GARDEN NOTES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18063, 13 April 1933, Page 11

GARDEN NOTES

THE WEEK’S WORK The garden is now at a. stage of harvest, for there is still some fruits of oiir labor to wait for before winter comes. What little is to be done in the way of regular gardening must be looked for. It is mainly to be found in helping tlie .several varieties of plants to be in a healthy state before the rest period for them. Take, for instance, the carnations. These are about to go through a period that will either leave them weak and spindly or able to give good blooms. The main reason Ibis flower is chosen is to get the amateur gardener to ex amine the plant itself, and reason out what he has been doing to it, during the last six months, and while doing so, to relatively place each section of his garden in his mind’s eye for the same examination.

The spring and early summer gave ns a wealth of blooms of all kinds, and the constant supply of one. variety after another has in most gardens caused a famine of food in the soil. We have been pouring water, by hose and watering ran, on and around the plants until much goodness has been washed away, and also inuoli of the soil lias gone from near the plants to hasten the starving of its waning powers.

. Now is the time to replace as much of this wasted energy that the plant needs before going to sleep for the short winter we have. How this is to be given is mainly a question of what can be given. The best is liquid manure. Tf this is not obtainable, fertilisers must be used, and are best applied with the aid of a small hand rake, and allowed to eo to the roots with the natural assistance of what showers usually come at this season.

In going through the several plants each should -be examined as to what can be done away with. New shoots and buds will develop by the pruning of old growth. Sunshine in a few weeks will be valuable and so all that is shaded from the plants is wasted. Thus it is as well, while stooping to examine the smaller growth, to look up and see what ran be done away with in the overharming and taller growths. Of course, all decayed rubbish must be cleared away from plants that are liable to rot, and if clean, this may be placed in a heap to make a compost later, for there is little that has not value in the clean refuse of a well-kept garden. BREAKING UP PLANTS

The division of such clumps as pldoxes and daisies which are apt to become overcrowded is important now, for if done at this time, the severed roots will have time to heal, and tho plant to becomo established.

In dividing the plants it is best to select for replanting only the healthiest and vigorous growths that are found on tho outside of the clumps, throwing away the woody and inert centre parts. When dividing it is best to lift the entire plant and shake away the soil, as in this way the root system is more clearly seen, and dividing can bo carried out to better advantage. In some cases it is better even to immerse the mass in water to clear away the soil. If it is possible tho plant should be replanted in a new border plot and its old quarters well manured and dug ready for other plants. The Michaelmas daisies will not be ready for a week or two to 'break up, and the spaces left vacant by other removals can bo prepared to receive the Michaelmas when their time comes. In this manner it will bo seen that there is much to be done at this season besides preparing spring beds of bulbs. These must be seen to without delay, and their favorite companions, the Iceland poppies, not forgotten. That bed of sweet williams spoken of last season must also be prepared for. and sufficient plants raised to fill a good sized plot. The colors to be had are so beautiful, and blend as perfectly as the pattern of a Paisley shawl, that they need not be kept separate, but may be planted Ift. apart to make their own design. COLOR HARMONY

, It- is a well-known fact that many people are color blind to some extent. Some are unable, to perceive the extreme red rays, while others have the same loss of the violet. It is therefore a point to remember that all species of blooms only contain two of the primary colors and their blending tones. None lias the three colors of red, yellow and blue. The sweet pea is perhaps the nearest to having all the colors, hut had it all of them the black, by nature, would be the only one. This law, if kept in mind, will enable anyone lacking in color tone to mingle the colors by aiding the combined colors of a specie with red and yellow by placing nearby a. specie containing blue, and by se doing make a contrast. Yet no color blending depends only on the combined colors, but on the proportion in which they are combined. Thus it is possible to make our own garden in tones to speak plainly our character and feelings in color. In such a, way some will' plant forget-me-not blue and light heliotrope with pink, while others again admire the clash of vivid colors, such as vermilion and yellow. ' Each has a beauty in itself, and should, in the period of full bloom, the garden be visited bv real friends, it is not unwifco to ask their opinion of colors ns seen by them, and to make notes of their remarks to enable by the moving of a few plants or the inserting of perhaps just one color, to fill the whqle. garden with, much more pleasure. For it. is often the one note alone that inrs And ";giVes tho discord that spoils the best pmsic. ' ■ The blue • garden' has manv admirers and can bo made a thing of beauty. A full list is inserted in many catalogues of. the several species containing the tones of this color: they even go so far as to supply a design to enable the gardener to set out the bed, but though blue may appeal to many, the oldfashioned garden still claims its friends and is likely to hold tbgin. 'While working among the plants it is as well not to- rieodect the addition of lime to the soil. This must not be given with the fertiliser,' but at a period of 4bn*e two weeks either before or afterwards. Before'is-the better time. Keep in mind those plants which dislike lime, such as heaths and lilies; perhaps, it is best to say broadly, all plants of the rock gardon variety.