GARDENING

Te Aroha News, Volume XLI, Issue 65781, 28 February 1925, Page 5

GARDENING

(By C.P.) HYDRANGEAS Hydrangeas are old-fashioned but still popular plants. To obtain the best results good culture is necessary. Plenty of manure and water in the growing season are essential to success. The quantity and quality of the blooms depend entirely on the treatment given. The shrub itself can easily be kept to small size; pruning should be done as soon as the flowers are over, and if the spent heads are cut off well down little else is required. If cuttings are made at the present time nice plants that will flower next season can be obtained. Well-ripened wood should; be chosen, and each cutting be made about six inches long. Remove the leaves from the lowest joint, and also the stem immediately below it. Make up a compost of fairly good soil, and fill pots or boxes with it, putting an inch of sand on the top. Water the pots of soil by immersing them to the brim in a vessel of water. Then drain; after about an hour the cuttings can be dibbled in and given another watering. Place the pots irt a frame and keep close and shaded until the foliage holds up and the cuttings show sighs of rooting. If a frame is not available a box covered with glass will do.