THE GARDEN

Southland Times, Issue 25502, 24 October 1944, Page 8

THE GARDEN

DAHLIAS

By

RIWHI

The planting time for dahlias is now at hand. More and more of these brilliant autumn flowering subjects are put in year by year. For sheer display, variety in form and colour nothing flowering at the same time can vie with the dahlia, and today there are so many different types; decoratives, large and, small, cactus and semi-cactus, paeony-flowered or charm varieties, collarettes and pompones, mignons and other singles. In the past dahlias have largely remained the preserve of the semi-pro-fessional and parks and reserves authorities, but now that the amateur has measured them up properly, he is going in for them with enthusiasm. In general the amateur wants dahlias for garden display and for decorative purposes. When so grown there is no need to worry about involved and dogmatic methods of cultivation. Richly-manured soils are not essential, in fact the dahlias will do better on a mellow, fertile soil that has not been overmanured. A handful of blood and bone can be applied where each plant is to be put in. Liming is necessary and the site, besides being deeply cultivated, should lie well to the sun. Plant from now on through November, using tubers or small plants which can be purchased from your nurseryman. If the plants are to produce exhibition blooms, they are better grown in a rather heavy soil, but dahlias are not the gross feeders they were once thought to be, and rich soils will produce better blooms if they are also mellow. Water is essential, but the soil must always be perfectly drained—nothing will rot the tubers more quickly than water lying on, or under the surface. Staking and tying are essential to all the larger types, but not usually until about flowering time. Stakes can be placed well out from the bases of the plants. THE COMPOST HEAP Gardeners are becoming much more alive to the necessity for using organic manures on their gardens. They have passed through the era when artificial fertilizers were considered to be sufficient for all purposes, and while they realize that there is a place and a time for artificial fertilizers, they also realize that the fundamental thing is humus, and the building up of the garden’s'resources in humus by applying well made compost, animal manures and other suitable organic matter. The demands of the spring time planting and sowing will have reduced considerably the amount of compost available, and as the spring rush eases off, every opportunity should be taken to build up new compost heaps. The heap must be built up from materials brought into the garden, as well as those from the garden itself. Material brought in will consist of animal manures, seaweed, turf, leaf-mould, stack-bottom, hops, lawn mowings and any other suitable organic material. This should be stacked in layers, interspersed with thinner layers of rich loam and liberal sprinklings of lime. The heap should be kept reasonably moist, but should never become soaking wet. To this end it may in places where rainfall is heavy, be necessary to cover the top of the heap or to build the top with a steep slope. After about a month, the whole heap should be turned and this process should be repeated again at intervals until the whole breaks down into a friable dark-coloured material. If properly made, compost is pleasant to handle and a joy to work into the soil. It must always be remembered that composting is much superior to the more usual method of applying raw manures directly to the soil. Once the habit has been established, it soon becomes regular garden routine, and results will not leave any gardener long in doubt about the benefits to be gained, especially in the vegetable garden, and the added health value of the crops is one of the less obvious, but more important, of these benefits.