THE CARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20702, 27 April 1929, Page 7

THE CARDEN

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. Now that the chrysanthemums are housed it will he necessary to give them plenty of air and light, and to keep the atmosphere of the house as dry as possible. Tuberous begonias, gloxinias, and other tuberous plants which provided the display in the greenhouse durthe summer will now be past their best, but they must not be put on one side and negleete.d. If possible put the gloxinias in the warm house on a shelf where they can ripen off gradually and the begonias can be put in a frame if one is available, or along the front of the bed under the greenhouse stage where they won’t receive drips from the plants above, and will gradually dry up. Continue to put in the cuttings of pansies, violas, marguerites, and the herbaceous and alpine plants, and pot in calcelarias, pelargoniums, and primulas. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Continue to carry out alterations and the formation of new beds and borders while the weather is favourable and the soil is in good order; turn over the heap of leaves collected last year to assist rotting and collect and store away every leaf to provide the valuable and indispensable potting material for later on. Autumn flowers are lasting yell, and we do not like to remove them until they are really done, but bulbs and tubers can be planted in amongst them, and if the wallflowers are wrenched they will transplant quite well later on, even if they are beginning to show buds. Primrose polyanthus are most accommodating and they can be transplanted at any time, but as a rule they are used for edging beds. The edging plants, such as sweet alyssum and lobelia, are past their best and can be removed. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN. Continue the trenching and digging of all vacant ground, throwing it up roughly so tbit it may be exposed to the weather during the winter. Sow broad beans and peas and plant cabbages for the spring. Plant out fruit trees and bushes, and lift and store root crops, AUTUMN TINTED FOILAGE. A combination of autumn tinted shrubs and trees can be made quite a feature in the larger gardens, but the smaller ones may have to rely mainly on shrubs which do not grow too tall and can stand pruning quite well, 'Though there is still a wealth of bloom in the beds and borders, we welcome the autumn tints on the deciduous shrubs, they seem to tone so well with the weather conditions at this season and are so useful for associating with chrysanthemums for house decoration. I feel that for a small garden I must put the deciduous azaleas first, • They do not •_ tw top rapidly, and consequently remain a reasonable size for some years. The foliage, which turns to various shades ■*! red and yellow, is almost as bright as the flowers in the spring. They are very satisfactory when planted in beds by themselves, or they can be planted in shrubbery borders either as single specimens or in groups of three or five. It docs not do to cuf. the foliage, however, for the buds are already developed on the ends of the stems and the spring flowering would suffer. The amelanehiers, however, can he cut without in any way destroying their beauty and the thin shoots bearing red and yellow leaves are very useful for ■associating with autumn flowers. The various .varieties of A. Canadensis vary a bit, but all are excellent shrubs which sucker readily and by this means they are easily propagated. The various types of rhus (sumach) are all famous for their bright, autumn foliage. _ Rhus copallina (Dwarf Sumach) is a deciduous shrub rarely more than four feet high, though it does grow to the dimensions of a small tree in Eastern North America, its native place. Rhus cotonoides (Chittam wood), is a deciduous shrub or small tree native of south-eastern United States. Its inflorescence is inferior in beauty to R. cotinus, but is one of the loveliest of shrubs in the autumn, its leaves turning to various shades of scarlet, claret and orange before they fall. R. Cotinus (Smoke Bush) is a deciduous shrub up to 10 with a spreading, branching habit. Its inflorescences are loose terminal much branched panicles, many of thread-like final ramifications bearin'" silky hairs which give it the appearance of smoke. The variety atropurpurea has purple leaves which also change in the autumn. R, glabra (Smooth Sumach) is a deciduous shrub four feet to six feet with smooth leaves and branches. The foliage turns a _ bright, rich red and the fruits which are produced in a dense panicle, and are covered with soft, crimson hairs, remain on the plant after the leaves have fallen. Var, Laciniata is one of the handsomest of hardy foliage plants, and it attains its greatest beauty when cut hard back to the ground in spring and one or two shoots allowed to grow. Its broad, feathery leaves are often three feet long and are very striking in their autumn colour. _R. Typhina (Stags-horn buinach) is a small flat-topped tree with thick and very pithy branches, covered with dense reddish hairs. Its fruits, which are borne in dense panicles, are covered with crimson hairs and its leaves change to rich shades of orange, red and purple. When cut hard back in spring, and the young shoots reduced to two or three it produces leaves Up to throe fee! long. There is a variety laciniata with handsomely cut leaves. Enkianthus japonicus is a small branching shrub growing to a height of three to five feet. The leaves, which are clustered at the ends of the twigs, turn beautiful tints in the autumn. Ribes aureum (Yellow Flowering Currant) is an easy shrub to grow, and its beautiful tinted foliage is splendid for cutting. Viburnum Opulus (the snowball shrub) is beautiful in the early summer and again decorative in the autumn, its strong shoots being specially suitable for harvest thanksgiving decorations. The various dogwoods ”{Cormis sanguinea and Cormis alba) are very ornamental at present, and as they have to be cut hard back in any case to cause them to make strong youn" growths there is no hardship in cutting them in the autumn to provide foliage for associating with chrysanthemums and other autumn flowers. The common spindle tree is usually grown for its peculiar decorative fruit, but its pale green leaves turn purplish red in the autumn. Euonymus alatus is a deciduous shrub with a stiff habit, square stems when young, but afterwards developing into conspicuous thir corky wings. The dying leaves turn a rich, rosy scarlet. The modern berberis are remarkable for their ornamental fruits, but a few of the deciduous kinds have also beautiful autumn tints. B, Thunbergii is a very dwarf shrub suitable tor the back of the rock garden. B, vulgaris and B. aristata are also beautiful in the autumn. Cotoneaster horizontalis is a neat prostrate shrub with bright red berries and .ater equally bright red leaves, C. bullata is a stronger grower, also with bright red berries and autumn tints. Other shrubs with autumn tints are Vaccinum corym-

y WORK FOR THE WEEK; NOTES BY tannock, f.r.h.s;^

bosum, Oxydendron arhoreum, Stephanandra Tanake, Weigelia rosea, Spiraea Thunbergii and S. prunifolia, and Symplioricarpus racemosus. PRUNING RAMBLER ROSES. Rambler roses usually flower well for a few years and then gradually go off as they become old and stunted. There is no need for this, for properly pruned and well fed ramblers will remain vigorous and healthy for years and flower well. We should remember that they flower on the young wood made during the past year, and if possible all the old stems should be cut away and nothing but new ones left to carry on. This is quite possible where they are trained on low rustic fences or hand rails; but when growing over arches or pergolas it would be impossible to get young growths from the base of the plants to meet over the tops of these. Ramblers growing on rustic arches often become choked with old dead leaves and rubbish, and when in this state it is. better to cut tbein hard back even if we* have to sacrifice portion of a crop for one year. Rustic fences do not last for ever; it is better to take advantage of the pruning season to renew or repair them, placing fresh posts where they are required. If good lasting posts of larch or macrocarpa are not to be had,, it is better to put in a base of jarrah or black pine and to bolt the rustic post, which can be manuka or any other suitable timber. Timber which would rot away in a short time in the ground will last for years out of it. Whether a lasting timber or not, it Is an advantage to tar the posts to about a fo<jt above the ground. Having made the pergolas, fencqs, poles, or other supports secure for another year, and out out the old steins which flowered last year, the most sui table of the young shoots should 'be selected and the others cut out. Three shoots will be enough for a pillar, *(nd two in each direction for a rail. When trained on a fence It is better to adapt the fan-shaped method, and to aljow about 12 to 18 inches between each shjaot, the longer ones being selected for the outside, for they will have the furthest to go to reach the top. When training over a pergola where it is impossible to get sufficiently long new shoots, young shoots which arise near the top of the old Stem can be tied in to furnish the top bar, and others which arise at intervals down the stem also tied in to furnish the upright; or the young shoots can be spurred hack to within two inches of the old wood. Suds on these short pieces of young wood will produce, young growths which will flower quite well. It is important tjo tic the stems securely to their supports with twine, which will last a year at least. Various types of tarred string aue the best, and strips of green flax the* least suitable. After pruning remove same of the surface soil from round the stems of the ramblers, and give a good mulching with well-rotted farmyard manure, covering this over with a few inches of clean soil. If farmyard maepnre is not available give a good dustirj g with bone meal and fork it into the surface soil, and this will be followed with a dressing of blood and bone manure as soon as growth starts in the spring. As soon as the ramblers are Bruned a start can be made with the climbers, and as these are mainly strong-growing varieties of the bush kinds thtfir treatment is a combination of bjish and rambler. Some of the young growths are tied in almost their full length, and others are spurred back to two or three inches.

until a sufficient stock has been obtained, so that experiments may be conducted outdoors without the likelihood of losing tb*e species entirely. liiiiuma which produce bulbils in abundance, such as the tigrinums and Sargeutiaj, are easily -raised without troubling to save seed and rear It. The bulbils are sown as soon as they are removed from the stems in autumn.