, scratch up the surface with a steel rake or other scarifier, give a dressing of bone meal at the rate of 251 b to a tenth of an aero, and sulphate of ammonia or nitrate of soda at the rate of 51b to the same ' area, then sow a little grass seed on the bare and thin patches, then top-dress with some clean fine soil and rub it in with the hack of the rake. If it is not considered advisable to dig out the daisies, they can be destroyed with lawn sand or by dropping a little sulphate of ammonltf on them, and plaintains and docks can be killed by sqirting a little weedkiller into their hearts with a small oil can. The rock garden is fast becoming interesting, keep it weeded and cleaned and examine' the mat plants from time to time for slugs. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN. Continue to plant potatoes, to get in the earlier varieties of vegetable seeds, and to get the soil broken down and into good condition for further planting. Cultivate among fruit trees and bushes complete the spraying and planting, and mulch rhubarb if this has not already been done HARDY ANNUALS. A hardy annual is a plant which can pass through all its stages from the germination of the seeds to the (lowering ripening of seed in one season and entirely in the open air. A half-hardy apnual is one which has to be raised in heat, grown on until all danger of frost is over, and then planted out in the garden where it will complete its existence by the autumn or winter. Hardy annuals are excellent for providing a summer display—they are cheap, and, being perfectly hardy, are su.re to provide an excellent display, no matter what kind of season we may have. By planning well ahead we can have annuals in flower nearly all the year round, though it may mean several sowings. Those sown in the autumn will flower in the spring, those sown in early spring in the summer, and those in the late spring will continue to flower right on into winter. The position for annuals should ho an open,' sunny one, fully exposed to the sun, and though the soil should not lie enriched with too much forcing manure (which will encourage a growth of stem and leaf at the expense of the flowers), it should not bo poor. Th«v arc very suitable for ribbon borders, for mixed borders by themselves when grown in large irregular groups, for carpeting dahlias, gladiolas. and other tall-growing plants, for growing in patches in the mixed' or herbaceo'is border and for following on the daffodils and other spring flowering bulbs. Where the borders were trenched or dug during the winter the position* in which the annuals are to be sown should be forked up ami all lumps broken, care being taken to retain the soil which has been reduced to a fine tilth through the, influence of the frost on top. With the rake make the surface level and fine, removing all stones and clods, and if the soil is not very rich work in a liberal dressing of bone meal of basic superphosphate. Though the surrounding soil can be used for covering,' it is much better to have some prepared. Any good clean garden loam will do if passed through a half-inch sieve and mixed with an equal amount of old potting soil of half its hulk of loafmould. This can he mixed and kept under cover, which is a great advantage in a wet season. Mark out the outline of the patch with the handle of the rake, sow the seed thinly, press it into the soil with the head of the rake, then cover with the prepared soil just sufficient to burv the seed and no more, then firm with the rake or the back of the spade. The covering should be no more than is necessary to retain sufficient moisture round (he seeds to secure germination, and a few nieces of twiggy branches laid on (op of the patches will help to retain the moisture in the soil and protect (he seeds from I have often sta+ed that a plant with a name is ever so much more interesting than one without, and a label should be placed at each group on which is written the name of the variety and (he date of sowing. As soon as the seedlings appear on the surface the covering of scrub should bo removed, and os soon ns fhey are large enough to handle a preliminary thinning should be given even though they have to be removed in little patches. Later cm the final thinning

should bo given and thitf should be rather drastic. I think I arn safe in saying that most annuals are spoiled through insufficient thinning. There is no room for the development of side branches. The plants become long and spindly, and when the terminal flowers, which are all that have room to develop, are over, the display is finished and over for the season. Dwarf kinds should have from 4in to 6in, and the taller kinds from 9in to 12in. Another simple method of sowing is to make a mark about a half or an inch in depth with the rim of a 6in pot, and sow the seeds in it, covering and firming as already described. Tor ribbon borders the drills are drawn with a hoe about half an inch in depth, the seeds sown thinly and covered as described for vegetable sowing. The following is a fairlv complete list of hardy annuals suitable for sowing at the present time Acrolinum roseum, Alonsoa Marsce wiczicompasta, and A. Mutisi; Alyssum minimum and A. T ittle Dorritt, A triplex hortensis rubra. Bartonia suren, Calendula officinalis, Scotch marigold, candytuft, white spiral, and various colours, cornflower blue and white, Clarkia elegans, salmon-scarlet, double salmon, and double pink, Collinssa bicolor, Chrysanthemum carin’atum and star varieties. Dimorphotheca nurantica, Eschscholtzia californica (various varieties), Godetia (tall double and dwarf double in many pretty shades), Gypsophila elegans, larkspur (stock-flowered and tall branching), Lavatcra trimestris and L. loveliness, Linaria crimson and gold, Leptosyno stillmanii, Limanthus Douglasii, lupins (various annual varieties) love-lies-bleeding. Ma.lopo moschata, Mathiola bicornis, night scented stock, mignonette (giant white, giant red, and machet), nasturtium ((all and dwarf). Micella Miss Jekyl, Nemophila insignis, Phacolia campanularis, Poppy Shirley (and the following varieties —urnbrosum. pavioninm. and glancnm), Portulaca, Saponaria calabrica, Sweet Sultan, Prachycomo iberidifolia (Swan River Daisy), Virginian stock, Viscaria, Pink Beauty. Twelve good annuals are Shirley Popov, Mignonette Machet, Godetia (double mauve), Clarkia (double salmon), candytuft White Spiral, night-scented stock, larkspur stock flowered, Neigellia Miss Jekyl, Calendula officinalis, Lavater’s loveliness, Nemophita insignis, cornflower.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “M. Y.Heriot. —Practically all the rhododendrons which grow' in Dunedin would stand 13 degrees of frost, but you would probably be better to rely on the ponticum hybrids rather than on tnc Himalayan kinds. The following would bo suitable Alarm, centre white edged with scarlet; Blandyanum, reddish crimson: Doncaster, brilliant scarlet; Gomer Waterer, blush; Michael Waterer, rosy scarlet,; Mrs E. C. Stirling, blush pink; The Warrior, scarlet. You could also try Pink Pearl and White Pearl. Shrubs for the sunny side of your lawn would be Forsythia suspense, Diervilla rosea, Berberis Wilsonse, Duddeia variabalis, Cydonia japonica, Daphne, mezereum, Escallonia Langleyensis, Magnolia oonspicua, Philadelphus avalanche. Spiraea pruniflolia, Syringia Mare i,egrayo. "Milton.”— I The host time to prune rhododendron is immediately after flowering, and if cut hard back they will soon shoot away again. It is more than likely they will miss flowering for a season. If it. is because they are deteriorating that you want to prune them it would be better to cultivate up the ground round them, give them a good watering if they need it, and then a liberal mulching with well-rotted stable or cow manure. It is probable that tho past dry season is the cause of the trouble.