THE GARDEN

Southland Times, Issue 22011, 10 May 1933, Page 15

THE GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK

(By

J. A. MacPherson.)

The Greenhouse. Geraniums will now be rooted and must be looked over and all dead foliage removed. If early flowers of Lily-of-the-Valley are required a few crowns can be potted up into six-inch pots, placing six to eight strong crowns in each pot, with the tips of the crowns just below the surface of the soil. Place the pots in a warm comer of the house. Repot Isolepsis, and dry off Begonia and Gloxinia tubers. Bring forward Streptocarpus that have been resting. Shake the plants out of the pots and repot into a good turfy mixture which has had sand and well rotted manure added to it. Streptocarpus are easy to grow and their only enemy is greenfly which can be kept in check by spraying the plants with any good nicotine compound. Climbing plants on the greenhouse roof should be given attention and pruned back. Fuchsias require cutting back very severely. The Flower Garden. All leaves from deciduous trees have now fallen and should be collected and stacked in a convenient comer. Even a few barrowfuls will provide essential humus for mixing with potting soils or pointing into the borders during next season. Cut over all spent blooms in the herbaceous border and see that the border is thoroughly weeded before the winter sets in. Lift and store Gladioli corms. Do not attempt to clean them until they are thoroughly dry. This is a jeo that can be done later on in the winter. 'm the meantime lay them out in shallow trays and keep away from dampness. Dahlias may be left in the ground and covered with a litter of straw if the district in which they are growing is not subject to heavy frosts. Generally speaking, however, they are better lifted and stored away where a watchful eye can be kept on them. If mould appears on the tubers give them a thoroughly good dusting with flowers of sulphur before storing. The red Lobelia (L. Cardinalis) must be lifted and stored in boxes of soil. Place the clumps close together and fill in between with sandy soil. Stand the boxes in a sheltered frame or beneath a hedge and they will winter very well. In early spring the clumps can be split up and planted a little wider apart in the boxes of fresh soil. When all fear of frosts is over the plants can again be set out to add a touch of brilliance to late summer.

Plant out Iceland Poppies on well drained sunny borders. The plants do not mind the frost, but they object to a cold wet soil during winter. A wet soil is always several degrees colder than a dry soil and frosts penetrate deeper into wet soils than into dry ones. If the cutting of boundary hedges has been neglected this work should be carried out before the end of the month. Nothing should be left lying about the garden that will in any way harbour insect pests or spores ;of fungus; diseases. Give the whole garden, a thorough clean up and if it is not intended to plant beds with bulbs or other spring plants see to the thorough working of the soil by deeply digging it, adding strawy manure to heavy soils and short manure to light, sandy soils. Do not overlook the ’ planting of Ranunculus; they deserve a place in every garden; good open and rich soil suits them best. Soak the tubers twelve hours before planting and set them three inches below the surface of the soil. The giant strains are very cheap and the scarlet flowered variety His Excellency should be in every collection. Freesia bulbs should be planted three inches apart on a warm sunny border. A good dressing of cow manure dug lightly into the soil is a splendid manure for producing big flowers and big bulbs for the next season. The Vegetable Garden. Cabbage for early spring use can be set out during this month. They are best put in right away in order to be established before heavy frosts check their growth. Being of the small hearted type such as Enfield Market, London Market and Flower of Spring, they may be planted fairly closely together and every second plant cut over when commencing to use them in the spring. Autumn sown Onions should be two to three inches high. At this height they will remain during the winter and will be ready to plant out in early spring. If Asparagus beds have not been cut over, do so at once and give the beds a heavy dressing of manure. Earth up Celery and Leeks. The former does not object to a light dressing of lime at this stage while both will benefit if given a dressing of soot. Keep frosts away from Broccoli by heeling the plants over on their sides. Spend a wet day setting up potatoes in trays ready to green and sprout for seed purposes. Certified seed means increased crops. Strawberries. Strawberry beds should be given a light dressing of manure and old crowns should have some of the large leaves removed, leaves that are really preventing new growth from coming away. , . , , Young plants may be set out m beds; but it is getting a little on the late side. Do not expect anything like a crop from these late planted sets; they will be at their best the following season. The following varieties are all well’ worth growing: Laxtons, Noble, Melba, Ettesburgh and Bennetts’ Prolific, the last named being of fairly recent introduction to growers. Specimen Trees. Most town gardeners have a habit of planting a tree in the centre of the front lawn. Unfortunately it is planted without thought of its ultimate height and its effect on shading windows, nor is enough thought given to the root growth of such a specimen. This latter subject is often the cause of such worry for if it is an Elm or an Ash, be it weeping or upright, the roots will soon find their way into nearby beds and borders to the detriment, of the plants growing therein. Better by far to choose a moderately growing tree whose roots are not soil robbers and whose head of foliage does not prevent light from reaching dwelling rooms and above all whose size is in keeping with the layout of the garden. Small gardens can find a number of trees that will meet the situation well. The mountain ash for example is not a soil robber nor is it excessively furnished on top. Then there is the Scarlet Oak (Quercus coccines and Q. rubra) quite a hardy tree and most useful for its autumn foliage. Some of the flowering trees such as purple leaved plums or flowering cherries make good lawn shrubs without in the least interfering with light or robbing nearby beds. In windy situations no amount of training will' prevent a weeping tree from becoming ragged on one side. In such a case

it is better to grow a large hardy shrub than waste time trying to train branches into the wind. Always prepare good root room for lawn shrubs or trees. Too often a five shilling tree is placed in a sixpenny hole. The reverse would certainly prove more successful. FERNS AND FERN GARDENING Ferns will always be more or less extensively cultivated for their delicate beauty, their finely-cut fronds and the restfulness of their greenery. Their uses in pots are many about the home, and the fronds for decorations are always liked. The collecting of ferns, too, may develop into one of the most interesting of hobbies (states the Manawatu Daily Times). When building a fem house some attention,must be given to its situation. Fems dislike too much or too intense sunshine, and though the house can be shaded it will save labour in this respect if the structure faces the east or north. No attempt should be made to grow very choice fems, as most of these require a slightly warmed atmosphere during the winter months. Most fems may be grown in a compost . of two-thirds fibrous loam, the other third being made up of good leaf mould, well decayed manure, and coarse sand. This is specially suitable for maidenhair fems. All fems require a certain amount of atmospheric moisture, more especially in summer when making their growth, and the dryness of the atmosphere of rooms is often respon-. sible for the lack of success which often attends their culture. A daily spraying is necessary during the summer months. In autumn and winter they should be kept drier, which condition rests the plants, and from spring onwards spray frequently, and also when they are seen to be making vigorous, fresh growth. This, too, is the best time for repotting, or for taking offsets from older plants. Press the soil fairly firmly about the roots of old plants, but considerably less about quickly growing young ones. Some fems produce small plants on the fronds. These may be taken off and dipped into pots, or the whole frond may be pegged down until the young ones have rooted. A fern house may be made a little warmer and also a little lighter by letting a little glass into the roof in one or two places, according to the size of the house. This applies to a house which is constructed mainly of some kind of scrub and the trunks of tree fems, as without the glass the interior proves a little too dark for the cultivation of some ferns, and excludes too, the use of other plants which one often likes to grow among ferns, such as begonias, primulas, billbergias, and other pretty and suitable plants. A fairly steep, sloping bank lends itself admirably to the building of a fem house underground; and if a glass top is added, cylamens, hardy orchids, and other choice plants may be successfully grown in it. If glass is not used, it is best to lay some stout pieces of timber across and then a covering of strong wire netting. Some light brush will give the amount of shade required as a finish. FLOWERS BENEATH TREES Where the branches of trees, both evergreen and summer-leafing, sweep the turf in grounds and drives, many pretty spring flowering bulbs may be naturalized beneath the branches, and will thrive without attention (states theManawatu Times). It is chiefly in the case of deciduous trees that this can be done, but even in the case of conifers and evergreens, some graceful objects may be dotted beneath the outermost points of their lower branches. We know that a great numberof our spring flowers and hardy bulbs mature their foliage and go to rest late in the spring. In early spring they require light and sun, which they obtain abundantly under the summer-leafing tree. They have time to flower and grow under it before the foliage of the tree appears. Then, as the summer heat approaches they are over-shadowed and go to rest. With autumn, when the leaves begin to fall and the soil becomes moist from showers, the bulbs soon begin to reappear, and when in bloom will cover the ground with beauty. Deep-rooting trees, such as oaks, flowering cherries, apples and prunus are particularly suitable for

planting beneath and as well as bulbs, primroses, violets, forget-me-nots, and primulas may be planted. The grape hyacinths and lachenalias are very lovely when planted in this way, and for dotting on the outskirts of the evergreens, crocuses are ideal. Crocuses are charming when seen flowering in the grass, and are not made enough use of. They bloom so early that their brightness is doubly welcome, especially the deep golden-tinted varieties. All plantings in the grass should be in natural groups or prettily fringed colonies. To scatter narcissi equally over the grass everywhere is to destroy all chance of repose, of relief and of seeing them in the ways in which they often arrange themselves. It is quite as easy to plant in pretty ways as in the reverse. By making use of all space beneath trees, hedge rows, etc., all surplus bulbs may be used up, and the common kinds eliminated from the borders, leaving more space to be devoted to rarer kinds of things which require more cultivation. There are dry places in all gardens which will grow nothing really well during summer, but if devoted to early spring things, will always be a joy for at least that particular season. AMONG THE ROSES THE SUBJUGATION OF ROSE MILDEW. (By B. V. Rossi, author of “Modem Roses in Australasia.”) The abnormal prevalence of mildew in our gardens is causing many complaints this year from every quarter. But these and similar complaints are such hardy annuals that it is difficult to give them their true proportions. Unfortunately, however, there is this season some justification for complaint, inasmuch as atmospheric conditions during the past spring and summer months have been unusually favourable to the spread of this disease. Cold and wet spells alternating with warm, humid days, have fostered the rapid growth and dissemination of mildew spores. This, together with the total absence of high temperatures to check the infection, are the causes mainly responsible for these persistent attacks. So far as I can judge, I believe that this coming autumn, mildew will be more troublesome than usual if preventative measures are not immediately adopted. Fortunately, the most efficacious method for preventing or reducing mildew to harmless proportions are extremely simple, and well within the resources of even the most slender purse; and moaners who sit in the shade bewailing their hard lot, would do better to imitate the Biblical Penitent Sinner and cry: Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!—My fault, my fault, entirely my fault! Mr H. H. Hazlewood, of New South Wales, one of our most prominent rosarians, in a notable article entitled “The Conquest of Mildew,” strongly advocates liberal applications of wood ashes to the soil as a deterrent of mildew. This article gained a wide reputation, and reports from everywhere—to which I entirely agree—fully confirm the grower’s claims. Mr Hazlewood’s premises are perfectly sound and logical, inasmuch as the potash and iron present in wood ashes not only greatly increase the vigour of the plants, but also strengthen the foliage, rendering it better able to resist or overcome fungal diseases, This, however, although it goes a long way, is not sufficient, as the remedy can only act, so to speak, internally, and it is only by supplementing the ashes with external application to the foliage of light dustings of ground sulphur at the right time and in the proper manner that we can prevent or minimize this pernicious pest.

I mentioned that the best remedies against mildew are well within the resources of even the slenderest purse. Just think! Wood ashes—that is, the ash obtained from burning organic matter such as wood, bones, rags, household sweepings, garden litter, etc., can, with a little thought be collected and stored in a dry place until required, then spread over the bed, scratched into the surface soil and well watered in, in early spring and autumn. Insofar as sulphur is concerned, if bought from a wholesale chemist in cwt. lots, the cost would only be about one penny per pound, which quantity is sufficient for a very large number of plants. Moreover, an efficient distributor can easily be made from an empty “Trufood” or similar tin, by closely and finely perforating the bottom with a thin bootmaker’s awl. But this is not all. The value of wood ashes as a fertilizer of the highest quality is too well known to need comment; and sulphur, although not recommended for its manurial properties, is none the less a potential fertilizer itself. When dusting the roses for mildew, the sulphur that reaches

the ground helps nitrification; it also attacks and dissolves inert plant food. Further, its fumes are obnoxious to moths producing destructive .caterpillars, driving them away to lay their eggs elsewhere.