THE AMATEUR GARDENER

Sun (Christchurch), Volume V, Issue 1360, 22 June 1918, Page 3

THE AMATEUR GARDENER

GARDEN CALENDAR. JUNE. Average rainfall, 2.77 in. Under Glass. Most bulbs that have been placed under nshes should now be tit to take into the greenhouse after inuring to the light. Sow seeds of tomatoes for early planting. Sow sweet peas. Give ventilation freely when the weather is favourable, and do not raise the temperature too high with fire heat. Outside. Dig and manure all land not under crop. Prune fruit trees, excepting peaches and nectarines. Plant fruit trees and other trees, shrubs, and roses. Gather up and burn or compost all vegetable refuse, leaves, etc. f EARLY SOWING. It is astonishing how fast the days seem to lengthen tiller the shortest day is past, so that it is not wise to put oil' anything thai should he done at this season a day longer than can be helped. Otherwise the time will arrive when it must be done, and then too often the time available does not permit of the work being completed in a thorough and workmanlike manner, and the result is unsatisfactory. In all gardens worthy of the name there are digging, trenching, manuring, pruning and the many other jobs that can only be done during the winter season, and these should be pushed forward now.

The conditions of gardening in Christchurch and its suburban districts vary very considerably. In sonic they arc such that if the surface is merely scratched it will produce crops; in others, that arc situated on a stiff, impervious clay subsoil, unless the ground is worked two feet or more deep, and kept well manured, satisfactory crops cannot be maintained, especially in dry seasons, while in a wet year unless the drainage is ample the soil becomes waterlogged and sour. But whether good or bad, there is no soil that cannot he improved by rational cultivation, such as aerating by deep diggings, stiffening the light soil by the addition of heavier material, and lightening the stiff soil by the addition of sand, road grit, and by liming. If a row or two of early garden peas are not sown yet they should be got in at once, using an early dwarf variety, such as Little Marvel or Chelsea Gem, and ground should be prepared now for succcssional sowings in August. When preparing ground for sowing the later varieties of peas, it is a good practice to dig in a good layer of half-rotted stable or farm yard manure, about 18in deep, so that it shall act as a moisture retainer should dry weather obtain. The garden pea is a very strong rooting plant, and necessarily so, as there is a very large amount of moisture to be gathered from the soil to supply the continuous evaporation of moisture from the succulent stems and leaves of the plant, and at the same time to fill up the pods with large and tender peas. The stems and leaves will get the first call on this moisture, and should there not be sufficient to go round, the peas in the pod will be put on reduced rations. One of the most appreciated of garden crops is asparagus, and no vegetable garden is complete without an asparagus bed. As this, when once well made, will remain in a good and continuous cropping condition for many years, it should be done well, trenching the ground from two to three feet deep, and Working in plenty of manure. This should be taken in hand now, so that there will be plenty of time for the soil to mellow and settle before planting time. Ground for the main crop of onions snould be prepared now, digging deep and using a good dressing of well-rotted manure. Onionf [rowers who like to have some fine arge bulbs to show, should sow in June under glass, pricking out the young plants when large enough, and growing on in a cold frame until the first week in September. Then they may be planted out in wcllgrepared, rich soil, about Sin. anart. y these means onions up to 21b in weight can be grown.

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. "W. II." writes:—-"Will you kindly give me some information in your gardening notes in The Sun on the following:—(1) I have just had given me small streptocarpus plants from seed sown last spring.' They are in 3in. and 4 in. pots, and seem quite starved, nearly all the leaves going yellow. Will they recover if I repot them, and when is the best time

(By "AOTEA.")

to do them? Shall I cul off the leaves that are discoloured? Also: (2) When is fhe best time to re-pot palms (Ketitias and Cocos Weddelliana)? Is it necessary to rc.-pot them each year? Is it safe to cut the roots, so as to keep them in fairly small pots, and what compost should I use? I should like to say I regularly read and act upon your gardening notes, which I have found a great help to me."

(1) 1 should be very doubtful whether it would be worth while doing anything with the unhealthy plants of strcptocarpus, but should you decide to do so, they should lie shaken out of the pots, and the soil washed out of the roots, as it is probably too stiff and sour, potting them again into three-inch pots, using a light, rich soil, such as would suit gloxinias and coleus. Although the strcptocarpus will not succeed in a saturated soil, still, it will need an abundance of water when growing and flowering freely, so that sufficient drainage should be placed in the bottom of the pots when potting *nto their (lowering pots, five to six inches being quite large enough. The plants are rarely worth keeping after the second year's flowering. If seed is sown in a gentle heat early in August, and pricked out as soon as large enough to handle, and potted in as necessary, they will flower well the first year from seed. They require shade from bright sunshine, and a fairly moist atmosphere. They are one of the most profuse blooming greenhouse plants, and deserving of more extended cultivation. If you decide to re-pot the plants, it may be done at once, but I should not advise cutting off any portion of the leaves that is not actually dead until they make fresh growth. (2) September is the best time to re-pot palms. No, it is not necessary to re-pot them every year, except while small and until they havo reached the desired size. If the roots have raised the plant much above the soil, they may be shortened hack so as to allow the plant to be potted lower into the soil, but it would require very careful treatment for some time afterward, until it was re-established. Palms can be maintained in small pots—eight or nine inches would be sufficient for a goodsize plant—fof a considerable number of years if given weak liquid manure once or twice a week. Good, flbry loam, such as that from an old pasture, that lias been stacked for six months, with sufficient coarse sand to keep the soil porous, will suit palms. Avoid adding stable or farmyard manure to the. compost.

"Amateur" writes:—"l will be obliged if you will give me your advice about pruning my apricot and peach trees. The apricots were planted last winter. When the young branches had grown about 18in. they threw out a number of lateral'shoots which have only grown from three to eight or nine inches long, while the branch has grown on for another four to five feet with just a clean stem. What I wish to know is: (a) Should I have stopped the branch before it grew so far past the short laterals, and thus caused the laterals to grow stronger, or left it as I did? (b) Should the short laterals be pruned, and if so, to how many buds'? (c) How far back should the main branch above the laterals be pruned to? (d) When is the best time to do the pruning? (c) Should the laterals growing on the inside of the branches be cut clean out? In regard to my peach trees they were also planted last winter, and have thrown out a great number of laterals, making the centre of the trees very crowded, (a) Should those growing in to the centre be cut clean back to the main branches? (b) Sjhould the others be thinned out?" (c) When is the best time to prune? ,(d) Why should peaches and nectarines not be pruned just now? I have enclosed a rough sketch of an apricot tree in case I haven't made myself clear. I 'take great interest in your gardening notes in The Sun, and have got many valuable hints from them." (a) Apricot trees growing as stronglv as yours have done could have had the leading shoots cut back to two feet at midsummer This -would have caused the shoot to divide and two shoots could have been earned on for extension, and would have saved a year in forming the framework of the tree. (b) The short laterals will be more or less fruiting twigs, and those of six inches or less may be left intact. The longer ones should be shortened back to a wood bud, and where the twigs are too numerous they should be thinned out Sometimes the whole twig will have all flower buds except the two at the base and the one at the apex. A shoot of this character must be either left full length or else cut right back to the base buds, as if the point is cut off the shoot will die right back to the base, as there will be no foliage to draw up the sap. (c) How far the leading shoots should be cut back is governed by the vigour of the tree. If cut back too far it will cause the growth of too mainwood shoots instead of the desired short fruiting laterals. According to your sketch, I should say that you should shorten the leading shoots to about one foot above the lateral shoots, as shown. That would leave about two feet six inches of new wood When shortening back the leading shoots do not cut too close down to the bud Leave about half an inch of wood above it, as if cut too close the bud is likely to die (e) By this question, I presume that the trees are trained on a wail or fence. If so yes, all shoots on the inside of the branches should be cut clean out. If growing in the open as a bush tree, as long as the centre of the tree is kept open, the lateral fruiting twigs may be.left equally round the branches. In reference to the peach trees:—(a) The surplus shoots crowding the centre or the tree should have been rubbed oil" when quite