THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21022, 10 May 1930, Page 7

THE GARDEN

THE

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. " Celandine,” Mandeville.—The name of the specimens are—:the one with the narrow leaves, yew, and the one with the broad yeaves, myrtle. - J. P., Roxburgh,—You could poison your poplars with sulphuric acid. Boro holes in the main roots, and fill with the acid. Commercial weed killer can . .also be used. “ Amateur,” Timaru.—Pink pearl is one of the quickest growing of the good rhododendrons, and better for your purpose than Arboruum. Araboreum roseum is a good kind, but slower in growth. J. K., Waikouaiti.—The prickly specimen sent is gorse, and the other a ribbon wood which would be very suitable for planting near the beach. By shading the roots of your clematis and watering it, it should do much hotter. You could top-dress your spring bulbs with basic slag or super phosphate. Snowdrops are better lefl undisturbed when they are doing well I suppose you mean Salvia patens not Iris, and it is quite distinct from Tradescantia Virginica. There are both blue and white varieties.

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY. Chrysanthemums should bo coming on rapidly, and they will soon be providing the necessary colour. Those who are growing for show will require to give them extra attention. Varieties which are likely to be too early will have to be kept in a cool place and shaded from the sun; others may require a little heai to bring them on in time. It will also he necessary to get the canvas covering over those which arc grown in beds under skeleton frames before wet weather sets in.

N OTES BY ® D. TAN NOCK, F.R.KsI

in boxes to dry, and afterwards stored away in dry soil in a frost-proof house or shed. Gladioli, though not showing much signs of ripening, can'be lifted now; their foliage can be shortened back a little, and they can then be spread out in a frame or a dry airy shed until the tops wither a little. The stem is then cut off about three inches from the conn, and they are spread out in shallow boxes until they are ready for cleaning. The old corm is pulled off, the small conns called spawn are collected, and the new corms of flowering size stored away in a dry shed or cellar until the spring. It is not necessary to pack away the gladioli corms in sand,' or soil, for the winter, like dahlias and tuberous begonias. Gannas can be lifted, the tops shortened back about half their length, and then packed into deep boxes of moderately dry soil, in, which they can be wintered in frames or under the stage in the greenhouse. Standard, fuchias which are so useful for bedding can be lifted, the young soft stems cut away, and then potted or boxed up in a moderately dry soil. Like the cannas, they can be wintered in a frame or under the greenhouse stage. They are almost hardy enough to stand ou without protection, and if space under glass is limited they will winter at tire foot of a hedge with a few pieces of scrub in among them. Fibrous rooted begonias can also be wintered in a frame or greenhouse, and divided up, or cuttings taken iu the spring. Lily bulbs can also be lifted if this is desirable, but if doing well there is no need to lift them every year. They are stored in boxes like the gladioli until planting-time. It is really better to raise bedding geraniums from cuttings every year, but if this has not been done, the old plants can bo lifted, and after picking >ff the leaves they can be packed into boxes of light sandy soil and wintered in a fram«* or a vinery. They have to be kept fairly dry until growth commences in the spring, when they can be boxed or potted up the same as the rooted cuttings. Fortu nately geranium cuttings were fairly well ripened this year, and they have rooted well. Summer and early autumn flower ing chrysanthemums can be lifted, cut over, and sufficient to provide cuttings 11. the spring packed fairly close together in boxes of light soil, and wintered in frames or behind a hedge. Antirrhinums will flower again in the spring or early summer if cut over and lef. the beds or borders, but unless there is unlimited room in the garden it is better to throw them out and replant with young plants raised- from, seed in the spring.

Pelargonium cuttings which were put iu some time ago should now be rooted and they can be potted up into three or four inch pots, using a nice light mixture with a little bone meal in it. The old plants which wore cut over can also be shaken out of their pots, and repotted in puts a little larger than those they are in at present. Pelargoniums are very useful for providing a display in the greenhouse after the calcaolarias and schizunthns are over, and consequently they have to be retarded by keeping them in the frames as long ns possible. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Though frost has not put an cud to the summer and autumn flowers, they cannot last long, and it is time to con aider getting up those which have to be stored until next spring. The dahlias are cut over, leaving about a foot of the stem to which the labels should be tied with stout string, which is not likely to rot during die winter. All loos-e soil can be remover! from the tubers, and they are then placed in a frame or under the stage in the greenhouse until they dry a little, before packing them away in dry soil or sand. Tuberous begonias are lifted, half of their foliage is cut off, and they unplaced in boxes and put in a frame. In a short time the remainder of the stem will drop off. They arc then spread out

over until all the leaves are down. Trench beds and borders for roses and shrubs, and continue to top-dress the rock garden. • Continue to top-dress lawns with fine soil, and if it is not possible, to sow, down new lawns this month this work had better stand over until the spring. S .THE vegetable and fruit GARDEN.

Dwarf peas, such as English and American Wonder, and broad beans can still be sown to provide crops in late spring or early summer. Seedlings of lettuce, spinach, and silver beet can be thinned out and cabbage planted. Continue to earth up celery, to lift and store root crops, and to clear off all weeds and spent crops. Dig or trench all vacant ground, leaving the surface soil as rough and open as possible for the winter, and preparations can be made for planting out fruit trees and bushes. GOOSEBERRIES. The cultivated gooseberries are all the progeny of Ribcs grossularia, a native of North Africa, North-west Himalayas, and Europe. It is one of the most valuable of our hardy fruits, being used both in the green and the ripe stage. Green gooseberries can be picked ns soon as they are a reasonable size, and ripe fruits can be picked in the beginning of the new year. The gooseberry will succeed in any good garden soil, provided that it is deeply cultivated and well manured, and the best flavoured fruits are obtained from plants grown in an open, sunny position. It k usual to grow gooseberries as bushes, but they are also very satisfactory when trained as cordons ,on a wire fence, or wall, and, in fact,' the best fruits are obtained from plants grown in this way.

A young gooseberry bush should have a clean stem of from nine to 12 inches, and about four shoots each about a foot long. After planting, these should be , shortened to about half to one-third of their length. In the summer each of these shoots will give rise to several others, but all these will be pinched back to a tow Inches except .two, which will be allowed to grow to’ their full length. In the following winter, the summer pinched shoots will be cut back to about an inch, but the two long shoots which are to form the framework of the bush will have only their unripened tips cut off. There are two distinct types of hushes—those with upright branches and those with more less horizontal branches which arc inclined to droop. When pruning, the main stems of the upright growing kinds are pruned to an outside bud. hut tile drooping kinds are cut on one pointing upwards, . A good well grown gooseberry bush would consist of from eight to nine main stems, and when they reach their maximum height, it is desirable to retain a few young shoots which arise fairly low down, nearly their full length, to replace worn out branches, which should be cut away, thus securing a supply of young shoots throughout the bush. They bear their fruit -on little spurs on the

Aftor throwing out all other bedding plants, the beds and borders can be dug over, dusted with lime if necessary, and wallflowers, forget-me-nots, double daisies, primrose polyanthus, and anemones planted out foV the spring. All the plants should be lifted with with as much soil as possible adhering to their roots, and if watered in well after planting they receive little or no chock, and soon become established in thennew quarters. Continue to clear off herbaceous borders. but it is not advisable to dig them

older wood, u well as on the young shoots, but at the beat fruit is borne on the young wood, arrangements should be made to retain as much as possible. One often sees gooseberry bushes cut down to a few feet from the ground, and all the young wood cut back to a few inches, and the owners express surprise at the poor crop. When trained on a fence, either fanshaped or as cordons, a boundary, or dividing fence, can be utilised in a profit'va.^r ' B > n Si e or double cordons the main stem is continued almost its full length, and the lateral shoots which should have been pinched back at aumimt pruning, shortened back to an inch. .When the stems reach their maximum height a strong young shoot can be taken up from the base to replace the old stem, which should be cut right out. After pruning, the soil should be drawn away from round and under the bushes, and a liberal dressing of farmyard manure applied as a mulch, and some clean soil from between the rows thrown over it* Birds are often troublesome by picking out the young buds, and where they are very bad, pruning can be deferred until the sprint They are easily frightened off, however, by stretching a few strands of black cotton bushes from branch to branch* r.?* r I >icklin e £recn for cooking or bottling, the large fruited kinds are the best, such as Winham’s Industry, Crown Bob, Warrington, .Rifleman and Lions Provider. For dessert, Early Sulphur, Golden Drop, Whitesmith, Broom Girl and Ironmonger are suitable. When farmyard manure is not available a dressing of superphosphate and kainit, three pounds of the former and one of the latter, can be applied at the rate of three ounces to the .square yard in 'j ,'bisl'-' 1 nv''r tv> fsnvfnec and worked in when breaking down the