THE GARDEN. WORK FOR THE WEEK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21982, 17 June 1933, Page 5

THE GARDEN. WORK FOR THE WEEK

NOTES BY D. TAN NOCK, a.H.R.H.S.

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY Give cinerarias, primulas and cyclamen • little weak liquid manure once a week. Sow seeds of tomatoes, nemesia, antirrhinums, 10-week stocks, and calendulas. Pot on schizanthus, clarkias, godetias, •r salpiglossis to their flowering pots, which will be of the six, seven, or eight Inch size according to the strength ot the Cut over chrysanthemums, put into.cold frame and take any cuttings which may be available. , . , . Start to repot maidenhair ferns, palms, nnd other foliage plants. Prune, clean, and top-dress vines and dean out and wash the tomato house. THE FLOWER GARDEN Growth will now have commenced in the rock garden, and a sharp look-out will have to be kept for slugs and wood lice, which soon do a lot of damage .by eating, the tender buds. Dust under the matlike kinds with freshly slaked Ijnxe- or horticultural napthaline. To destroy those which get up among the branches and leaves, water with lime water, which* W easily made by placing a six-inch potful of lime into a petrol tmful of water, stirring it well, and then allowing it to stand over night to allow the sediment to settle in the bottom. Continue to prune trees and shrubs and to dig herbaceous and shrubbery borders. Patch up lawns with turf and rake off 1,1 Pork the bulb beds and give' a topdressing of basic slag or basic phosphate. THE VEGETABLE AND FRUIT GARDEN 1 Continue to dig and manure all vacant Force seakale and rhubarb in the positions in which they are growing by placing boxes, pots, or barrels over the crowns and building fresh stable manure and leaves all round and over them. Put potatoes up on their ends -in sprouting boxes and place a few under the stage of the greenhouse to stimulate gl plant a few early potatoes in light .soil In a well-drained, sunny position. Replant rhubarb on a well-manured border. , ~ Continue to prune, spray, and dig among fruit trees. "Attend, to drainage,,.and fix. permanent edging's of stones, bricks, or concrete round the borders to prevent the soil from washing down on to the paths. AUTUMN TINTS Antumn tints were particularly good this year, and everyone appreciates the bright colour provided by: deciduous trees and shrubs. The reason if or the colouring of the leaves is not yet quite well understood. There have been many, theories put forth, bpt it certainly has something to do with the need for the plant to conserve its supply of heat until the elaborated food material is. withdrawn from the leaf to he stored up in the stem, branches, or roots, to be used fop .the development of both_ leaf vand flower buds the following; spring.: This has to be done "before the leaf is cut off with the layer of cork at the end of its stalk. Slight frost,- dry, sunny weather, and the absence of winds all help to intensify the autumn colourings and to enable them to last. Everyone with a garden, no matter how small, can have autumn tints, for, in addition large trees , suitable for large gardens and estates, and smaller trees for town gardens, there are a number of shrubs, climbers, and herbaceous plants which can.be accommodated in very small space. The- principal colours are brown, gold, and'-crimson, but there are many intermediate shades,? and thers is also the

transitional stage between one and the other to be noted in some plants, hoi large gardens and estates any or the deciduous trees are suitable, and though not so valuable as the evergreen conifers, either for providing shelter or timber, they brighten the landscape and are most effective when planted as avenues or along the roadsides or in wide streets. Elms, English oaks, English beech, poplars (the Lombardy and the aspen and silver) are most effective,, and also . horse chestnuts, sycamore, and hornbeam. For smaller gardens where space is a consideration there are smaller growing and choicer trees ,to pick from. These are the mountain ash or rowan tree :(Pyrus-aucUpaua), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), red^ maple (Acer rubrura), Acer japojncum, which is not the tree usually called Japanese maple, silver, birch (Betula alba), paper birch (Betula papyrifera), the maidenhair tree (Gihko biloba), tulip-tree (Linodendron tulipifera). the wild cherry (Prumis avium), or any of the cherry family are good, swamp- Cyprus (Taxodium distchiurn), suitable for a wet place, scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea), pm oak (Quercus palustrus), golden larch (Pseudo Larix Fortuni), Japanese larch (Lanx leptolepis), manna ash (Fraxmus ornus), golden ash (Fraxirius excelsior v. aure), trembling poplar (Populus tremula), and prunue pissardi. Acer Hookeriapuni 19 a particularly choice tree, which is almost evergreen, and, though the leaves do not change colour in the autumn, they do later Oh, and remain on the tree after all others have dropped. I think it 19 rather a scarce, tree as yet. Among the taller shrubs there >is a great wealth'of material to choose from for the larger town or country garden. These include the various amelancmers, the beet of which are (Amelanchier canadensis) the Juneberry (Viburnum opulus), snowball tree (Euonymus europaea), spindle tree, and Euonymus alatus. iue Rhus or sumach family is well known tor the tints of the various species, these including R. continoides, R. toxicodendron, often treated as a climber, K. typhma. and R. trichocarpa. Though most of the commoner Lotoneasters are evergreen, there are some of the newer species that take on bright autuinn colours; such as Cotoneaster acutifolia, v. villosa, C. frigida, and C. bullata. Berberis are remarkable mainly for their ornamental berries, but there are also some species with ornamental autumn foliage such as Berberis vulgaris, Berberis polyanthus, B. Wilsonae, and B. dictphylla. Other shrubs are Cornus sangumea, Spiraea prunifolia, and S. thunbergia, t>. Liridleyana, Ribes aurea, Enkianthus, iaponica, and other species. Though Japanese maples ,are usually considered to be large shrubs, the species , Acer palmatum will grow into a small tree about 20 feet in height. Probably the most remarkable display of autumn colouring is provided by the desiduous azaleas. They are suitable, for either a large or small garden, and, though they are very beautiful when in flower in early summer, they are equally attractive in * autumn, when the leaves become crimson. They dp not grow rapidly, and consequently do not get out of hand. The small shrubs suitable for the very small garden or for planting on rock gardens are V accinium pennsylvannicum, Low Blueberry, V. corymbosum, Swamp Blueberry, Berberis thunbergil, Cotoneaster, honzontahs, Weeping Japanese maples, and Plumbago larpen. AUTUMN-TINTED VINES The foliage of the various members of the vine ,or Vitis family turn to bright tints in the autumn, some more so than others, but all are suitable for covering walls of brick or stone houses, especially the members of the Virginian creeper section which cling on by means of discs. The stronger-growing kinds such as V. Cognetae and V. Hem’yana are very suitable for growing over pergolas and arches, over the roofs of outhouses, and up through trees. . Vitis armata is a luxuriant growing deciduous climber, with the young shoots covered with spiny gland-tipped somewhat hooked bristles. The leaves are heart-shaped, four to ten inches long, and turn to brilliant, red in the autumn. - It is" suitable for growing up and through trees. B. Cognetae (crimson glory vine) is a very vigorous climber, reaching the height of an ordinary tree in a short time. It is a native of-Japan, and has large, handsome leaves, sometimes reaching the' size of 12in long and XOin broad, which turn crimson in the autumn. V. Henryana is also a vigorous grower, with a four-angled stem and compound, leaves which are dark and distinctly variegated during the summer, turning a more intense colour in the autumn. This vine has disc-shaped tendrils like the Virginian creepers, by which it can attach itself to a wall or fence. V. inconetans (Ampelopsis Veitchii) is the best of all the vines for covering a brick or stone building. It clings by means of its disctipped tendrils, keeping the foliage close to the wall. There is - a purple-leaved variety, but the green-leaved one which turns bright red in the autumn is the most vigorous grower and the most desirable, Vitis quihquifolia (the true Virginian creeper) is a native of North America, where it grows up through trees in the woods, turning them a brilliant crimsomm the autumn. An association of the Virginian creeper, maples, and scarlet oaks must be glorious, and one which we would do well to reproduce here on a smaller scale as a contrast to the greens of the pines and native bush. Though this plant has discs like Ampelopsis Veitchn it does not hold on very well, and has to be nailed on to walls or fastened in some way. It is, however, a desirable mreeper for fences, peroglas, and arches. I should like to warn amateurs against planting what is sometimes sold as Ampelopsis Hoggii, but is really Rhus toxicodendron (the poison ivy). It has beautiful tinted foliage, but it causes an irritation of the skin, and should never be planted against the house or near a path.