THE HOME GARDEN

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 54, Issue 3895, 28 April 1937, Page 10

THE HOME GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Prepare soil for late flowering sweet peas.

All spring flowering bulbs should be planted as soon as possible. Overhaul the herbaceous border. Spray roses for mildew. Sow mignonette, Iceland poppies and calendulas. Now is the time to plant liliums. Prepare soil for planting of shrubs. Sow seed of hardy annuals. Lift gladioli as the foliage turns yellow. Sow and plant anemones for winter flowers. Take cuttings of pansies and violas. Green fly is very prevalent just now. Spray at the first sign of this pest. Use nicotine sulphate. Sow antirrhinums, aubretia, calendulas, calliopsis, pansies, sweet peas end zinnias. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Sow cabbage and cauliflower. Now is tiie time to apply a manure mulch to the rhubarb plants. Plant cabbage, cauliflower and silver beet. Weed the plots intended for early sowing. Plots not likely io be used for some time should now be sown down in green crops for digging in. Thin out all seedling crops. Prepare soil for planting out strawberries. Sow turnips, shorthorn carrots and prickly spinach. Cuttings of gooseberries and loganberries can now be planted. TIMELY TOPICS. NOTES, NEWS AND VIEWS. The new hybrid flowering brooms ere excellent plants for dry and exposed situations. Cotoneaster serotina is one of the most beautiful of berried shrubs. In winter it. is literally smothered with berries of sealing wax red. Prepare for planting small fruits, such as gooseberries, black currants, raspberries and loganberries. A vegetable garden 50ft by 100 ft will furnish an adequate supply for a family of six. Smaller families need smaller gardens, and when the space is very limited it is best to select and specialise on some one favourable vegetable. The foliage of all bulbs should be allowed to ripen for the good of the bulb. If bulbs must be lifted, delay the operation until the leaves have turned yellow. The amateur gardener should never neglect an opportunity to obtain some cld turf dug from open pasture land. The roughest turf is extremely valuable as potting mould when rotted down.

It is very noticeable how grass verges are now coming back into favour. Certainly they have a great deal to recommend them,, for nothing brings out the colour of the flowers more than the rich green of new turf. Grass verges are especially valuable in gardens where circumstances have prevented the making of a fair sized lawn. SAND HELPS SEED. QUICKER GERMINATION. When the happy time of seed sowing is at hand and boxes are being prepared for another venture in gardening, one often finds it necessary to abandon approved methods of soil preparation because of the difficulties encountered in securing leaf mould, and garden soil must then suffice. An enthusiastic amateur has found

it helpful not only to add a generous rupply of sand mixed in the customary way but to place an additional layer on top of the boxes after the seeds have been sown. Even a moderately thick application will not smother seeds in their struggle for life.

The extra sand layer also helps to conserve moisture and prevents the soil from packing on the surface in a way that is very destructive to tiny plants, and at the same time it provides firmer anchorage, thus reducing the danger that often threatens seeds and small seedlings—that of being suddenly washed adrift. Such very small seeds as must be lightly sown on or near the surface are easily detected by the birds’ sharp eyes and unless some method of protection is devised our highly prized seeds will continue to be devoured with hearty enthusiasm by feathered visitors. FERTILISER TOOL. SAVES TIME AND TROUBLE. A very useful tool for administering small quantities of artificial fertilisers, such as sulphate of ammonia, sulphate of potash, etc., may be made with the aid of a strong bamboo cane or a thin wooden curtain rod about 3ft in length, and an ordinary old teaspoon. The broad end of the .spoon handle should be removed with a pair of pliers, and the remaining thin end of lhe stem should then be driven into a hole bored in one end of the cane or tod. By means of this long handled spoon chemical manures may easily be sprinkled around the plants to be treated without stooping- or treading on the beds and borders. It will also facilitate the measurement of the dose to be given to each plant. LEGUMES. BENEFIT THE SOIL. When the peas, beans and all leguminous plants have finished bearing it is a mistake to pull up and burn them. The tops may be cut off and put on the rubbish heap, but the roots are much better left in the ground. The reason (or this ■ is that these plants are exceptional in being able :tc utilise-_and. store the nitrogen of the atmosphere. Most plants depend upon mineral nitrates and ammonium compounds for their supplies of this element, but the legumes have an additional supply from the air which is present in the soil. This action is rather complex, and depends upon the activities of a soil microbe. The organism invades the young roots and. there multiplies rapidly, causing the . characteristic root nodules. It transforms atmospheric nitrogen into a form which the plants can absorb, and in return receives ether foodstuffs made by the plants themselves. On the death of the plant the nodules slowly decay and return to the soil both their nitrogenous compounds and those bacilli which are still alive. BULBS IN POTS. RULES TO OBSERVE. It is quite easy and profitable to flower the pot grown bulbs indoors on a window sill, ledge or table. A little more attention to ensure that plants have plenty of fresh air and are not subjected to draught must be given to the stock. Extra watering might also be necessary. Hard green foliage is a sure sign that all is well with daffodils, hyacinths or iris. Only when there are indications of yellowing in the leaves will there be any need to worry. When that happens reduce both the warmth and the water.

I have seen beautiful daffodils growing in a half petrol tin of clean unfertlised sand. Bulbs that can stand up to such poverty stricken conditions need no special attention. All they seem to require is a moist place to produce foliage and flowers.

Fair results can be obtained by keeping the pots and tins buried to the ,rim, or even deeper, in some moist, shady corner of the home ground. There will be more warmth cutside for fully six weeks, but the extra movement might not be in any way harmful. See that the plants are not kept too long in the shade. Lachenalias, spar axis, freezias and hyacinths all like pienty of warm sunlight. Spindly stems will not produce anything but poor quality flowers. LIME. A NECESSITY NOW. The heavy rainfall of the past months has washed a tremendous amount of lime out of the soil. A shortage of lime means a sour soil. Similarly, much manure has been washed out. Both must be replaced, or results in the vegetable and the flower garden alike will be poor next year. It is too early yet foj- manuring, but the sooner you do the liming the better, for early liming will prevent any danger of destructive action when the manure is put down. . Spread it on the surface at lhe rale of 6ozs to the square yard, and fork it in 6in deep. Finely powdered lime can be bought under various brand names. The lime is of the finest quality and is, of course, ready for immediate use.