THE HOME GARDEN

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3822, 16 October 1936, Page 10

THE HOME GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE FLOWER GARDEN. f>w all hardy annuals in the situations where they are to flower. Transplant all hardy annuals as required. This ■work is best done in dull weather or after eunset. Aphis (green fly) ie now attacking roses and other plants. They can be effectively dealt with by • Black Leaf fO diluted in soapy water. Violets can now be planted out. Tae sooner new beds or borders are prepared the better will be next season’s blooms. Continue the planting of gladioli at frequent intervals. Prepare the soil for planting out young dahlia plants early next month. Montbretias can be planted out now. Japanese irises are now making rapid growth and must be kept well watered. There is still time to plant out water lilies. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Continue to sow peas at frequent intervals. Most members of the bean family can now be sown—particularly butter, French and runner beans. Sow lettuce and radishes at intervals of a few weeks to ensure a constant supply of these necessary greens. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce and onions. In very mild districts tomatoes can be planted out. Continue to plant potatoes and spray with Bordeaux' mixture those which have made considerable growth. Pumpkins, melons, marrows and cucumbers can be sown under glass for planting out in richly manured ■’hills” a little later. Prepare soil for planting out celery and leeks. MERITORIOUS SHRUB A RIOT OF GOLDEN BLOOMS. Most gardeners know the old forsythia, commonly known as "Golden Bens,” but few, as yet, have seen forsythia intermedia vgr. spectabilis in flower. This newcotaer is now in flower, and the beauty of its colours defy description. This variety has flowers fully twice the size of the type and the rich gold blooms are produced in such abundance that the effect is of sheer gold smothered on leafless branches. It has a stiffer habit than the old fashioned forsythias, and arouses the Interest .1 all who see it. Thoroughly hardy and easily cultivated, this new forsythia is assured great popularity. It has received high honours overseas, Ineluding an award of merit by the Royal Horticultural Society. BEWARE OF SLUGS. As soon as your border plants begin to shoot safeguard them from slugs. Delphiniums and paeonies are particularly susceptible to slug attack, and unless precautionary measures are taken your plants may be ruined. The same may be said of any tender young shoot in the border, for slugs can be quite indiscriminate in their marauding. To check the pests fork weathered soot freely Into the surfaee soil Ift on all sides of the crowns and cover the forked area with a Jin layer of small sharp cinders. Renew the cinders from time to ttaje, for rain has a softening effect, and soft cinders do not discourage slugs efficiently. Ypur choicer plants may well be gfren the protection of a heaped up ring of kainit around them if slugs are particularly troublesome. Or powdered bluestone will be found equally effective. GAY FLOWERS. FOR DRY PATCHES For dry, sunny situations few plants dq better than the mesembryanthemums. These .so called ice plants are noted for their vivid colours and long blooming periods. Very dwarf in habit, they flower throughout all summer and are always gay. Plants are on sale, and should be placed in position now. They are particularly suited to the sandy districts. SOIL FOR ASTERS. HOW TO PREPARE IT. Asters make more growth than most things after they are planted out. Hence you must provide tliem with rich soil. Unless you do. they will branch one only, instead of twice, liefore flowering—and this will obviously reduce the wealth of blobm by half. If in winter or early spring you dug deeply and manured liberally, apply the final touche® now by forking a foot deep, working' into each square yard 4 ozs of wpod ashes or 2 ozs of sulphate of patash. The potash yielded by these fertilisers Is a fine safeguard against wilt disease, which, if it gets going in late summer, will

carry off healthy plants by the dozen in a day or two. After forking, tread the surface more than usually firm, to encourage even branching. In spongy ground asters branch erratically. You get the usual fork, but one side of it invariably perishes. Firming completed, rake the surface even, working in a 2 oz per square yard dressing of freshly slaked lime. This is another wilt preventive. Should the proposed site be now occupied or until recently was occupied, by spring flowers, dig it a foot deep, rtirring the subsoil 6in deep as you proceed. With each square yard mix threequarters of a bucketful of well decayed stable manure and 4 ozs of wood ashes or 2 ozs of sulphate of potash. Asters like heavy soil, therefore don’t mix road grit or sand as a lightcner if yours is clayey. It is much more important to add an extra quarter bucketful of manure per square yard if it is light. In this case break up the soil finely and, after firming, take in the lime dressing recommended. Don’t plant in dry soil. Even though you water afterward it doesn’t confer the same benefit as if you soaked thoroughly before, and waited until conditions were favourable for planting. CRAZY PAVING. FOR GARDEN CHARM. Paths laid with stones of uneven shape form a charming garden feature. Their informality gives a delightfully Old World atmosphere, especially when the chinks between the stones are planted with beautiful cushiony plants like aubretias, saxifrages, thymes and so on. Whatever the lay out may be, there ie ample opportunity to introduce a crazy path. They are particularly charming when surrounding the rose beds, for example, intersecting the rock garden, skirting the pool, or in front of the herbaceous border. You will notice when the natural stone arrives that there are many different sizes. Don’t grade them, but mix the sizes thoroughly. One of the chief charms of a crazy- path is its delightful disregard of mathematical rules. Though the foundation work need not be so thoroughly done as that beneath a gravel path, you must use care. If there is any doubt about drainage, take out the soil Bin deep and place in the trench a 4in layer of broken stone or brick rubble. Cover this with 4in of good soil with which a sprinkling of stable manure has been mixed. Your chink plants will need something on which to feed. Then roll the surface thoroughly, spread on it an inch of sand or finely sifted cinders, and roll again. Now all is ready for stone laying. On no account attempt to bed the stones into the soil, otherwise they will tilt at one end ‘ while you ram them at the other. Should your soil be well drained, a rubble foundation is superfluous. Dig Ift deep, mix with each square, yard half a pailful of well rotted stable manure, break up the soil finely, roll it, top up with an inch of sand or cinders, roll again, then lay your stones. Obviously manure is not needed if no plants are to grow between the stones. Leave between the stones inch wide crannies where plants are to go. Afterwards, fill up the crannies with sand to within iin of the top except where you wish to plant. Fill the planting stations to a similar level with good soil.

With some of the proprietary path materials the slabs can be put straight down on a bedding of cinders. Another alternative for paths—and an inexpensive one—is to make your own crazy paving from sand and cement. The stones are made in many shapes and sizes, and when put down look very well indeed. In this connection it might be mentioned that you can now buy a set of metal moulds which can be used over and over again.