GARDENING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3509, 14 June 1921, Page 7

GARDENING NOTES.

B;

D. T annock.

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE GREEN-HOUSE AND NURSERY. June is the month in which plant growth reaches zero, though it is not necessarily the coldest or the one in which we get the hardest frost. There is less planting or sowing to be done now than at any other time, and attention can be given to such indoor work as renewing soil in the tomato-house and vinery, washing and repairing flowerpots, making and cleaning flower-stakes. When the tomatoes are grown in tins, it is necessary to renew the soil every year. The tins can he carried out and emptied, but it is not necessary to throw away the soil. If it is not required for seed-sowing or for pricking out annuals, it can be kept for covering seeds in early spring, when the ordinary soil is usually too wet or too lumpy. In any case, it shoidd be kept dry, and it is a good idea to pass it through a sieve to take out the crocks, to mix it with ail equal quantity of leaf mould, well-rotted manure, and sand, and to store it in a dry shed or under sheets of galvanised iron until it is required. The crocks can be washed and put back in the tins ready for next season. When the tomatoes are planted out in the borders it is not necessary to renew ihe soil every season from the fertility point of view, but it soon becomes impregnated ■with the spores of fungoid pests or the eggs of insects, and, unless it can be sterilised, it is better renewed. It was found that good crops could be grown for several years in the same soil when it was sterilised with steam, but this can only be done on a large scale with the necessary appliances. The only way of destroying insect and fungoid pests is by moans of heat or chemical action —the soil can be either baked, boiled, cr fumigated. When dealing with small quantities of soil for seed-sowing, it is possible to bake or scald it in kerosene tins; but when fairly large quantities have to be treated the chemical process is the simplest. Either apterite or vapourite can bo used. This is a reddish substance which, when mixed with damp soil, gives off fumes which kill insects and their eggs, and probably fungoid pests too. If the soil to be treated is too dry, it will not work; therefore it is better to damn the heap as it is turned over, and to dust it from ti ne to time with the apterite. A very liberal dusting will not do any harm, and in order to keep in the fumes until they have done their deadly work, the heap should bo covered over with wet sacks or canvas. If the soil is to be renewed, wheel if out first, thru wash down all the glass and woodwork with soft soap and hot water, and lime-wash all i lie walls, whether they are of wood or brick. If there are no plants in the tomatohouse it is well 10 fumigate with sulphur to destroy any pe-ts which might be lurking about in the cracks of the walls or woodwork. Put some red-hot coke on an old shovel, empty some sulphur over it, and shut up the door at once. The treatment recommended for tomatohouses can also be applied to cucumberhouses. Vineries can be cleaned now. First prune back all the young wood to two buds from the old wood, unless it is desirable to extend the reds. In some eases, when the spurs become old and scraggy, due to hard pruning, it is desirable to renew the rods entirely, and this can he done by taking up young growths from near the base. 'lbis should have been determined during flic growing season, and suitablo growths taken up without being stopnod. It is not neoossarv to cut out the old rods until tho new ones are well crown, but a few of the spurs on one side can lie moved to make room for Ihe foliage on the new rods. After priming, cut down the rods, and with the hands rub o IT all the lose bark. A blunt knife can bo used round the eyes, hut eare has to be taken not to damage the underbark, or bleeding will take place later on. It is also useful lo paint over tko cut surfaces with varnish where the

young wood was pruned off. or a special preparation which is supplied for the purpose.

Next wash down all the glass and woodwork, lime-wash the walls, paint the hotwater pipes, and tie up the rods loosely. By many it is considered better to tie them up halfway and to leave the top half in a more or less horizontal position until growth commences to secure a more oven distribution of the sap. Sap always rises to the top buds first, and those near the bottom are often later in breaking into growth when the rods are tied up at once. Fork up the surface soil of both the inside and outside borders, and remove all that can be taken away without damaging the roots; give a dressing of Thomson's vine and plant manure, basic phosphate, or bone dust; return new turfy loam in place of that which was removed, and then give a good mulching with well-rotted farmyard manure. Where annuals or other crops' are grown on the outside borders, it will be necessary to dig in the manure lightly later on. A mulching of from 4in to" 6in thick will not be too much, and a good watering will be necessary to thoroughly soak the borders. It is not necessary to close the ventilators until it is desirable to start growth, hilt in _ most cases vineries are also used for raising young tomato and bedding plants, and consequently they have to be kept closer and warmer after cleaning. Where there is little or no glass to provide work for rough weather, flower-stakes can be made, or the old ones can be cleaned and pointed. Thin manuka scrub makes excellent stakes. All that is necessary is to trim off the thin, scrubby twigs and to point them; they are better left their full length, and cut down to the height required when used. Though manuka lasts a long time above ground, it soon rots at the surface of the soil; and it will be necessary to break off the decayed part and point them afresh. Sort them ‘out into sizes, and tie up in bundles of from 50 to ICO. It is now so difficult to get large pots for chrysanthemums that it is necessary to repair up all the cracked and broken ones. Bind them round with wire and plaster up the cracks with cement. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Continue to clean up leaves, to dip- over herbaceous and shrubbery borders, and to prune rambler roses and shrubs. Trenching and manuring new beds and borders can be done, and holes can be prepared for planting out trees and shrubs on grassy banks. Advantage should be taken of the winter weather to repair old rustic fences and arches, and to erect new ones. When manuka stakes have been used they often rot away at. the ground surface after three or four years, but they can he fixed up by driving in hardwood posts alongside them, and nailing or bolting them to the superstructure. Fuchsia posts last for a long time, and so do maerocarpa, and either of these can be used; and another excellent method is to fix a base of hardwood in the ground, and to bolt the manuka on to it; or to sink a piece of iron pipe in a block of concrete, and to fit the woodwork into it. The more irregular the woodwork A ihe better, although it is desirable to follow some definite pattern. And it is necessary to bote ihe nail holes, otherwise, when ihe wood shrinks, it, splits. It is really better to erect a good, firm, substantial fence in the first place, and to use good materials. THE KITCHEN GARDEN. Continue to prune fruit trees and bushes, to manure them, and to dig or cultivate among them ; also to dig and trench vacant ground, and to clear away spent crops. TROPICAL PLANTS. Fashions change in gardening, as in everything else, and the large specimen plants—natives of tropical and subtropical countries—which were considered the highest form of horticulture, have now almost entirely disappeared. These required large pots, a glass-house heated to a high temperature, and constant attenton ; and it is very doubtful if they were worth it. They are missed at the horticultural shows, where they formed a feature, and so far there is nothing to tuko their place. As an indication of the change which I have just mentioned, the large conservatory at Cliatsworth, which was one of the largest plant houses in Europe, lias been pulled down, and many of the conservatories in Dunedin

are now filled with tomatoes, or almost empty. After all, the efforts made in grow-

ing tropical plants in pots were poor compared with the results attained when these same plants were grown in their natural habitat; and I noted many of our old friends growing in the Panama Canal zone. This zone has been made as beautiful as possible. All the bare ground is sown down with grass, and the cuttings and embankments are rapidly being covered up with tropical creepers. Grass is grown between tho tramlines on the locks, and the American engineers evidently prefer grass to concrete, asphalt, or macadam where it can be sown. Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is planted everywhere as a hedge, and in great masses near the buildings. All bush has been cleared away from tiro administrative and residential buildings, grass sown, and specimens of the rain tree and other ornamental trees and shrubs planted. There are also hedges of Aralias, Cratons, and Alexanders, with largo groups of Allomandas, Bougainvillas, Tocomas, etc. The native bush round the lake is very similar in appearance to the bush round Paterson’s Inlet. at Stewart’s Island, or Lake Manapouri, except that palms take the place of cabbage trees and tree ferns. In Panama City there are avenues of Oneodoxia regia, cocoanuts, and bods filled with vincas and roses. Roses, as usual, look out of place in tropical countries, and are not a success.