THE GARDEN

Southland Times, Issue 20111, 23 February 1927, Page 15

THE GARDEN

VEGETABLES (By “Horticola.”) Deep hoeing is, at thia time, one of the most important operations in vegetable culture. Simply scratching the surface with the Dutch hoe does little to arrest evaporation. Frequent and deep-stirring is the surest means of assisting growth. For storing onions a good method is to suspend wire netting in a cool, airy place. Provided the bulbs are properly ripened and placed upon the netting, they invariably remain dormant for a longer period than when stored upon benches. The planting out of leeks can still be done for winter use. Like celery, they luxuriate in rich soil, and need similar treatment. Seeds that may be sown where necessary are:— French Beans.—Sow in drills two feet 1 apart, in well-dug ground containing plenty of humus, and thoroughly saturate the ground some hours before sowing. Prick in a little superphosphate as soon as the seedlings show their true leaf. Lettuces.—Sow thinly in drills 15 inches apart. Dust bonedust in the drills when sowing, and sprinkle superphosphate along the rows after the first thinning out. Silver Beet.—Sow in deeply-dug, fairly rich soil in drills eighteen inches apart. As soon as the seedlings are a few inches high begin feeding with nitrate of soda (loz. in one gallon of water). Every preparation should be made for securing a winter supply of vegetables. The ground should be deeply and well broken up and manured in readiness for later sowings. FLOWERS Rambler roses should have the shoots that have flowered cut back to a strong bud as soon as the flowering is over. Strong new shoots will then be produced, and, as these are the flowering shoots for next summer they should be carefully tied in. Rambler roses produce their best flowers on one-year-old shoots; therefore as soon as the flowering is over no time should be lost in attending to the pruning. Cut back also any old woody growths to a strong young shoot, and remove weak growth. Banksia roses should also be pruned during the summer. Cut back the old flowering stems to a strong young shoot. Long young shoots will then be produced. Cut the tips off these to induce them to throw out little twiggy laterals, for it is on these that the flowers are produced. Briar roses also should be cut back as soon as they have finished flowering, for they produce their flowers on shoots formed during the previous summer. Tie in the strong young shoots, taking care not to damage their tips, for it is on the ends of | the branches that the best flowers are pro- | duced. The present is a good time for layering roses. Choose branches that will bend down easily, and peg them securely to the ground. Before pegging down the branch, dig out a little hole, and fill it with rich loam and sand. Peg the branch into this, and cover the part that is touching the ground with some of the same mixture. Keep moist till roots are formed. The new plants may be separated from .their parents late in the spring, and will tifttfarach a fine supply of strong roots that they will probably flower the first year. For the sake of the future strength of the plants it is better to nip off the flower buds the first summer. CHOICE PERENNIALS The following article is from a lecturette delivered by Mr W. R. Warner before the Brighton Horticultural Society, Camberwell, Victoria:— Choose a position sheltered from north winds, and where the fiercest heat of the sun is tempered, but not too shady, as perennials during their growing season like’ plenty of light in order to assist them to produce sturdy shoots, which precede the flowers. Good drainage must be provided, and when making the bed or border, add plenty of humus, such as leaf soil, decayed weeds, and some well-rotted manure, raise the soil above the path or lawn and if some large rough stones can be procured, so much the better, for a row along the front will hold the soil in position, and also serve as a means of growing some of the delightful creeping plants which are becoming so popular a feature of our gardens of to-day. WHAT TO GROW Were I addressing garden lovers in the ranges I would say open any catalogue of perennials and go right ahead, choose what you will; but in Brighton, in common with the nearer suburbs of Melbourne, our list of suitable kinds, which will grow to perfection, is limited to a certain extent. We will presume our border is about 6ft. wide, with a fence at the back, for preference constructed with tea-tree stakes as thick as a man’s thumb, on this grow clematis, perennial peas, and light climbing roses. Two feet from this fence we will plant our back row of tall growing perennials; Delphiniums, Romneys, which thrive rampantly in the Brighton sand; Thalictrum dipterocarpum, height sft. and more, with shoots in the spring almost as thick as well-grown asparagus, and then right through the summer countless myriads of lavender-pink miniature butterflies; Kniphofia ensifolia, the giant winter flowering yellow poker, standing sentinel over the border, when most of the guests have I fallen asleep, save perhajw a tree dahlia, with its huge bunch of lavender bells, I drooping and swinging in the wind, or a clump of chrysanthemum, Pockett’s late bronze. Also plant in the back row Boltonia I asteroides, a tall-growing starry white daisy, ; which asks no more cultivation than to be I lifted, divided and replanted each August. I Last, but by no means least, perennial ' lupins. Here we have a plant that man | has thrown his heart and life into on the 1 other side of the world, with the result that there is so much vigour and energy in these plants nowadays, that they will often thrive better than the delphiniums, at least that is so with me. There is no other perennial that I know of that stands out so conspicuously in the garden, as the perennial lupin, and my advice to you is to raise a few from seed each year. For the second row, which should be 2ft. in front of the back row, Shasta daisy Arthur Chapman, another sturdily growing chap, also Snowstorm, a more refined flower, and continuous bloomer in the warm weather; Gaillardias, Geum, both Mrs Bradshaw (red), and Lady Stratheden (yellow), Helenium Riverton beauty (autumn shades), Iris Germanica, as many of the named varieties as you have room for; Statice macrophylla, plant in clumps of three or five, a lovely everlasting, useful for mixing with cut flowers; perennial Phlox, Lobelia cardinalis, in clumps of five; Kniphofia Beacon, a “striking” red-hot poker. To grow over the stones, Polygonatum repens, with its warm brown foliage; Nepeta Mussini grey foliage and lavender flowers; Arenaria montana (snow on the mountains) ; Pink Mrs Onley, lavender (continuous bloomer; Saxifrage umbrosa London Pride, Viola carnuta superba, a valuable summer-flowering variety which I finds responds well to a light clipping with the shears durfing a spell of hot weather, and repays you 100-fold for its fortnight’s rest from flowering; Heuchera sanguinea, Violet Mrs D. Lloyd George, a vigorous variety, free flowering and sweetly scented.

A mulch of lawn clippings or well-rotted manure will be very beneficial in keeping the soil moist and roots cool during the summer months. THE STRAWBERRY There are few fruits more esteemed than the strawberry, and as its cultivation is comparatively simple and can be carried I out in so many different ways, it is specially suitable for a small town garden, ! writes D. Tannock, F.R.H.S. in the Otago j Daily Times. It can be grown in breaks lor beds in the large garden, as an edging for paths or in odd sunny corners in an ordinary garden, on rocky walks or rockeries where space is limited, and in a barrel when no other position is available. Strawberries like a good, deep, fairly heavy loam. They must have good drainage at all times and plenty of moisture during the growing season, but any kind of garden soil can be so cultivated and manured as to make it suitable. Light gravelly soils will require plenty of stable manure dug in, and if a little clay or stiff loam can be added so much the better. Deep cultivation is essential, and it is a good practice to trench a piece of ground, to bury in quantities of compost heap of fresh strawy manure, and when take off a crop of early or second early potatoes. When the potatoes are dug the ground can be levelled over roughly and a liberal dressing of well-rotted farmyard manure dug in. The surface can then be levelled, all stones raked off, and clods broken down, and, if at all dry, it can be tramped over to make it firm. If the soil is wet the tramping and firming will have to be omitted. If the runners were layered, as was advised some time ago, they should be well rooted by now, and the end of the present month is a suitable time to do the planting. Planting can take place at any time during the autumn or spring, but by getting well rooted plants out early they become established, and before winter sets in they form good growns, and will fruit the first season. Mark out the rows at 2ft apart, and put the plants Ift apart in the rows if it is intended to remove every second plant; if not then they should be 2ft apart in the rows. Plant firmly and place the crown just above the level of the soil, give one good watering to settle the soil, and if the weather should be hot and dry continue to spray them overhead in the evenings until we get heavy dews. Strawberries make an excellent edging for the paths in the vegetable garden, they are much more profitable than box-wood or echiverias and they will grow anywhere except under the shade of fruit bushes or fruit trees. The position they have to occupy should be deeply dug, a liberal dressing of farmyard manure being worked in, and when preparing the surface a quantity of lime rubble can be mixed with the soil. The plants can be put out in a single row at from 13in to 18in apart, or in a double row alternating with one another at 2ft apart. As a rule it. does not pay to keep strawberries fruiting for more than three years; at the end of that time they have grown up out of the ground, the crowns become overcrowded and the fruits are small. It is better to adopt a system of rotation and to plant a portion of the bed or row every year, say one-third, and this will ensure regular supplies. When growing them on a rockery or a dry wall it may be necessary to renew the soil when planting and to plant every second year. Strawberries can be grown in barrels; holes are made in the bottom for drainage, and others cut in the sides at a distance of from 15in to 18in apart. Some rough material is placed in the bottom, and the barrel filled up with good loam, a core of rough material being placed in the centre to secure good aeration and assist drainage. The plants are put in as the soil reaches the holes until the barrel is filled right up and a few plants can be put on the top. Stand the barrel in an open sunny position, and water well during the growing season. During autumn the young plantations should be gone through frequently, all runners being pinched out, and all old leaves cut away and the soil stirred frequently with the scuffie hoe. Plants which have fruited also require attention, all old fruit stalks and decaying leaves being cut off, and runners not required for increasing the stock being removed.

It is necessary to think of the mulching early in the growing season before the flower buds open, and stable manure with plenty of straw is found to be the best material. The droppings are shaken out of the litter and put on first, the straw being spread evenly over the top. The rains wash the soluble plant food down to the roots and by the time the fruits develop the straw is quite clean. Strawberries require a good deal of water, and an occasional watering or spraying with the soapy water from washing will keep green fly in check, but it will not do to apply this after the fruits have started to develop. There are a great many varieties of strawberries, but these can easily be reduced to a few well-known and reliable kinds. Laxton’s Noble is a favourite because it produces very large and handsome berries of a flatfish globular shape, the colour being bright scarlet, but the flavour is rather poor. It is not such a strong grower as the American kinds, and should be planted at the minimum distance mentioned. Madam Melba is considered by some to be the best variety for the warmer districts which has ever been raised. It is a large fruit, colour glossy scarlet, flesh very firm, and for the private grower it has the advantage of ripening gradually, thereby extending the season. This is a vigorous variety, and will reqpire more room than Laxton’s Noble. Fillbasket is a variety raised from Royal Sovereign, its colour being bright scarlet, flesh firm, with no hollowness in the centre. This is a remarkable cropping variety, with a robust and compact habit, leaves thick and leathery, and resisting mildew. The American varieties are strong growers, bearing quantities of attractive fruit, not very large, but of good flavour. They are more suitable for edgings and dry banks, than the other varieties mentioned, and are the best kinds for rock walls or barrels. Owing to their vigour they require the maximum distance mentioned, and could be replanted every second year if necessary. To produce good runners without interfering with the cropping, a few plants can be put out on a border at a considerable distance apart, and all the runners pegged down as-they develop.