THE HOME GARDEN

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3825, 23 October 1936, Page 10

THE HOME GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Sow antirrhinums, aubretia, asters, calendulas, calliopsis, sweet peas and zinnias. Monxbretia can be planted now. Buy the improved big-flowering types. The old kinds are net worth garden room. Prepare soil for planting dahlias. Gerberas are now becoming active. They require plenty of food and moisture during warm weather. Plant gladioli corms at fortnightly intervals. Propagate chrysanthemums from suckers when they are three or four - inches high. The earliest hydrangeas are now forming buds. An occasional application of liquid manure will help them. Plant out antirrhinums, uemesia, violas, stocks and carnations. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. The main crop of carrots can no v be sown. Sow and cress. Continue to plant cabliage and cauliflower. Sow peas at fortnightly intervals. Plant out onions in finely worked soil. Sow turnips, parsnips, spinach, beet, radishes. Rhubard can be planted now. Make another sowing of potatoes and earth up earlier crops. Sow tomatoes under glass for early crops. Earth-up growing cabbage and cauliflower. Make a first sowing of dwarf beans. Cabbages that are well forward will benefit by a light application of nitrate of soda. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower, and asparagus. Sow lettuce and transplant when big enough to handle. ROCK ROSES. FOR DRY SITUATIONS. Helianthemums or rock roses, have all sorts of uses. They are essentially plants for dry places. They adorn the retaining wall,, the crazy-paving path, the dry bank, while" no rockery should be without some of the best kinds. This is a good time to plant them, the only preparation needed being to fork a foot deep, and work in the least sprinkling of well-rotted stable manure, and a good dressing of fine-ly-broken brick or lime rubble. LI LIES-OF-THE-V ALLEY. PRESENT REQUIREMENTS. Ona of the little difficulties with lflies-of-the-vall*y is that of obtain-

ing a reasonable length of stem. You can overcome it by giving now, when the beds are in bud. a dressing of nitrate of soda at the. rate 1 of one ounce per squard yard. Don’t sprinkle the fertiliser over the bed and let it fall off the foliage on to the soil, but bend over and spread it on the soil itself, otherwise there will be considerable leaf-blotching. Immediately afterwards, loosen the surface soil with a hand-fork, and, whether the bed is dry or not, water thoroughly to dissolve the fertiliser and set it working quickly. Lily-of-the-valley beds are often dry when other soil is moist, owing to the close canopy of leaves. Follow with a one-inch mulch df two parts riddled leaf-mould and one part sand. The leaf-mould keeps the soil moist and prevents bud-lock, that condition in which you get a halfopen spike with the top buds obstinately refusing to unfold. The. sand in the. muleh prevents bell-splashing in the event of heavy rain, preserving the snowy whiteness of the bloom. HELPING THE HEDGE. NOW IS FEEDING-TIME. Nothing retards the progress and health of a hedge quite so much as hard, unbroken soil over the roots. Hedges will be greatly assisted, therefore, if the soil is thoroughly stirred with a digging fork. If the fork is used carefully it should be possible to go sin or Gin deep without damaging the roots in any way. Whilst forking, incorporate some well-rotted manure—up to a bucketful per yard run of hedge. This is a great stimulant and will kedp the plants in excellent trim, whether the summer should prove wet or dry. Whenever possible see that the soil tends to slope towards rather than away from the bottom of the stems. Then rainwater will flow towards the roots, giving growth a great stimulant. DO CLIMBERS NEED FEEDING? Practically every kind of creeper and climber benefits by feeding. Before dealing with the feeding, however, we would like to make a special plea on behalf of wall-side specimens, especially those facing north. Apart from the blazing sun from which they have to escape on many days between now' and late next autumn, there is the competition of the wall itself. It is astonishing the quantity of moisture that a wall absorbs from the neighbouring soil. Brick is the worst offender, but stone has great suction powers. These, together with the hot sun, make frequent copious waterings necessary. To make sure that each specimen receives full benefit from the water given to it make a shallow basin

round the main stems. Remember that feeding will be useless unless the soil is moist to begin with. Having impressed the necessity for adequate moisture, we can proceed to deal with the various kinds, taking the clematis family first. You will pot have a first-class show unless, starting in early October and continuing until flowers are fully opened, you water fortnightly with lime witter (2oz of freshly slacked limo in a gallon of water). Give two or three gallons to each specimen per application. Midway between each two lime waterings, dress each clematis with a good proprietary fertiliser according to the maker’s instructions, or 2oz of the following mixture of artificials: Three parts superphosphate of lime and two parts each sulphate of ammonia and sulphate of potash. Wisteria sinenis shares with clematis a profound love of lime. Water fortnightly with the lime solution from now until the first mauve shows in the chains. Midway between each two applications dress each wisteria with loz of ichthemic guano. FLOWERS FOR CUTTING. VARIETIES, TO SOW. One of the greatest pleasures t? be derived from a garden is to be able to gather flowers for the house and to give to one’s friends. As this will sometimes mar the appearance of border and bed, it is a good plan to set aside a special little reserve plot where may be planted a number of subjects suitable for the provision of cut flowers. A sunny, open place away from the shade and drip of trees should be chosen and, if the garden is of sufficient size to permit, it will be well to select a place apart from the sum mer display or one hidden from the flower beds. Here one may feel free to cut lavishly and without fear of marring the collective effect. Many annual flowers are splendid for cut purposes. Most of them may still be sown where required to flower, or plants may be purchased. It is not too late to plant some perennials to flower this summer; the aim must he to provide cut blossoms over the longest possible period. Good strong plants of sweet peas are still procurable; if a row is planted and another sown at the same time’—a good mixture will prove quite satisfactory—planty of blooms will be forthcoming until late in the autumn. Of annual flowers to sow in situ, the fragrant sweet sultan is one of the best for cutting. There are three colours, purple, white and yellow. The annual scabious is equally attractive, and a good planting of asters should be made. Of the popular asters it will be better to obtain plants in separate colours. Good asters are comet, ostrich plume and the. single flowered. The gleam nasturtiums golden gleam, scarlet gleam and the hybrids —may be sown where they are required to flower; so may annual chrysanthemums and cornflowers. Plants of stocks and cosmos are very cheap and their blooms will delight you. Calendulas you must have for the warm glow of their rich blossoms; sow the seeds in the open. Of perennials you must not forget the iceland and coonara poppies. Very light, and with a range of delicate colours, they make a lovely dinner table decoration. A plant or two of gypsophila paniculata and of gypsophile bristol fairy, with a patch of the freeflowering yellow correopsis grandiflora, and your reserve garden is well stocked. It is not too late to plant some mixed primulinus gladioli—they will be very useful.