THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20964, 1 March 1930, Page 7

THE GARDEN.

£J_ TANNOCK, F.R.H.S^^^^*i’

THE WEEKIfB

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY.

Continue to pot on the first batch of cinerarias into their flowering pots or tins, and keep close for a few days until the roots begin.to penetrate the netv soil, shake out and repot the old conns of cyclamen, and pot c- box up bulbs -A various kinds for forcing. Prepare sod for putting in geranium and other cuttings. This will consist of loam one part, - leaf mould one part, and sand one part, which is a rather poor mixture, but we want the cuttings only to form their roots in it, and hen growth is desired they w'T 1 e potted or br- ed up in a richer mixture. Hoe through among the wallflowers and other spring flowering biennials, and give a dustin" of lime to keep away the slugs. Tomatoes and grapes will be ripening up satis factorily now, the weather having been most favourable during the past month. Give air whenever climatic conditions are favourable outside, and maintain a dry atmosphere. THE FLOWER GARDEN.

Continue to layer the carnations, to thin out the shoots, and to tie up the dahlias, and to stake ' and tie up all strong-growing herbaceous plants. Roses are_ developing their second crop quite satisfactorily; the flowers are not so large as the first ones, but the colour is better. Cut over the perennials which are past their best, and clear out all annuals and biennials as soon as they begin to go over. There is no need to hold on to things which are not gay and bright at this season, for there i* so much coming on, and we should maintain a good show.

Continue to plant out spring flowering bulbs and all such biennials as Canterbury bells, stocks, etc., which will income established before winter sets in and be ready to flower next season. Gladioli are making a fine display at present, and there is no doubt that .he introduction of the primulinus hybrids and their most beautiful art shades mis done much to popularise this valuable autumn flower. For a garden display and for exhibition; the large flowered kinds are the best,' hut for cutting for house decoration the primulinus are the most useful.

Monarda didyma (oswege tea or wild bergamot) is an attractive hardy perennial belonging to the mint family (labiateae), native of North America. The deep red flowers are borne in headlike whorls continuing for a long time in summer. It is a suitable plant for the mixed or herbaceous border, or for massing in the shrubbery. Very hardy, and easily propogated by division. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN. There is not much to do in the fruit garden at present, except to collect and store pears and apples as they ripen, and to keep the hush frujts and strawberries free of weeds and cultivated. This is a good time td prepare for new plantations of either strawberries or bush fruits; the soil is dry and easy to work, and it will be ready as soon as the weather conditions are favourable. Autumn planting is to be preferred to any other season, and the earlier the better. Continue to clear away spent crops, to earth "up celery, dig potatoes, and prepare. for autumn sowing and planting. Weather conditions are rather too dry yet for sowing anything except onions. THE LAWN. Most people like to have a lawn, no matter how small it may be, either as a setting for the home, a setting for the flower garden, or for such games as croquet or tennis. Some people think that because a number of our most troublesome weeds are grasses grass will grow quite well with scanty cultivation. Some kinds will, but the kinds we desire for a smooth, fine lawn require as' good cultivation as any kind of crop. When laying out a new garden the best method is to trench or double-dig the whole section, and then to take off a crop, of potatoes, or other vegetables which will be over in time to work up the ground and sow down in the autumn. When required for games, drainage of some kind is absolutely essential, and for an ordinary lawn it is an advantage. There are two sources of moisture, one from the rain which falls on the surface and soaks in, arid the other which comes down as aoakage from ground higher up. To tap the soakage it is essential to dig a dram along the top of the section or the top of the lawn, going down deep enough to reach the subsoil, and to lay an agricultural pipe in it, and then to render it more efficient to fill it up to neat the surface .with stones, brickbats, or scrub. Soil or turf can be put over the stone or scrub, and, as it will soon set:ie down a bit, forming a depression, it will catch the water which flows over the surface as well as that which soaks underneath. When a playing green is being laid down in a damp district it is _ really better to remove the surface soil to_ a depth of 6in to Din to lay pipe drains at intervals of 12ft, and then to put down a layer of six inches of rotten rock or ashes before returning the surface soil. This ensures good drainage at all times, which is must essential. Where the subsoil is reasonably porous, pipe drains at 12ft apart will be sufficient provided the subsoil lias been stirred up by proper or bastav 1 trenching.

Supposing that the site has been deeply cultivated and cropped with potatoes as suggested, these can now be dug, and the surface levelled over roughly. Mefct tramp all over the surface once or twice to consolidate it, for though we like it reasonably loose underneath it must be consolidated on the surface, and this is much better done by tramping than rolling. Rake the surface over to remove stcties and clods, and to make it reasonably level, and then pnt in level pegs at 10ft to 12ft apart all over it. Stretch wires on top of the pegs, and these will at once indicate where filling up is required, and where bumps have to be taken off, and by pulling a straightedged hoard over the wires the bumps are pulled down and the hollows filled up. The next consideration is the seed, and when there is only a small lawn t-i deal with it is bettor to obtain a lawn grass mixture' from a seedsman. This will consist of a proportion of fine grasses with ryegrass and small dover. or it may be without either rye w clover. Ryegrass has the advantage of coming away quickly and forming a thick sward the first year, whereas the fine grasses would take a year to make much of a show. I usually recommend perennial rye, for, though it is called p«r ennial, it dtfcs die out in time, and bv then the finer grasses are established and ready to take its place. For light soils or dry districts I recommend a iittle sucking clover. It forms a dense mat, and remains green when the grasses are burned up and quite brown. good mixture would consist of 51b perennial ryegrass, llb-Chewings’ fescue, 11b crested dogstail, lib poa pratensis, lib agrostis alba, ..'id Jib suckling clover. The amounts to sow would bo from loz to 2oz per square yard, and a simple calculation will give the quantity required for any given area. Grass seed is not very expensive, and it is much

better to sow too much than too little and to obtain ; a good sward quicklj Autumn sowing has many advantages over spring sowing. The soil is still warm in March or April, and germination will take place in from five to ten days, whereas spring-sown grass will take from 14 to 21 days. Birds are tot so hard on the seed in autumn as in spring; there are ever so many other seeds available at that season, and the quicker germination means less time in which to do damage. There are various devices for scaring away birds, but the best method is to scatter poisoned wheat all over. The birds take the wheat instead of the grass seed, with disastrous results to themselves, and the dead ones can be left lying about as a warning to others.

The usual method of sowing grass seed is to scatter it evenly over the surface on a calm day and to rake it in with a fine-toothed rake. In this way most of the seeds are covered, but a quantity perish and it is far better to screen some fine soil, to sow the seed, and then to cover it with the fine soil to a depth of about a quarter of an inch. In this way the seed is all covered to the same depth, it is protected from birds, and germination is even all over. After the covering soil has been scattered it can be spread evenly with the hack of a steel rake, but it should not be rolled'until germination takes place. When the grass is about two inches high it can he rolled with a light roller and mown with a sharp mower set rather high. The idea is simply to tip the plants, to cause them to spread instead of grow up with a single stem and try to flower, and to, prevent a stubbly growth like a hay paddock. As a rule autumn-sown grass doesn’t require any feeding until the spring, when it should receive a light top-dressing with line light soil or sea sand (if the soil is heavy), and a dusting of blood and bone manure at the rate of one ounce to the square yard. Old lawns which have been eaten out with grass grubs or are otherwise unsatisfactory can be renovated by raking up the surface with a steel rake, sowing grass seed at the rate already recommended, then,, covering it with a lopdressing of light sifted soil to cover the seed a quarter of an inch deep. Very often when sowing a new lawn where weeds of all kinds have been in uninterrupted possession for years, we get a thick germination of docks and other broad-leaved weeds, but these will soon disappear when we commence mowing. They , cannot stand having their leaves cut off at regular intervals, and they perish before they have an opportunity to form tap roots.

ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT. “A. B. C.,” Fendalton.—The correct time to divide up polyanthus prim- . roses is immediately after they have flowered in the spring. You can lift and plant- them out in their flowering position without dividing from March onwards. You can sow seeds of hardy annuals such as clarkias, godetias, candytuft, marigolds, larkspur, mignonette, and annual chrysanthemums, in positions in which they are to grow in March and April. Sweet Williams are perennials and they will flower quite well a second year if left undisturbed, though they are better when treated as biennials. Rose cuttings are better put in in May. Perennial phlox can be grown from seed but it is better sown in pots or boxes under glass. Marrows can be cut when ripe and stored in a cool, dry, airy shed. They can be hung up if desired. It is not necessary to lift carrots at all unless the ground is required for another crop. They can be lifted in May.