THE GARDEN

Southland Times, Issue 18967, 14 June 1923, Page 15

THE GARDEN

(By

“Horlioola.”)

Owing to the clearance of autumn cauliflowers and some other crops from the larger quarters of the garden, manuring, trenching and digging should be actively carried on. Select some strong tubers of early potatoes and place them in boxes, in a light position in preparation for the first plant ing. Remove all growths but two of the strongest on each set. Too much importance cannot be attached to mulching, for an annual mulching goes a long way towards ensuring the welfare of all shrubs and trees, especially those which have been planted recently. When dealing with young shrubberies the dressing must not be forked in where the roots are very near the surface, but where no roots are found near the top of the ground, then t may be lightly covered. Shrubberies and vacant beds in prominnt positions should be made clean and tidy, ihe surface of old gravel paths should be turned or freshened up by the addition of icw material, or where these consist of •dgea, must be neatly trimmed, and the .hole put in order for the winter. Where new paths are being made careful attention should be given to proper drainage —r mater too often overlooked. In all instances the gratings and drains should be large enough to carry off all surface water quickiy; at the same time the former should be •a inconspicuous as possible. Suitable receptacles, to catch the silt from the gravel, should be constructed beneath these, or the trains may soon become blocked and fail to carry off the water.

NEW WAYS OF GROWING PERENNIALS. The übiquitous herbaceous bonier involves frequent work, thinning out being ..ecessary as the vigorous plants develop, in a small garden a better effect can be jained from herbaceous beds, which are replanted every second year. A circle of six .cet in diameter may contain a good combination of perennials, a group of three vesse and carmine phyoxes in the middle, a ring of Madonna lilies, or giant white single columbines, then a row of mingled crimson, pink, and white hybrid pyrethrums, with a double-edging of pansies and pinks. Another suitable combination would consist of I white phlox. Oriental poppies, Lychnis Haageana, lemon carnations, and gold and white violas. I A giant square or oblong bed, on a lawn, 1 looks well filled by irregular groups of perj ennials, just as the herbaceous border is usually arranged; this enables a great number of dwarf subjects to constitute the marginal row, which adds both in the attainment of companion-colour shows and of a succession of blossom. The tallest plants must occupy the middle space, medium growers coming next, then plants of about a foot in height, finally the low ones, such as aubrietias, alyssums, saxifrages, Geranium einereum, Bellis perennis, Arabis variegata, violas of best habit, pinks, polyanthuses, primroses, and Viola cornuta. An original scheme that involves some initial labour ia to create a raised bed, in tiers, for the cultivation of the best species of perennials. Several barrow-loads of loam, mixed with manure, leaf-mould, vegetable ash, and brick rubble, with road-sand if the ground is by nature wet and heavy, must be thrown on to the square or oblong plot. The next proceeding must be to level two or more feet as an edging, then insert strips of wood at the back of this, forming a support for another levelled portion several inches higher than the first. This work can be repeated until the centre of the bed is ?jmost reached, the result being a series of tiers. If the space is large, the middle leight will be considerable; in a smaller •pace the depth of the wooden bars may be greater, so as to obtain a better height. *Vhen perennials are skilfully arranged in such a bed the effect is very beautiful, the plants bein'; shown off to perfect advantage. Chrysanthemums, Japanese anemones, the modern phloxes of dwarf habit an.! giant trusses, Coreopsis grandiflera,- hybrid pyrethrums, Campanula lotifolia, Campanula persicifolia, chelones, heucheras. Lychnis chalcelonica, Lychnis Haageana, Oriental nopbies, l paeonies, pentstemons, the leeser Michaelmas daisies, achilleas, columbines, centaureas, dove carnations, sweet williams of giant arieties, the splendidly brilliant Scotch triped antirrhinums, large-blooming pinks, ouble arabis, mossy saxifrages are especi.ly suitable.

A sufficiently large round or oval bed will jive an admirable display thus constructed and filled, a high mound of b.o. aqm being the result, but the work ox ii.Lt . .he wooden strip supports is, naturally, mure d.fiicult; probably a narruv. s.r.p oi xery fine meshed wire netting w. .1. u.. fire to hold the soil in, however, and could be easily bent into shape. Perennials in tubs and large pots are not sufficiently cultivated. They make handsome effects when placed at summer-house optrances, outside porches, or on paved walks. A really excellent scheme is to grow them for ranging outside the walls of the spanroof greenhouse, where a border bed is seldom desirable. To safeguard pot plants of hlrdy speies during the worst winters they can be sunk in cinder-beds to the rim? and a mulch of spent manure laid over. These cinder-beds can be made upon ravel, stone, or any wuste land, !?ots oi jUt-down perennials can l_so occupy frames, r pits may be dug out in the open to cceive them, and sack.? or cocoa-nut fibre .efuee, bracken or gorse boughs w*!’. sufficiently protect, the plants th.’li. Delphinium formosum is very attractive as a pot specimen, Madonna lilies, pink Japanese anemone-, Chrysanthemum maximum, Britannia, er King Edward, the flume poppy, Bocconia cordata, phloxes, large-flowering Michaelmas daisies. Seabiosu Caucasian alba, prove charming. For shady portions of gardens a supply of suitable tub-grown perennials can be specially recommended, as offering florfl beauty where none could otherwise lie. As soon as the florescence fails, or the plants begin to suffer for want of light and warmth, they should be removed to a sunny place. Then there are shade-enduring subjects of considerable beauty, notable , white foxgloves, herbaceous phloxes, day lilies, golden rods, shrubby hyperieuras, and |he tall Pyrethrum uliginosum. These will not fail to bloom freely.

THE DISPOSAL OF GARDEN RUBBISH. Some amateur gardeners give themselves I a great deal of unnecessary trouble by putting ail kinds of refuse in a single heap, with the object of digging it in after it has decayed (says the gardening contributor of the Auckland Star). Woody roots and stems, however, will not decay for several years, and if they are mixed up with soft haulm and foliage they must be laboriously picked out before the rest can be used. They should be put in a heap by themselves, and burned. Vegetable ash makes an excellent dressing, as, apart from its mechanical ■ effect in lightening the soil, it contains a • large proportion of potash. The vegetables lof to-ua; also suffer from many different diseases .nd pests, and it is a known fact i that thess diseases and pests hibernate among the old leaves and stalks, and can be distributed the, following seasons by digging in this old material as manure. Nothing but fire can destroy many of the pests when in a state of hibernation All such diseased material should be dried and burned. Forest trees are not so liable to i pests and diseases, or at least they do not ! trouble the garden so much; and where dead leaves from such trees ern be collected and stacked until rotten they form a valuj able addition to any soil. In the majority j of cases our gardens are so small that where j any attempt is made to cultivate there is |no room for rubbish heaps, etc. No doubt, • with all the advantages of .rotten vegetable [ refuse, etc., the best means of disposal of garden rubbish for the small garden is to j dig in at once any material that is clean | and will rot, and burn the hard, woody, • and diseased material. This method pre- | vents accumulation, and leaves no place for I the hibernating of peats and disease.