GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3399, 7 May 1919, Page 7

GARDEN & ORCHARD.

Bi D. Taxnock. WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GBEENHOUSE AND NUESEBY. Continue to house chrysanthemums and keep the atmosphere of the greenhouse as dry as possible, opening both the top and bottom ventilators whenever the weather is favourable. Caterpillars are very plentiful this season, and the blooms and buds will have to be examined frequently for them. If left to the freedom of their own will they soon spoil a good flower. If milclew appears on the foliage dust it with flulphur, and if rust appears on the leaves pull them off and burn them. The various kinds of primulas, such as Primula malacoides, P. obconica, P. Kewensis, and the earliest lot of P. sinensis will Dow have filled their pots with roots, and they will require a little weak liquid manure once a fortnight. The second lot of Primula sinensis will' soon be' ready Jto pot up into their flowering pots, and any 'greenhouse calceolarias not potted up into three inch pots should receive attention at once. Continue to put in cuttings of violas and pansies, and make preparations for putting in cuttings of roses, trees, and shrubs. The covering should be placed over chrysanthemums growing under frames, to protect them from the wet and frost. They are much later than usual this season, but it is not safe to leave them uncovered any longer. Calico is better than scrim; if the roof has a satisfactory pitch It will run the water off and keep the blooms dry. THE ELOWEB GAEDEN. Continue to put out spring flowering plants as the beds and borders become available; and this is also a suitable time to plant columbines sweet williams, and Canterbury bells, either in beds and borders by themselves or in bold groups in the mixed border. The columbines are useful for providing cut flowers after the spring flowers are over and before the roses come in. Tiie sweet williams flower about the same time as the roses, but last longer, and the £anterbury bells are very useful for providig cut flowers at Christmas time. They are all very hardy, but like good wellmanured soil.

This is a suitable time to sow down a new lawn; the grass seed germinates readily, and the roots penetrate sufficiently deep to prevent the little plants from being thrown out by the frost. Old lawns which require topdressing and renovating can also receive attention now. Where they have been attacked by the grass grub the loose grass should be raked off, a little new fine soil sprinkled on, and some fresh seed sown and raked in with the iron rake. It is not necessary or desirable to dig over a lawn which has been attacked by grass grub, unless it has been eaten out altogether. Old lawns which have become weedy, and thin can be improved by raking them well with the iron rake, giving a liberal topdressing with fine soil to which some lime has been added, and raking it in well. A little seed can be sown on the thin and bare patches. When a lawn becomes very ■weedy ifc is better to dig or trench it and take off a crop of potatoes; the cultivation they require breaks up the soil, and when the shaws cover the ground they keep down weeds. They can be dug sufficiently early in the autumn to enable the grass seed to be sown then. When sowing down a new lawn, the first thing is to, get the soil into a good state of cultivation by digging forking it over; level it, and if it is not too wet it »hould bo rolled or firmed by tramping, rake Off all stones and lumps, leaving tho surface level but not too fine. On a calm day sow the gross seed evenly but not too thinly (it is bettor to give a liberal seeding and to got a good sward quickly), rako in with the iron rake, and unless the area is too large, cover with pieces of spruce branches or manuka scrub to keep away the birds until tho seed .germinates. It is better not to roll Immediately after

sowing or after the seed germinates, the lumps and small stones provide a certain amount of shelter from the cold cutting winds during the winter, and the loose surface is not so liable to cake. If the area is too largo to cover with earth, sow some poisoned grain; it may not kill many small birds, but it keeps them busy until the grass seed germinates. Autumn-tinted trees and shrubs are the chief feature in the landscape at the present time, and though we don't get quite such bright tint 3 as they do in Central Otago, Queenstown, and other places where they have a drier atmosphere and earlier frosts, some of the kinds could hardly be better. Bright tints are a sign, of thorough ripening, and thorough ripening means plenty of blossom next season. In large gardens and parks in and round Dunedin, where there is a lot of native bush, the planting of bright autumn-tinted trees is necessary to brighten up what is usually a dull season, and dark green background helps to show them up. AUTUMN-TINTED TEEES. The poplar family provides quite a number of trees with good autumn tints. The tall Lombardy poplar, when planted in rows or groups, is quite a feature, and is a useful tree to provide an effect quickly. It does not take up much room overhead, but its roots are very aggressive, and they phould not be planted near a shrubbery or flower border. The aspen _ (Populus tremula) is a neat little tree, _ with roundshaped leaves which tremble in the wind, It thrives in a moist position near a creek or pond. Populus alba (the white or silver poplar) is attractive both during the summer and autumn; it colours beautifully, and is a good tree for a rough place where it has plenty of room to develop, but it has the bad habit of sending up suckers in all directions. P. monilifera is also a strong growing kind with very large leaves. The English beech (Fagws eylvatica) is a splendid park and avenue tree, which thrives in well-drained, warm, stony ground. It develops a shapely head, and in autumn its leaves, which hang on for a long time, turn to brown and gold. Elms, oaks, sycamores, and chestnuts are all good park trees. Among the smaller growing trees, suitable for small parks and medium-sized gardens, are the mountain ash or Rowan tree (Pyrus aucuparia) is one of the finest; it colours beautifully in the autumn, and earlier in season -its berries are very attractive. Pyrua aria (the white beam tree) is almost as good as the mountain ash, but it hasn't such a good habit of growth. There are several of the prunus family take on good autumn tints. P. pissardi and P. moserii, though always dark, take on a brighter and warmer tint in the autumn, and the wild cherry (P. Cerasus), as well as several of the Japanese flowering kinds, become very attractive. Other small trees are the golden ash, tulip tree, silver birch, flowering ash, Canadian maple, sugar maple, liquidamber, and the maidenhair tree.

The brightest of all autumn tint trees are the scarlet oaks; they are not easy to get, are difficult to transplant, and slow growing at first, but once they become established in a sheltered position, where the soil is good and the subsoil a cool, moist clay, they do splendidly. They are natives of North America, Quercus palustris being the bog or pip oak, and Q. coccinea tho true scarlet oak. The Japanese maples also takes on fine autumn tints, some becoming quite red, but this season the leaves were blown off before they had a chance to colour.

Autumn-tinted Shrubs.—There are a great many autumn-tinted shrubs suitable for all soils, situations, and exposures; and many have tho additional attraction of producing bright flowers in abundance in the spring and early summer. As the buds are developed now on most of the flowering kinds, great care ha.swto .be taken when cutting branches for house decoration merely to thin them out and to cut away the thinspindly ones. Tho Ghent azaleas are very fine at this season, and a bed or largo group of them in tho shrubbery or mixed- border can be mado quite a , feature. As their buds are developed now they are not suitable for cutting, but for garden decoration they are splendid. There aro so many autumn-

tinted shrubs that I can only namo a few of the most prominent kinds. Yellow flowering currant (Ribes aurea), Spindle tree (Euonymous europaeus), and the variety purpurea, Cotoneaster applanata, C. Franchetti, Berbcxis aristata, 8.. vulgaris, R.. virescens, B. Tbunbergii, Cornus sanguinea (the Dog wood), Viburnum Apulus, the Guilder Rose, Spirajo prunifolia, S. Van lioutte, S. Aitchisoni, S. Lindleyana, Rhus continue, R. typhina, R. glabra, _ var. laciniata, Stephanandra Tanake, Weigelia roses, Andromeda arborea, and Nandenia domestica.

Autumn-tinted Climbers.—There are quite a number of autumn-tinted vines suitable for covering walls, fences, and pergolas. The Virginian creeper is always splendid at this season, and the leaves hang on longer on the shady side of a building. Ampclopsis Veitchii and its variety purpures are the best for a brick wall, for they cling, but tho larger-leaved kinds are suitable for pergolas, pillars, and growing up through trees and hedges. Tho wistaria tints to some extent, and the various vines are splendid in certain localities, Vitis Cognethe? V. cognetise, var. purpurea, V. Thunbergi, and V. Henryana are all good kinds. Rhus toxicodendron (or "poison ivy) is sometimes sold under the name of Ampelopsis Hoggii; it certainly takes on very delightful tints, but it should not be planted on a dwelling house or near where people frequent. "

VEGETABLE GARDEN. Potato digging should be completed as soon as possible; all spent crops can be cleaned off, and the digging or trenching of all vacant plots attended to. A sowing of broad beans can be made, and it is not too late to make another sowing of peas. Continue to prune fruit bushes.