THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23807, 13 May 1939, Page 23

THE GARDEN

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS "New Chum" (Milton). —It is unusual for celery to run to seed so soon, but it may be due to the plants being kept dry durr ing their growing period, or that the seedlings may have been starved and stunted in the seed boxes. Celery is a crop which needs plenty of water and manure from the time the seed germinates until it is earthed up. It is not usual for many carsnips to run to seed, and the cause may have been the warm, dry weather we have had during the autumn. It will not do the roots any good to cut the tops off, or to lift them before they ripen off properly. THE GREENHOUSE AND NURSERY Continue, to pot on the Primula ■inensis to their flowering pots which will be five inches in size, and stand on a bed of ashes in a cool house. Seeds of such annuals as schizanthus, godetia and clarkia can be sown now either in boxes to be pricked off, or in small pots to be thinned out to three seedlings should more than that number appear. These annuals, when well grown, are very useful for providing a display in the greenhouse in the late spring or early summer. Pick over geranium and pelargonium cuttings which have rooted, removing dead and decaying leaves, and stirring up the surface soil a bit. It is too early to pot them yet. Fuchsias can be rested a bit now and hydrangeas should be placed in cold frames or somewhere where they will be protected from frost. Gladioli which have been lifted from the beds and borders can be spread out in boxes and placed in a frame or dry shed to complete the drying and ripening process. Dahlia tubers can be packed in boxes of dry soil or they can be plunged in a bed of sand or soil in & sheltered place in the open They keep better in the open than in a shed so long as they are protected from the frost. Cuttings of fruit bushes rambler and climbing *roses and many hardy trees and shrubs can be put in now. Give cyclamen, Primula malacoides, P kewensis and P Obconica a little weak liquid manure once a week. Cuttings of tree carnations can be put in and the flowering plants can be given a dressing of superphosphate.

'WORK FOR THE WEEK&

NOTES BY "^S^^4 * m D. TAN NOCK. AJ-i R H.S^fS

Dry off tuberous begonia and gloxinias and store in a frost-proof shed. THE FLOWER GARDEN The summer and autumn flowers are past their best now and they can be cleared out to make room for the spring flowering kinds, such as wallflowers, polyanthus primroses, forget-me-nots, tulips, and hyacinths. The dahlias can be cut over leaving a foot of the stem, their labels should be tied to this, and they can be stored in a well-drained border outside, or be stored away in boxes of dry soil or sand, after they have been dried a bit and all the soil has been removed. Gladioli can also be lifted and the tops cut off, leaving about four inches attached to the corms. Fuchias can be heeled in a sheltered place teside a hedge or potted up and stood in a cold frame. If the beds and borders were manured in the spring it will not be necessary to apply any manure now but the beds should be limfid before planting wallflowers. Cut over herbaceous plants, prune the old wood off rambler roses' and tie in a limited number of young shoots. Though it is too soon to prune bush roses, any long shoots which are likely to catch the wind and cause the bushes to wriggle at the neck, can be shortened back a bit. THE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GARDEN Continue to clear off spent crops and to manure, trench or dig all vacant ground.« Earth up celery and leeks, and draw the soil up to the broccoli, cabbage, and savoy plants to steady them. Broad beans can still be sown and cabbage and broccoli planted. Start to prune gooseberries, red, white , and black currants, and cut out the old fruiting canes of raspberries and thin out the young ones to five or six on

I ; \ each stool. Continue to collect and store apples and pears as they ripen, and lift roots of rhubarb which will b,e for forcing It comes-, on more quickly through being exposed to the air for some time. Seakale can be lifted and potted or boxed up in preparation for forcing. Prepare ground for new plantations of fruit trees and bushes. BERBERIS When writing about the plants with autumn-tinted foliage and ornamental fruits. I purposely left out the bsrberis family, because I considered it of sufficient interest and importance to have a whole article devoted to it For autumn tints and for ornamental fruits they are supreme They have the added advantage in that they will grow in the poorest of clay soils, in the most exposed positions and fruit freely They are satisfactory in any position near the roadsides for they are well armed with spines and are not easily broken A few years ago the only berberis we had was the common one, B vulgaris often planted as a hedge, a variety of which had coral-red fruit B aristata a strong growing species with black fruit. B. Darwinii. an evergreen with beautiful yellow flowers and dark fruit, and B stenophylla. with drooping branches suitable for covering a bank The first of the Chinese species was B Wilsonii and it was quickly followed by many new species from there While they remained isolated on mountain ranges they retained their specific • characters, but when brought together in gardens they began to cross fertilise one another immediately with the result that seedlings seldom came quite .true, but fortunately many are much better than their parents and we now have some beautiful hybrids. Occasionally one comes across sterile plants which refuse to fruit, but in most cases they fruit freely if not fed too highly. Seeds collected now and freed of their pulp by rubbing with wood ashes or sand and sown at once will germinate in the spring, and in a short time they will reach the fruiting size and become more beautiful as time goes on. Some of the best hybrids are Autumn Beauty. Autumn Cheer, Carminea. and Sparkler. TRAINING FRUIT TREES ON WALLS OR FENCES Interior fences or walls, whether put in for shelter, 01 for dividing off the vegetable garden from the flower garden, should provide support for either fruit trees or bushes for in this way they produce better fruit than when grown as bushes or standards. There are three methods of training, each being" suitable for some particular kind of fruit.

Cordons.—This method is particularly suitable for small town gardens, for it permits a large number of varieties to be grown in a small area. The stems are usually single or double and are trained upright in most cases, but they can be trained diagonally or horizontally in the latter case they are suitable for the sides of paths. Gooseberries, currants, apples, pears and cherries «an be trained in this way. Horizontal espalier trees have one main upright stem with branches trained out in a horizontal direction from 12 to 15 inches apart. This method is suitable for apples and pears. In fan training the branches arise near the base and are trained upwards and outwards, like the ribs of a fan. This method is suitable for loganberries, blackberries, raspberries, peaches, and cherries. A fence or wall with fruit trees or bushes trained on it is every bit as good a shelter as an ordinary hedge which after all takes up a good deal of valuable space and never produces anything but leaves. The need for shelter should be apparent to everyone who tries to garden in this country, especially on the hills, and when the shelter can be made productive it is folly to be without it. PRUNING RED AND WHITE CURRANTS Red and white currants, unlike the black, bear their fruit on the old wood in little groups of buds like spurs, and consequently their pruning is quite different. Beginning with a young three-stemmed bush, it is cut back to nine inches from the fork in the first year, in the second year all the side growths with the exception of the two top ones are cut back to half-an-inch from the old stem, and the two top growths are shortened to nine inches if growth is strong, to six inches if it is weak In the next winter the side shoots are again pruned back to half-an-inch, and the two top ones to six inches, thus making twelve branches altogether, which, is enough when the bushes are planted six feet apart. The pruning of oldei bushes consists of cutting back the side growths to half-an-inch and shortening the main shoe, to six inches until the bushes reaco their maximum height, when three inches extension of the main branches will be enough When bushes are old and unfruitful it is better to cut them out altogether and plant young ones, but as the young ones do not bear much fruit for the first two years, it would be better to replace one or two bushes every year, until the lot are renewed. Red and white currants are hardier than black, and can be grown in a cooler and more shady position; in fact, they are very suitable for planting on the shady Side of a wall or fence. When grown against a wall or fence they are better trained as single or double cordons For double cordons a two branches plant is selected. This is planted against the wall or fence and cut back to six inches from the fork in the first year Next winter all side growths are cut back to half-an-inch and the main shoots which are tied in at nine inches apart, are shortened back to nine inches. This pruning is carried on until the stems reacn the top of their supports when th.rv are spurred back every vear By growing a number of bushes in the open and a few plants against a shady wall the fruiting season is extended by several weeks for red and white currants hang on when ripe so long as they are protected from birds and it is easier to protect plants growing against a wall or fence by means of nets or thin scrim than when erowing bushshaped in the open Gooseberries can also be trained as cordons against a wall or fence and by following the same method of pruning as that for red currants they will bear crops of excellent fruit for dessert. After pruning the gooseberries and currants thf prurim>> sh"->iri be raked up and burned, for they often harbour insect and fungoid pests though neither bushes are very susceptible to attacks from pests If the old wood is covered with green moss or lichen dust them with quicklime when they are wet with ram or Hew r u qnrav *hpm with weak caustic soda. Lime is the simplest and what falls to the ground is of advantage to the soil. It would be a good idea to give the bushes a dusting of lime at the rate of f ou> -innce"- »r> Hi< sa"»n •> >. whether they are infested with moss or lichens or not The soil should be drawn away from round the stem of the bushes and a mulch of wellrotted stable manure applied afterwards throwing in some clean soil from hpHvnor n-r. m\v* lightly and digging between the rows, burying all weeds and leaves.

If farm yard manure is not available, give a dusting of a mixture of two-parts bonemeal and one of kainit applied at the rate of two ounces to the square yard dusted over the surface and lightly dug in This mixture applied after pruning should be followed up by another application when growth commences in the spring will "nnsisi >f superphosphate two-parts and sulphate of ootash one-part, the mix ture being applied at the rate of one ounce and a-half to the square vara* and hoed in If growth is not satisfactory nitrate of soda applied at the rate of one ounce to the square yard will assist it.