THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22546, 13 April 1935, Page 22

THE GARDEN

WORK. FOR THE WEEK^P

A.H.R.H.S. '-s&mem&

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS "Spring Flowers," Roslyn.—You should certainly not use ashes from lignite coal. Either sand or coke breeze would be suitable. To prevent the ashes from going through the hole in the inverted pot, put a piece of crock over it and pile the coke breeze three inches above the pot. The idea is to place the bulb as near _ as possible under the same conditions as it would be when planted in the ground until it forms its roots, then to hurry

out. Seed should be sown in July, and the plants grown on steadily in four or five-inch pots. They like a well-manured, sunny position and sheltered -from southwest winds if at all possible. At the present time they are the brightest feature in the gardens, and they will continue until cut by frost. Salvia patens, the blue salvia, is a hardy perennial. It has tuberous roots, which can be divided up during the winter, or cuttings of young shoots can be rooted in the spring. It is a useful plant for the mixed border. " S SHRUBS FROM CUTTINGS Mogt people like to grow a few trees, shrubs or fruit bushes such as gooseberries and currants from cuttings, either to extend their plantations, to renew old and worn-out specimens, or to give away to friends. This is an interesting operation and one which does not call for any special plant or tools or any special soil. It is one in which everyone with a garden and a few, good things can indulge. All the tools required are a sharp pruning knife, or a pair of sharp secateurs, or both, a supply of sand or lime rubble, a spade, line and some good stout wooden labels. There is far more skill and experience required in selecting the right kind of wood than in making the cutting and putting it in the ground. The wood must be of the past season's growth, well ripened and not too thick and pithy, or yet thin and spindly. It should be taken from the most desirable varieties

count of damp. Keep the surface of the soil aerated by frequently scratching with a pointed stick. . ... The compost for the final potting, which should take place during July or early August, should be prepared some considerable time beforehand and turned over frequently to ensure the whole is well mixed and in nice condition. This should consist of four parts good fibrous loam, one part of old decayed strawy stable manure, and one part coarse sand. To each barrowload of this mixture add a nineinch potful of old mortar rubble, crushed down, and a liberal quantity of charcoal, broken in small pieces. A little bonemeal may be added with advantage, but not more than a four-inch potful to a bushel of soil.

it on in the greenhouse. "I. R.," Waimate.—Seeds of onion can. be sown in the autumn or spring, but it is better to plant- them in «the spring at the same time as the carlots. In the autumn the bulbs and roots are lifted and the most desirable and those true to type are planted the following spring, when they will flower and produce seed. There is no use saving seed from any but the best plants, and you must be able to guarantee a good germination and that it is true to type. As locally raised seeds as a rule germinate better, and grow better, than those imported there should be a good market for reliable seed. Onions and carrots should not be grown on too rich a soil when it is intended to save the seed. Lists of fruits

Single plants may be placed in a sixinch pot. whilst three will do well in a nine-inch pot. For exhibition purposes it is well to grow two plants in an eightinch pot. It is customaiy for growers for exhibition to purchase their plants in pairs for this reason. See that the pots and " crocks" are washed thoroughly clean, first scalding them with boiling water. Place some of the larger parts of the loam over the crocks, then some of the compost; set the plants in this, not too deeply, otherwise trouble will arise. Fill up to within an inch of the rim, using a potting stick to see that absolute firmness is obtained. When tapping the plants from the small pots do not under any circumstances disturb the ball of soil around the roots, or they will receive a severe check. Another point is to take care that the compost contains the same degree of moisture as the ball of soil from the small pots, otherwise water will percolate irregularly for a long time. When all the plants are potted, soak thoroughly, but after this water sparingly during the winter months. When the plants begin the spindle for bloom, water must be given regularly, never allowing the soil to become parched. _ Pay great attention to this. Little feeding is necessary if the compost is properly mixed, but a few waterings of diluted liquid manure or soot-water will prove beneficial during bud development. Some keen amateurs, whose garden soil is unsuitable for carnations, get over the difficulty by growing plants' in pots out of doors. This, however, involves more skill than growing them under glass, because the trouble arises that temperature or moisture cannot be controlled. The soil in the pots becomes sodden in wet periods, which is detrimental to the root action, whilst in successive days of heat continuous watering impoverishes the soil. However, it can he accomplished, as the writer has proved. The position selected must be open to all light and air, but without cold draughts. The pots should stand in a foot of ashes, then the roots will be kept warm in winter and cool in summer. If a wooden framework can be erected over the plants, an awning of calico, painted with linseed oil, may be stretched over them when rains are heavy. The same compost and procedure as above is adopted. The covering again comes in useful when summer's sun blazes with too intense a heat. The border' carnation is really the town gardener's plant par excellence, and we can confidently recommend its culture to those living in industrial areas where atmospheric impurities prove a serious problem in the cultivation of other subjects. The remarks above as to protecting the blossoms will be a great aid to the keeping of the colours bright and clean. Do not, however, omit to bring the soil up to growintr standard, and, above all, see the drainage is free and the lime content ample. The owner of a small garden anywhere will find the border carnation an excellent subject to specialise in, for the plants are not large, and quite a good collection can be comfortably accommodated in a small area.—" Dorbert," in Amateur Gardening.

will be given later. "Koromiko.—The name of the plant sent is Sisrynchium grandiflorum. "Gardener," Portobello. —It is not advisable to apply lime to soil which has been heavily manured during the autumn or wTnter when there is little or no growth, unless to destroy club * root or some eimilar disease. Lime has the effect of hastening the decay of manure and- unless there are plants ready to take up the soluble plant food it is washed away.

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY Continue to put in cuttings of pansies, violas, pentstemons, and other herbaceous and alpine plants. Prepare for housing chrysanthemums and get those showing colour under shelter of some kind. Allow tuberous begonias to ripen off gradually. Wrench wallflowers growing ,in the nursery. Trees and shrubs in nursery rows can also be wrenched. Put in cuttings of,half ripened wood of choice 3hrubs in a sand frame or under a bell glass Prepare for putting in cuttings of all manner of trees, shrubs, and fruit bushes. Pot up the later lot of cinerarias and pot on Primula sinensis to their flowering pots as soon as they fill.the pots they are in at present with roots. • THE FLOWER GARDEN Continue to clear off annuals, to cut over perennials which are over, and lift and dry off gladioli. i Plant out wallflower, Sweet Williams, Canterbury Bells, biennial stocks, double daisies, primrose polyanthus and forget-me-nots. ' Also plant daffodils, tulips, ranunculus, anemones, and other, spring flowering bulbs. Trench new beds and borders for shrubs, roses, and herbaceous plants. _ Lift and line or plant out _ carnation layers in their permanent positions. Topdress and overhaul the rock garden and plant out alpines. Sow down new lawns and topdress and resow old ones, which have suffered through dry weather or the ravages of grass grub. Allow two ounces of seed per square yard for new lawns and half that quantity for topdressing. Rake up leaves and store away in a heap to form leaf mould. -

THE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GARDEN

Sow seeds of peas and broad beans to stand through the winter. Thin seedlings and hoe and cultivate among growing crops. • Lift potatoes and root crops and store in clumps or in. sheds, or cellars. Collect and store fruit crops. . Clear off spent crops, and trench or dig the ground, leaving the surface rough during the winter. Prepare ground for plantations ot fruit trees and bushes. Cut over old raspberry canes and start to prune goosberries and currants. Earth up celery and leeks. HOLLYHOCKS AND SALVIAS The hollyhock (Althea rosea) is .a stately plant and is a great favourite in cottage gardens in Erigland, and also much appreciated here. It is really a perennial, but owing to the ravages of the hollhock disease, which attacks the foliage of the older plants, it is much better to grow them from seed every ' year. They can now be relied upon to come double and true to colour. Those who have a heated greenhouse can sow the seed in July, and when the seedlings are large enough to be handled they should be pricked out into boxes and later on potted up into four or five-inch pots or boxed up again.- giving them more room. They should be grown on steadily in frames until the weather is settled and warm. They like a deep, well-cultivated and liberally-manured soil, with plenty of water during dry weather and liquid manure occasionally. They are very satisfactory when planted near a wall or fence.. Those who haye no heat should sow in December, bring on the plants gradually, winter them in a frame, and plant out in the spring. They are also very satisfactory when planted in groups in the mixed herbaceous border. There are two salvias in flower at the present time, one being intensely blue and the other intensely scarlet. The scarlet ones (S. Splendens), var. "Fireball" or "Bonfire," are tender annuals, and they have to be grown on under cover until December before it is safe to put them

and should be free from either insect or fungoid pests. The thick, pithy shoot and the thin, twiggy shoots have not enough' food material stored up in their tissue to enable the cutting to heal ovei the cut surface and to begin the formation of the; roots arid the development of buds in'the spring. Until it has roots and leaves it cannot assimilate any food of its own. It is not necessary that the leaves should have dropped, but by their colour they will indicate that the wood is ripened. Several evergreens can also be rooted in this way, but in their case the indication of well-ripened wood is the formation of well-developed buds, either in the axils of the leaves or at the end of the shoot.

Cuttings are taken off in two ways. They are cut off close to the old wood, or they are wrenched off by a downward pull, in which case they pull off a bit of the old wood. This is known as taking a cutting with a heel, which is the denser tissue found at the junction of a branch and the stem, and is supposed to be less liable to die-back than the ordinary tissue of the stem. The average cutting is about the thickness of a lead pencil, and it may be from 9 to 15 inches in length, but a greater length is not desirable. If taken with a heel, the ragged wood and bark ie trimmed with a sharp knife, and, if without a heel, it is cut across immediately below a joint, node or bud, and made as smooth as possible, for a smooth cut will heel up quicker.. It is then cut across slightly above a .bud and tied, .in a bundle, properly labelled and either heeled in sand or soil or packed, in damp moss until there are sufficient to plant. Trees such as poplars and willows root readily, but prunus of various kinds can also be rooted. Many of the flowering shrubs such as weigelias, deutzias,arnelanchiers, snowballs, spindle trees, spiraeas and philadelphug are also easily propogated in this way. The stronggrowing roses known as climbers and ramblers are easily rooted in the open, and some people are successful' with both the ordinary bushes and the dwarf polyanthus roses. When preparing dog rose or other kinds of stocks it is advisable to remove all the buds except the two or three at the top, and also all the prickles. Ked currants and gooseberries are both treated alike, for in their case it is desirable to have a clean stem free of suckers, of about nine inches. Consequently all the buds except three at the top are removed, In the case of black currants, when suckers are desirable all the buds are left in. Most of the native senecios, olearias, and veronicas can be rooted easily, these including the popular hedge plant Olearia Forsteri and the seaside shelter plants 01eari6 Traversii. As a rule in the case of evergreens the top few inches of the stem are not ripened, and it is usual to cut it off. and also to remove all the leaves from the piece of stem which is put into the ground. \ The position of the cutting bed "should be sheltered, well drfined, and is better if partly shaded. A trench ,is taken out with the spade, nine to 12 inches deep, a layer of sand or lime rubble is placed in the bottom, and the cuttings are placed with their bases on this, from two to four inches apart.. The soil is then pushed in and made as firm as possible by tramping on it. The depth ol the trench will depend on the length ot the cuttings, for they should be buried three parts of their length in the ground. They will 6how little change until the spring, but they will be forming a layer of tissue over the cut surface, called the callus, and in many cases roots will be forming just above it. In spring the buds will swell up and develop into shoots and roots will be formed, thus providing an entirely new plant exactly like the bush or tree from which it wa,s taken. The rooted cuttings are left in the bed until the following autumn, when they are lifted and lined out in nursery rows, the roots being brought nearer tlie surface. _*.