THE GARDEN.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23500, 14 May 1938, Page 22

THE GARDEN.

FOR THE WEEKfIi

notes by TAN NOCK. AH R.H.S

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS M. A.. Milton.—The best native shrub for forming a hedge is Olearia For. steri, an evergreen with bright green crinkled, leaves. Other • natives are Coprosma baurei manuka, Olearis Traversii, and Pittosporums of various kinds. I prefer O. Forsteri. 'Anxious,” Palmerston. —The plant sent is Melianthus major (Cape Honey Flower), a hardy plant with ornamental foliage. The flowers are not conspicuously beautiful, but the foliage is very attractive, A. R. F., Milton.—Dried cow manure is very useful, and after being used for making liquid manure it should be dug in, though, of course it would be more valuable if dug in before being soaked in water. “Orchard," Taierl.—The varieties of fruit trees mentioned in this and next week’s gardening notes would be suitable for your district. " Ignorant,” Dunedin.—You should thin out your hydrangea plants, removing the weaker shoots, and just slightly shortening back those left. Do not cut them all hard back. Also, thin out the shoots of the lydonia japonica and remove those springing from the base altogether. This can be done now. It does not need manure.

VINES WITH ORNAMENTAL FRUITS Last ween a number ol trees and shrubs which were valuable for their ornamental fruits were mentioned, but there are also a number of vines well worth growing. The passion flower (Passiflora coerulea) is a vigorous climber suitable for growing over arbours on rustic fences and arches, and on the walls of houses. It is a native of South Brazil, but can be grown quite successfully in and round Dunedin when sheltered from the cold south-west winds. The fruit is the shape and size of a bantam’s egg. with an orange-coloured skin and numerous seeds embedded in pulp Passiflora edulis. the “ edible passion fruit.’ - is more delicate than the species already mentioned, but it can be grown in warm, sheltered positions. Tacsonia quintensis is a hardy species, very like a passion fruit; in fact, it is sometimes called Passiflora quintensis. It has pink, pendulous flowers and long, edible, creamy-white fruits. Some of the hardier of the fruiting vines can be grown successfully against walls or fences in the open, and for this purpose the variety Black Hamburg is suitable Vitis heterophylla, a native of China and Japan, is perfectly hardy and bears small bunches of porcelain blue fruits, the berries being dotted with black. Actinidia chinensis is a vigorous'and ornamental climber with dark green and slightly hairy leaves. It is unisexual, and consequently plants of both sexes have to be, planted fairly close together to secure a crop of fruit. The fruit is about the size of a walnut covered with reddish brown hairs, and it has an agreeable flavour, somewhat like the true gooseberry It is usually known as tthe Chinese gooseberry, and is well worth growing against a wall or in any sheltered position. s Some of the smaller flowered clematis have woolly-looking fruits which are ornamental in the autumn PLANTING FRUITING TREES AND SHRUBS When the positions have been prepared during the late summer and autumn, the planting of fruit trees and bushes can be undertaken at once, for there is no doubt that early planting before the soil has been cooled down by winter rains has many advantages. For one thing, the broken and damaged roots, which are inevitable, heal up, and a start is made with the formation of new root hairs. In the preparation of land for the fruit portion of the private garden, trenching is most satisfactory where the subsoil is of a kindly nature, and bastard trenching where it is a stiff, raw clay. In a new garden all weeds and grass can be placed in the bottom of the trench, and if farmyard manure is available it can be placed on top of the bottom spit. Where it is not possible to carry out trenching, good big holes should be dug about three feet wide and two to three feet deep, the bottom being broken up with a pick or a crowbar. Whether the ground has been trenched or not, care has to be taken to provide good drainage, for fruit trees will not remain healthy and bear crops of fruit when their roots are in wet or damp soil, and, though some of the bushes will thrive in moist soil, they will not thrive where the moisture is stagnant. When planting is done in holes, some means of outlet for surplus moisture has to be provided near the bottom of the hole. Drains formed with agricultural pipes which are covered with clinkers are the most effective, but bricks, stones or even scrub can be used to convey off water quickly. If the position to be planted has been used for growing vegetables for some time, no extra manuring will be required at present except, a dusting with lime and bone dust, but where the garden is new a dressing of manure compost heap or organic matter of some kind is an advantage. Whether the ground has been cultivated before or not, good, wide holes should be dug sufficient to allow the roots to be spread out without any twisting or bending, and sufficiently deep to allow the tree to be planted at the same depth as it was in the nursery. There will be a soil mark on the stem to serve as a guide. When buying either trees or bushes it pays to get well-grown specimens two to three years old, clean, healthy, and free from disease, and it is an advantage to get orders in early so as to secure the first pick of the young stock. Apple, plum, and cherry trees can be a year or two older than the bushes, for, if well-grown specimens set with buds are carefully planted, they will begin to bear fruit at once, though it might not be advisable to take off a full crop the first year. When the trees or bushes arrive they are usually packed in a bundle with damp hay or straw and when they are carefully removed they should be heeled in at once. As a rule the roots are balled up in scrim and though it is possible to plant them, scrim and all, : is better to remove it so that the roots may be spread out. After removing the scrim, the roots should be examined, and if any of the larger ones are bruised or damaged they should be trimmed with a sharp knife, for it is known that a clean, smooth cut will heal over much quicker than a ragged one, and if one wishes to be very particular, the cut surfaces can be pain-ed with tar. When planting, first throw in the turfy part if there is any, chop it up and form a mound in the centre on which the base of the tree or shrub can be placed. Place the tree or bush on this with the soil mark on a level with the surface soil, and spread ine roots evenly all round. Then throw in some of the fine surface soil and shake the plant to work it in among the fine roots, put in more soil, and shake again until the roots are covered, when it can be tramped to firm it. not round the ste or on top of the roots, but round the side of the hole to press the soil over against the roots. Continue to throw in more soil and to "firm it until the hole is filled up While the soil is being filled in. it is a good idea to give it a dusting of lime and bonemeal. about half a pound of each to a tree and half that quantity to a bush. It will mix with the soil as it is being put in. and will be there when the roots want it. The surface need not be made fine nor yet level, for it will sink a bit no matter how firmly the soil was tramped, but it should not be mounded up round the stem If large specimens are being planted or transplanted it is advisable to provide them with a stake at once. and. though it may be a bit early to prune, the young wopd should be shortened back a bit. It is a good practice, however, to prune as soon as planted. Gooseberry and currant bushes are not very expensive, and when they are planted under a wire-netting shelter or where it is not intended to intercrop with vegetables it is better to plant at from three to four feet apart, and, as the bushes develop, at first to prune back every second bush and every second row, and eventually to cut them out as the full space is required for the permanent bushes. Where it is intended to intercrop with vegetables, they can be planted at from six t , eight feet. Gooseberries are one of the most useful of hardy fruits, because they are available for a long season, and can be used in several ways. They can be picked and cooked as soon as they are large enough to be worth while. When fully grown they can be bottled, and when ripe made into jam and used as a dessert fruit Varieties to plant are Winham’s Industry. Crown Bob, Warrington. Dan’s Mistake. Lion’s Provider, and. especially for dessert. Early Sulphur Whitesmith, and Ironmonger, White currants to plant are Dutch and Transparent; red, Fay’s Prolific. Red Castle, and Red Dutch: black, Carter’s Black Champion. Bobskop Giant, and Black Naples. Apples can also be had over a long season by

THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY Chrysanthemums should soon be about their best, and notes should be made of the varieties which it is intended to propagate for next season, for all are not equally valuable, .and there is always a tendency for the older varieties to show signs of deterioration. Though rather soon to take the main lot of cuttings, any which appear can be put in now if specimen plants carrying a number of flowers are desired. Seedlings of schlzanthus and other annuals should be pricked out into boxes or small pots (three seedlings in each) as soon as they are large enough to handle, and primulas of various kinds required for spring flowering should be potted up into their flowering pots. Keep in a cool, moist house and water very carefully at first. Continue to put in cuttings of violas and pansies and ripened wood of trees and shrubs. Seeds of hardy perennials and alpine plants can be sown as soon as they can be obtained, the pots being placed in a warm greenhouse or frame. Freesias and other bulbs which were potted up some time ago and have now started to grow should be brought into the greenhouse and ■stood on the bench in a light, sunny .position. , < As 4he tuberous begonias ripen on, I the tubers can be taken out of the pots, s packed in shallow boxes of light, dry 'soil, and stored away In a frost-proof 'place, or the pots can be laid on their asides and the tubers left in them until Jthe spring. S THE FLOWER GARDEN J Continue to transplant polyanthus 'primroses, sweet williams, wallflowers, 5 and Canterbury 'bells into their flower«.ing positions. The weather recently 'has been very favourable for this -operation, the frequent showers helping to keep the plants fresh until they Jean form new roots, - Dahlias and gladioli can be lifted and 'spread out in a frame or shed to dry Ja bit before being stored away for the 'winter. Continue to cut over the J herbaceous perennials, such as michaelumas daisies and phlox and clear out (the hardy and half-hardy annuals. I Ornamental trees and shrubs and 'roses can now be transplanted, the soil ' being in excellent working condition. Hardy trees and shrubs can be 'pruned where ihis is necessary, and the borders dug over. Weather conditions are still favourable for the overhauling of the rock v garden, and varieties which have !'i spread beyond their pockets can be I.lifted and divided, and new species » and varieties can be planted. A start can be made with the primming of rambler and climbing roses. r

THE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE ;■ GARDEN J It is getting late, but broad beans ' and dwarf peas can still be sown, and " cabbage planted out for spring use. I Prune fruit trees and bushes and make • new plantations where necessary. ! Trench or deeply dig over all vacant ■. land, leaving the surface rough and ' open, and clear out all spent crops. !' Give celery its final earthing up, and > collect and store marrows and pumpJ kins.

planting early-maturing kinds and good keepers. For dessert, Irish Peach, Cox’s Grange Pippin, Jonathan, Scarlet Nonpareil, and Sturmer are suitable, and for cooking, Hawthornden, Peasgood’s Nonsuch, Bismark. Ballarat Seedling, and Reinette de Canada. There are many other varieties, but these are suitable for planting in and around Dunedin and in districts other than Central Otago.