THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23595, 3 September 1938, Page 23

THE GARDEN

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ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS "Leaf Mould" (Clinton).—Mould made from pine needles mixed with horse, cow, and fowl droppings would not be suitable for"' seed boxed, and only a small quantity . should be mixed with the soil for pricking out the seedlings. It would be very suitable for digging into the ground for the crops you mention. .. . ; ■■■ : South Otago (Kaikapu).—You should ■cut back your Leonotis Leonurus = well down to the old wood. Take « k > nuttings of, weeping willows, last season's wood if possible, though old woOd will also root under favourable conditions. Take pieces about 12 inches long and. bury these- three parts of their length , in the soil, making it Arm. .•

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" In a Quandary " (Queenstown).—Rake any grass which may remain with .•a steel rake, removing daisies. Sow ". some lawn grass seed and cover •■ with some, fine sifted soil. Roll •, with a light roller when germination has taken place. f. A.y Broad Bay.—(l) After the bulbs have flowered they may be removed from the fibre and placed in the ground. Having gone through a forcing process, however, they "Will not be as good as bulbs which have not been previously developed under such conditions <2) The fibre may be again used, but some suitable fertiliser such as blood and bone should be added • for next season. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY Asters, salvias, zinnias can be sown now, also cucumbers, melons, pumpkins and vegetable marrows. . Continue to prick out annuals, and the earliest kinds can now be placed out in the open in a sheltered position. Gloxinias and an early batch of tuberous begonias car be watered to start the tubers into growth As the chrysanthemum cuttings root continue to pot them up into threeinch pots, and pot on calceolarias into their flowering pots, which should be six or seven inch. Give the cinerarias a little liquid manure once a week and pollinate selected plants of primulas to provide seed. THE FLOWER GARDEN Complete the rose pruning as soon as possible and,'the planting of roses and ornamental trees and shrubs before the end of the month. Continue to dig the herbaceous borders and to divide up. the strong growing kinds. The old withered leaves of the flag iris can be cleaned off now, and the plants given a dressing of lime and superphosphate, which is lightly forked in. Keep the rock garden weeded and cleaned and dust the mat plants with lime, or water them with lime water to destroy slugs. Slugs are also very fond of the young delphinium shoots, and where they are troublesome place some sharp, fine ashes round each plant. Prepare ground for sowing hardy annuals and. for planting out sweet peas.. . THE VEGETABLE ; AND FRUIT •'■GARDEN '•• Lift and store any root crops which may still, be in the ground, and dig and manure all vacant ground after clearing off all exhausted crops. Make another planting of early potatoes, also small plantings of cabbage and cauliflower. Prepare ground for transplanting onions, and plant shallots and garlic. On a warm border sow shorthorn carrots, white turnips, and globe beet also a row' of lettuce and one or more rows of spinach. Complete the pruning, spraying and planting of fruit trees as soon as possible. Fork, weed and cultivate among the strawberries. PLANNING THE VEGETABLE •" 'GARDEN' It is just as important to have a plan of the .vegetable garden as the flower garden if .the best results are to be obtained. Even in the old gardens it is desirable to have some definite plans as to the planting and sowing before these operations commence. If at all .possible the garden should be divided into four parts, one being devoted to the more permanent crops, such as rhubarb, '< asparagus and fruit bushes. The other three parts would provide for a rotation of crops, which.is most important, one section being planted in potatoes and early crops, which would be removed by the beginning of the year, so that it can be, plan ted up with winter; greens. Another part should be devoted to root crops, such as carrots, turnips and. I parsnips, with peas and beans at intervals. The third plot will be planted with the various kinds of brassicas, leeks and celery, these crops being varied from year to year. The mam advantage of following a system of rotation of crops is to utilise fully the fertility of the soil, some crops taking more of certain of the manures out of the soil than others, and they also send down their roots to different depths. Another great advantage is that certain crops are attacked by diseases which do not affect others, and likewise certain crops are attacked by insect pests which, do riot seem to like others. By varying the crops we more fully utilise the manures which we apply and we dodge some of the insect and fungoid pests. In the small gardens, where there is only one plot, the position of the rows can vary, so that a certain rotation of crops can follow. Lettuce and spinach and radish, which are quickmaturing crops, can be treated as catch crops and be sown between the drills of the slower developing kinds. Tall growing, crops, such as artichokes, peas, broad beans, and runner beans, can be sown or planted at intervals among the dwarf kinds, which they shelter, and they themselves receive the maximum amount of light on both sides. It is also important to arrange a succession, by. sowing kinds which mature in different times and to make small sowings at regular intervals throughout the season. A plot could be planted as follows: First, a row of artichokes on the windv side; next, three rows of potatoes (one early and two second early); next, a row of broad beans, to be followed by rows of turnips, carrots, beet, and parsnips. Next, a row of peas with lettuce on one side and spinach on the other, two rows of cabbage and two Of cauliflower, and another row of peas, with sp'nach and lettuce on either side. This would be followed by celery (in trench), leeks and onions, and then a row of runner beans, to be followed by rows of main-crop carrots, beet and parsnips and swede turnips, with possibly a row of peas to finish up. The quantities would, of course, vary according to the needs of the family, and also according to their likes and dislikes for certain kinds. Another important point is to buy good, reliable seed of the mcst desirable varieties, for there is a great difference in the flavour of the various kinds and also in their cropping ability. Good varieties cost little more in the first place, and the quantity and Quality of the crop is a sufficient reward for the extra expenditure. GARDEN PEAS The garden" peas is a perfectly hardy annual much esteemed as a vegetable and not at all difficult to grow. It is a native of Central -Europe and the mountainous regions of Western Asia and has been in cultivation for a long time. There are two distinct types of peas—the shelling peas, of which the seeds are eaten when green and fresh, and the edible podded kind, of which the pods are eaten before the seeds are formed. Of the shelling peas there are a great many varieties., those with round, smooth seeds, and those with wrinkled seeds, and also the tall, semi-dwarf and dwarf kinds. Peas can be grown in any deeply cultivated and well drained soil but they prefer an open loam and, like all other members of this family, they like lime. Deep digging or trenching with liberal manuring is sufficient for ordinary soils, but if the soil is a heavy clay or a very light sand or gravel, it is better to take out a trench two feet deep'and eighteen inches wide, to put in six inches of compost heap of wellrotted manure, and then to fill it in with good loam to which lime has been added. Where there is room it is desirable to extend the season as much as possible and to get early crops the seed is sown in the autumn in districts where the soil is well drained and frosts not too severe. The seedlings stand through the winter and

commence to grow again in early spring. Another method is to "sow the seeds in boxes at two inches apart and to start them in heat and after hardening off to plant out the seedlings with as little root disturbance as possible. They can also be sown in strips of turf or pieces of old spouting. For ordinary sowing in the open, the soil is first of all forked over, care being taken to keep the weathered soil on top and to break up all clods. With the hoe or spade, take out a drill about two inches deep and six inches wide, give a dusting of superphosphate, and then sow the seeds thinly. By thinly, I mean the tall varieties at two inches and a-half apart and the dwarf kinds at one and a-half inches. Most peopHs sow peas too thickly, with the result that the plants become drawn and spindly, and they only bear a few pods on each plant. After sowing, replace the soil in the drill and firm it with the feet or the head of the rake and finish oft the surface level with the back of the rake. To protect the seeds and to retain moisture it is an advantage to lay some pieces of manuka scrub or twiggy branches over the drills, but these should be removed as soon as the seedlings appear, and be replaced with some strands of black cotton to frighten away the birds. Should the weather be moist and slugs troublesome,'it will be necessary to dust along the'sides of the rows with freshlyslaked lime, and this has to be renewed from time to time for it is oo longer effective when it is wet. As soon as the plants are two or three inches in height the soil should be drawn up on each side and stakes of a suitable height provided. Any kind of twiggy branches can be used as sticks, and for the main crop it is bettter to sow medium or tall varieties, which will produce a far heavier crop than dwarfs. Well-grown broom or manuka scrub makes very suitable sticks, and both are abundant enough round Dunedin. For the earliest sowing and for autumn sowing dwarf round-seeded kinds are best, and these would be Pioneer, English or American Wonder. For second early crops the varieties would be Gradus, Dwarf Defiance, or Improved Duke of Albany. For the main crop, sow Best of All, Maincrop. Fillbasket. and Yorkshire Hero. WATER

The cultivation of water lilies seems to be becoming more popular, and though I dealt fully with their cultivation some time ago, I am still having inquiries regarding them. Water lilies can be grown successfully in any pond or still water with a depth of from 18 inches to three feet. They can be planted out on mounds of soil, 12inch pots, pieces of 12-in drain pipes, tubs or boxes, and the soil should consist of turfy loam three parts, cow manure one part, with half a part of sand. The tubers should be lifted as soon as growth commences, which will be about the middle of the present month, and while out of the water they should be stored in damp moss or mud. When planting, surround the tuber with sand and cover up the soil with sand to prevent the soil from being washed about. Varieties to plant are James Brydon tulip-shaped rosy crimson; Gladstone, large white; Marliacea Chromotilla, sulphur yellow; Marliacea carnea, flesh pink. IDEAS AND IDEALS A DAISY ON THE LAWN What are you gazing at, little Openeyes, / Winking not and blinking not thro' the live-long days? Holding up your tiny face with a faint surprise, Gazing ever at the sun, and basking in his rays. What are you thinking of, little Innocent? r Do you wish you were a star, to twinkle in the sky? Or, if a tiny hand should pluck you, would you be content To languish on a daisy-chain and wither by-and-by? —Dorothy ,Brame Reading the two short verses above has set our mind a-working. It is quite evident that when Dorothy Brame saw the " little Open-eyes " of the daisy on the lawn its own simple beauty absorbed all her attention and admiration, and she gave no thought whatever to the ordinary ideas of the gardener that a daisy is a blemish to a lawn which the laws of horticulture will not countenance or tolerate. Whilst writing this statement, we are reminded of the lady who. returning from a visit to a friend's garden, severely reprimanded her gardener because she said her friend's lawn was pretty with daisies all over, whilst hers was nothiui but green grass. That, we may. take it, is just evidence that tastes differ, and no rule with regard to gardening matter.? can be made which shall meet the approval of all. DAISIES ON LAWNS ARE TABOO Much as we agree with Robbie Burns and Dorothy Brame that the daisy is a lovely little flower, we have no intention of -suggesting that lawns which are supposed to be well cared for should be at any time bespangled with daisies. We will go so far as to say that, in many gardens where there are banks and outstretching sweeps of grass leading away from the actual lawn, these patches might well be allowed to escape the attentions of the lawn mower, so that daisies and even buttercups and cowslips, might create some other colour than green after the snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils of early spring have shrivelled and disappeared from view. In the vast majority of cases the amateur is, anxious to see his patch quite free from daisies.

Times out of number we have recommended the use of chemical lawn sand. Other means of eradication are to heave up the roots by means of daisy grubber., or daisy forks, as they are termed. We have used these to good effect, also we have tried and been favourably impressed by various other contrivances, including a walking stick arrangement which carries a canister of powder; it had some such name as the Gnu-tool. All one had to do was to take care that the end of the walking-stick was placed on the heart of the daisy, and ordinary pressure caused the opening of an outlet for a sufficient amount of poisonous powder contained in the cylinder to eat its wry right through to the daisy roots. When the stick was lifted, an aperture closed to prevent powder being unnecessarily scattered on the grass. There is one point that needs t" be stressed, but, for some reason, is seldom mentioned in articles dealing with lawn treatment When a lawn mower passes over a daisy plant, it is almost certain to sever a number of leaves of the daisy. These portions of leaves are more likely to drop to the ground than they are to travel with the grass cuttings into the collecting box. The roller of the machine immediately presses them into the turf, and daisies are the easiest of plants to propagate from leaf cuttings. This is the main reason, apart from that of distributing seeds, why one or two daisy plants to-day will mean scores or perhaps hundreds, of daisies a month or two hence. If this danger is realised, one will be more cautious to uproot the first few trespassers on the lawn, instead of allowing them to multiply.

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