GARDENER'S CALENDAR FOR APRIL.

Southland Times, Issue 1237, 15 April 1870, Page 2

GARDENER'S CALENDAR FOR APRIL.

« This is usually one of the most settled months of the year, the days being generally bright and warm, with little or no wind, and the atmosphere soft and balmy. The temperature, however, begins to get lower, and the nights to get longer, and although there may be no great rainfall, there is little necessity for artificial irrigation. The daily evaporation being considerably decreased, the copious dews which generally fall during the cool nights of this month are, in ordinary seasons, sufficient to supply all requisite moisture. Kitchen Gabdek. — The gardener's attention during the month will be chiefly devoted to harvesting such crops as are stored for winter use, and to clearing the plots from which such crops have been removed. The vacant ground should be levelled over and left with an even, although not a smooth surface this distributes evenly the rains of winter, preventing the water from lodging in holes, or spots which may have become trodden, and thereby- forming sour patches. Manure should also be wheeled on and placed in convenient compact heaps; ready for next crop. It is much better to do such work now, while the * ground is dry, than to allow it to stand over until wet weather sets in, as it can be done more cleanly, and without cakeing the soil, as is invariablydone by such an operation when the earth is full of moisture. The manure being placed on the ground at this season also insures its being thoroughly decomposed by the time it is required for use, a thing far too little attended to generally, the practice in most cases, in the vicinity of the town at least, being to cart manure direct from the stable heap on to the sou" and dig it in, thereby insuring a most abundant and varied crop of weeds. By turning the heaps orice or twice during winter, the quality of the manure will be greatly improved, and the. germinating principles of most, if not all, of the noxious seeds contained in it will be entirely destroyed: Alterations intended to bemade in the arrangements of the garden should also be commenced during this month, such parts of the work as require dry weather for their performance being first attended to. "With due care, in sheltered situations, there need be no dearth of vegetables of some sort all the year round. Plants put out now in a warm border will come in for use during winter and spring, and by successional plantings a supply may be kept up until next main crops come on. Lettuce and endive should still be planted out for winter salads, and those well grown tied up to blanch ; late caaliflower3 may be preserved from frostbite by tying their leaves gently together over the heart, or flower. Look well to growing celery, and see that it be carefully earthed, up. Hoe and earth up forward crops of flowering broccoli, and if too crowded, from overgrowth, remove every second plant to fresh ground. It frequently happens on rich soil that broccoli misses flowering at the proper season through exuberance of growth; this has to be guarded against by checking tke growth of each plant, which is. done either by a second transplanting, or by bending them over on their sides. v Dress asparagus beds by cutting down the old . stalks, and digging in with a short toed fork plenty of rich well-made manure. Give rhubarb a thorough digging, putting in plenty of well decomposed manure. Sea kale should also be similarly treated. Let all vacant plots be dog over and left rough to the mellowing influence of the weather. ■ Fbuit Gabden. — Fresh strawberry beds should be put down this 'month at latest. Select well rooted young runners, and plant in rows 30 inches apart and 15 to 18 inches between the plants. Be careful in procuring a good variety. Better pay handsomely for a sort that will yield you abundance of rich luscious fruit, than waste timt and trouble on a variety which bears but little, . and even that of poor quality. British Queen, Elton Pine, and Kean's Seedling are all good varieties. . Fresh plantations of currants and gooseberries may now be made, but in the absence of immediate rain the plants should be copiously watered for several days. Budded fruit trees may be untied, arid pruning commenced on such bushes as have shed their leaves. Flowbe Gabdeh. — Little can now be done in this department. Its glory is fast fading, and all j we can do is to maintain its preservation by strict attention to neatness and cleanliness. Tender plants should be taken up, carefully potted and housed, while the hardier sorts should be well trimmed and afforded as much shelter as possible. Cuttings, which have been in beds during the summer, should now be planted out in a sheltered spot, at greater distances, where they may remain till wanted. Continue the planting of bulbs, taking care to mark their position ; dry and store dahlia roots, &c. Evergreens may also be transplanted, provided the earth is carefully settled about every plant by a thorough drenching immediately they are planted. Budding may now be performed with almost certain Buccess, and may be applied with benefit not only to. fruit .trees, but to purple beech, weeping ash, roaeaoacia, and many others. Cuttings of verbenas, geraniums, laurel, evergreen roses, and other soft- wooded plants should now be put into suitable soils, they will be certain to shoot freely and the former two will bloom well during the folo wing summer. Grass lawns, or patches, neglected last month, should be. cnt and rolled. „