THE GARDEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27091, 27 May 1949, Page 9

THE GARDEN

Contributed by D. TANNOCK. A.H.B.H.H. Sc= 7—..: : = =====

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS J. B. t Leeston.—l dealt fully with autumn tints on trees and shrubs in my notes in the Otago Daily Times of April 15 last. I daresay you could obtain a copy from the office. A. F., Dunedin.—Fruit trees and nuts can be grown from cuttings put in now, ,last season's ripened young wood being selected. They are not usually propagated in this way, the fruit trees—apples, pears, peaches, apricots and plums being budded or grafted on to suitable stocks. The walnut is usually grafted or grown from seed, and the hazel nuts from suckers obtained round the base of the old bushes Fruit bushes such as currants and gooseberries are easily grown from cuttings of ripened young wood, and raspberries from suckers. The Chinese yam is a perennial and is propagated by means of rhizomes (underground stems). PRUNING FRUIT BUSHES Fruit-bearing bushes (usually called soft fruits) should find a place in the smallest gardens, and the pruning and training of these is most important. In many gardens there are old, worn-out gooseberry and currant bushes, either badly pruned or not pruned at all, forming a taugled mass of twigs and dead wood, which bear fruit of a very inferior quality, if they bear at all. As they are so easy to raise from cuttings, and are not expensive to buy, it is better to dig out and burn the neglected bushes and plant young ones.

When pruning bush fruits of any kind, it is essential before starting that you are quite certain on which kind of wood the fruit is produced. Black currants bear almost entirely on the young wood of the previous season’s growth, red currants bear on little spurs of the old wood, gooseberries bear on both the young wood and on little spurs on the old. but the best berries and the heaviest crop is borne on the young wood; raspberries bear on the current season’s growth, which is developed. from the resting buds on the previous season’s young wood; and loganberries and blackberries are similar. We will begin with the gooseberries, which are the most useful of the hardy bush fruits. The berries can be used when green as soon as they are worth picking for stewing and tarts; and when fully grown, but before they ripen, they can be bottled for use during the winter and spring, or made into jam or jelly. When fully ripe they are one of the most desirable of dessert fruits, especially when eaten as picked from the bushes. Though they can be trained as cordons and standards, they are usually grown as bushes. Beginning with three stems on the young ones, these are cut bade to three or four buds from their base, and on each of these shortened branches two young growths are allowed to develop. At the next winter pruning, these are shortened back half their length, and again two young growths are retained on each, these being retained at almost their full length, and only the unripened tips being cut off. THREE PRUNING S There are two types of gooseberries, one with, upright growth and another with drooping growth, and when pruning, the upright growing kinds are cut to a bud pointing outwards, and the drooping kinds to a bud pointing upwards. Subsequent pruning is carried out at three seasons. In the spring some of the young growths which spring up in the centre of the bushes are rubbed out; after the fruit has been picked, some of the old branches are cut out to allow light and air to ripen the young wood; and in winter the thin twiggy growths are cut back to the old wood and the young selected shoots are thinned to allow the hands to pass easily between them, without being scratched, and the unripened tips of the shoots cut off. Gooseberries can be trained as upright cordons on a wire fence or individual stakes. Beginning with a young plant, the strongest shoot is selected to form the upright growth, this being shortened back half its length, and the others cut back to one inch. At a subsequent pruning the leader is shortened about half its length, and the side shoots are pinched back to four leaves in the spring, and at the winter pruning are cut back to an inch. When the leader has reached the maximum height desired all the young growths are pinched at four leaves in the spring, and cut back to an inch or two from the main stem in the winter. As birds are fond of picking out ths buds in the spring, a few strands of black cotton stretched from the tips of the branches will keep them off. CURRANTS AND RASPBERRIES Black currants are next to the gooseberries in importance, and they are usually trained as bushes, though they can be trained against a fence, fan-shaped. As they bear their fruit on the young wood, the main pruning is carried out in the summer as soon as the fruit is picked. Some of the old branches are cut right out to allow the young shoots, which come up from the base, and the smaller side shoots room to develop and ripen in order to form fruiting buds for the next season. When trained on a fence—and the black currant is very suitable for the shady side of a fence—training and pruning similar to the peach is suitable, but as the stems are strong and rigid it is not necessary to tie them in to a support ■ , • .. Red and white currants bear their fruit on little spurs on the old wood and consequently their treatment is quite different from the black. After a bush with six stems has been obtained, all side shoots are pruned back to two buds from their base, and the main branches extended by six inches until they reach the height desired. They are very suitable for training as cordons on a shady wall or board fence. The treatment of raspberries is very simple. Immediately after the fruit is picked, the old canes which have borne the fruit are cut down close to the ground and the young ones thinned a bit if there are more than is necessary to replace the ones cut out. As soon as the leaves drop the unripened tips of the young canes are cut off. Raspberries can be trained in several ways. The one I consider the most suitable is to tie the canes fan-shaped on to a wire fence or on wires stretched about six inches from a close board fence. They can also be trained as half-hoops or arches, three or four canes from one stool being tied over until they meet a similar number of canes from the next stooL Another method is to tie them up to stout stakes either at their full length or cut to three different heights, say, two at 2ft, two at 4ft and two at sft or 6ft. This secures fruiting branches all the way up. CITRUS FRUITS The orange and lemon can be grown and fruited in specially well-sheltered and ■ warm situations against a wall or fence facing the north. They are evergreen, and require little pruning beyond the removal of any dead wood and keeping the centres of the bushes reasonably open. The cranberry (myrtus ugni) is a neat little evergreen shrub suitable for forming low hedges or the shrubbery border. They bear , abundant crops .of small edible berries for making jelly. They require a little thinning out or pruning to keep them in shape.