THE GARDEN

Otago Witness, Issue 3869, 8 May 1928, Page 11

THE GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK.

By

D. Tannock.

The Greenhouse and Nursery. The accommodation in the propagating houses will be taxed to its utmost at the present time, and it is now and in the spring that we find the benefit of plenty of cold frames. They are cheaper than greenhouses to construct, and are indispensable where quantities of bedding plants have to be grown. Continue to put in cuttings of pansies and violas and make preparations for putting in cuttings of ornamental trees and shrubs and hedge plants.

The Fruit and Vegetable Garden. Continue to prepare ground for planting fruit trees and bushes, and to trench or dig all vacant ground. Earth up the late-planted celery, and draw the soil up round the spring cabbage and broccoli to steady them during windy weather. Make a sowing of English or American Wonder peas to come in early next season. They will germinate, and then remain stationary until spring, when growth begins again, but it is advisable to cover them with twiggy stakes, which give some shelter during the worst of the weather in the winter. The Flower Garden.

Though there has not been any severe frosts as yet, the recent rough wet weather has put an end to most of the summer bedding plants, and shey should be removed to make room for the wall- - flowers and polyanthus. Standard fuchsias can be lifted, and after pruning back the branches a little they can be potted up and stood in a deep frame or a cool greenhouse, or they can be heeled, in on the shady side of a hedge, where they will be sheltered from the winter frosts. When potting them up it is also advisable to prune the roots with a sharp knife, and to put them into as small pots as possible. Heliotropes can also be lifted, potted up, and stood on a bench in a warm greenhouse, where there will be a little growth all winter. Cannas should be shortened back considerably,- and packed into boxes of moist soil and stood under the bench in the coolhouse or in a vinery or tomato-house. Dahlias should also be lifted carefully with a fork, the stems cut back to within a foot of the tubers, taking care to fasten the label firmly on to each,- and then spread out in a cold frame or a dry airy shed to .dry before being stored away in dry soil in deep boxes, and placed in a frostproof shed or cellar. They can also be kept quite safely if lined out on the sheltered side of a hedge or feuce and protected with a few pieces of twiggy branches during frosty weather. Where the dahlias are planted among shrubs they can be cut over and left in the ground until the spring, when they can be lifted and divided up. In frosty districts they should be mulched with straw or fresh manure. Tuberous begonias are also lifted carefully with a fork, half of the foliage is cut off, and the tubers are then spread out in a frame or shed until the remaining part of the stem falls off, when they are cleaned, dried, and stored away in dry, light soil in shallow boxes, which are •placed in a frostproof shed. Gladioli are quite hardy, but they too should be lifted before the foliage ripens off, the stems beilng cut off about 3in or 4in from the corms. Those are then spread out in a frame or shed and dried until the remaining piece of stem can be pulled off easily, when they are spread out in shallow boxes and stored in a dry shed or cellar. When lifting gladioli take care to gather all the little tubers (called spawn) which arise around the old corms, for if these are sown like peas in a flat drill in a well-worked, liberallymanured piece of ground they soon de- - ’ velop into flowering corms. When geranium cuttings root well it is not necessary to keep the old plants, but where there are no facilities for rooting them the old plants can be retained. Lift them carefully, trim the roots, and remove all their foliage and flower buds. They can then be potted up in as small pots as possible or packed close together ..in boxes, which should be placed in the / greenhouse or in a frame. They will not look very well at first, but by the spring they can be pruned back and started into growth. They ran also be wintered under a hedge during most seasons. Nepeta musseni and Lobelia cadinalis can also be lifted and divided up and planted in boxes, or the old plants can be placed in boxes which should be put in cold frames during the winter, and in the spring, when growth commences, they can be divided up. Pruning Bush Fruit Trees. The pruning of the bush fruits, such as gooseberries and currants, can commence as soon as the foliage ripens, and though it is a suitable operation for frosty weather, when the soil is hard and •will not stick to the boots, it is also an advantage to carry out this operation in the autumn, and to get the garden cleaned up and the soil turned over, so that it may be exposed to the frost. The necessary tools for this operation are a pair of good sharp secateurs, a sharp knife to trim large cuts, a small saw to cut out dead wood and large branches, a pair of stout leather gloves, and a leather or rubber pad to kneel on. Young plants have usually three branches when they are received from the

nurseryman, and these should be shortened back to about 6in. Next year the branches should be increased to six, and the following year to from nine to twelve, which is sufficient for any ordinary bush. In every case when pruning cut to a bud pointing outwards, so that the new growth will have an outward tendency and keep the centre of the bushes open. Gooseberries bear their fruit on the young wood, and also on small spur-like growths on the old, but the best fruit is borne on the young growths, and these should be extended by from 9in to 12in every year. • All the thin, twiggy growths and lateral shoots are cut back to about an inch, and any branches which show a tendency to grow inwards are cut right out. When dealing with the drooping varieties it is necessary to depart from the general rule and to cut to an upward bud, for the long shoots are liable to bend down with the weight of the fruit, which then becomes covered with dirt. When summer pruning is carried out the laterals usually should be shortened, but a further pruning is necessary. A model goosebery bush should not be too tall, but sufficiently high to have the lower branches well away from the ground. The branches should radiate from the main stem, and their tips should all be about the same distance from it, and they should also be sufficiently far apart to enable the fruit to be picked without scratching the hands. When one has to deal with old neglected bushes it is usually better to root them out and begin again with new ones, but in some cases it is better to treat them •so that they will bear fruit until the young bushes are sufficiently large to provide the necessary crops. The first operation should be the removal of all dead and half-dead branches, which should be cut right out with the saw, the young wood shortened a little, and the lower branches removed altogether. Gooseberries can also be trained on a fence or wall either as single or double cordons or fan shaped. In this way excellent fruit can be obtained, and a wire fence covered with gooseberries makes a very effective and fruitful division between the vegetable and the flower garden, or between rhe vegetable aud the fruit quarters. Birds often pick out the fruit buds when they begin to swell, but they are easily scared off with pieces of black cotton fixed over the bushes from branch to branch, or by scattering some strands of flax fibres over them. Raspberries.

Raspbe'rries bear their fruit entirely on the young canes, which spring from the base of the old ones, and these are usually cut away as soon as the fruit is picked. Five or six canes are enough to leave on each stool. Others should be cut away and the tips of the selected canes which are thin and not well ripened cut off. There are several ways of training raspberries, but the best is in a fan shape on a fence made of two or three wires. Another very satisfactory method is to divide the shoots into two lots, and to tie one over to meet a similar number of canes from the neighbouring stool, forming an arch. The buds develop better through being placed in a more or less horizontal position, as the space is more fully utilised, and the young growths have room to grow without interfering with the canes growing fruit. Another method is simply to tie the tops of the canes together, and to leave them to support one another, but by this method the young canes have to grow up through the fruit-bearing ones, and the spaces between them are left vacant.

Black Currants. Black currant trees bear their fruit on the young wood, and the method of pruning is somewhat similar to that employed with gooseberries during the earlier stages, while the bush is being built up. To maintain the bushes in a fruit-bearing condition it is necessary to cut out a few of the old branches altogether every year to encourage young ones, which spring from the base of the bush like suckers, to come up to take their place. The main branches are built up at the rate of from 9in to 12in each year, the unripened tips on which the buds are crowded being cut away and all the laterals shortened back to about an inch. Because black currants usually bear good crops for the first few years, whether they are pruned or not, they are often neglected, until they become a tangled mass of old barren stems. A vigorous thinning will often bring black currant bushes “into a healthy fruitful condition again, but it js better- to start again with young bushes, planting them twice as . thickly as they are intended to remain, and cutting out or transplanting every second bush when they become crowded. Red and White Currants.

Red and white currants bear their fruit on little clusters produced on the old wood, and thereby differ entirely from the black currants. When building up the young bush the same process should be adopted as with the gooseberries and black currants, about 6in to 9in of young wood being added to the main branches every years, until the bushes reach their maximum height, all laterals being pruned off, and any suckers which arise m the centra of tno bushes cut out. Though

red currants are usually grown as bushes they can be trained as single or double cordons, and as they will grow in a dull, moist,and sunless position they are suitable for covering walls and fences where little else would thrive.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. “ Native Hedge.”—lt would take a long time to grow a totara hedge from seed, and, if you have decided to have one, it would be better to obtain plants from a nurseryman or from the bush. A. J., Middlemarch.—Portion of your privet hedge seems to be stunted, and the cause is either lack of drainage or lack of food. Cultivate the surface and give a liberal mulch ' with farmyard manure.

M. W. M., Mataura.—Costmary (Tanacctum Balsamita) is a hardy perennial native of the Orient, but now naturalised in some parts of South Europe. The leaves were formerly put into ale, and are now sometimes used in salads. You might be able to obtain seeds from seedsmen in England, but it would be better to get out plants.

“ Amateur,” Dunedin.—lt would be better to shift the shrubs you mention to a more sunny position and to plant rhododendrons on the cool, shady bank. A. H.—Your Jersey Bennes, which have been exposed to the light and have consequently become green, will make excellent seed. Place them in boxes with the bud end up and keep them in a cool, airy shed until the spring. The large ones can be cut. Potato planting will be described later on.

G. W., Ranfurly.—l regret that 1 am Unable to name your plum.