THE HOME GARDEN

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 55, Issue 3941, 18 August 1937, Page 10

THE HOME GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Plant hedges now. All flowering trees and shrubs should now be planted. Plant out all hardy annuals and continue planting at intervals to ensure a succession of flowers. Prepare ground for gladioli. Remove dead foliage from bearded irises. Sweet peas can now be planted. Delphiniums and perennial lupins should be planted now. Plant out new subjects in the herbaceous border and divide old clumps. Sow seed of hardy annuals. Sow antirrhinums, aubretia, calendulas, calliopsis, pansies, sweet peas. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Give asparagus beds a dressing of old manure. .Plant out lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and onions. Make a sowing of silver beet. Sow for succession turnips, winter spinach and a pinch of lettuce. Earth up seejlling cabbage and cauliflower. Onions can now be sown. Lime the plots intended for early sowing. Plots not likely to be used for some time should now be sown down in green crops for digging in. Thin out all seedling crops. Lift, divide and replant herbs. All fruit trees should be planted during August. SUMMER VEGETABLES. WHAT TO SOW NOW. Turnips can be sown generally. Extra early Bilan is probably the quickest variety to sow, but only a small breadth of this should be sown, to be followed by snowball, which is a better variety, and takes very little longer to come into use. Where the seeds are sown by hand the drills can be conveniently made with the end of a rake, holding it flat so as to make a broad and shallow drill. The seeds should be sown rather thinly, covering the full breadth of the drill. Broad rows result, which require very little thinning if roots are pulled as they become large enough for use; a large crop is obtained from comparatively little space. Early horn carrots should be sown lor the first crop. Sow as described for turnips, and a heavy crop can be taken. The roots of the horn varieties are usable when very young and small. Thinning the rows as loots are wanted for use allows those left space to increase in size, and the crop will carry on till the larger varieties, sown later on, come into use. Where red beet is required for use during the summer months a turnip rooted variety should be sown. These varieties come in quickly. Celery for first crops should be sown in boxes under glass. Use a compost of clean loam with a good proportion of old manure and coarse sand to give it body. Sow rather thinly, and prick off the seedlings as soon as they can be handled; crowded seedlings are difficult to deal with because they are very weak. SOME THINGS TO DO. TO HELP YOUR PLANTS. To Irises: Work into the soil around each plant a teaspoon of superphosphate of lime, which greatly strengthens growth and enables the plants to resist rhizome rot and leaf scorch. If repeated soil splashing has buried the rhizomes or creeping stems, half bare them, or they will suffocate.

To Daffodils: Such varieties as King Alfred are worth special treatment to develop their glorious blooms in full magnificence. To this end feed weekly with dried blood manure solution—-i oz in a gallon of water and a 1 gallon per square yard of bed or border. To Early Flowering and Darwin Tulips: A 1 oz per square yard dose of sulphate of potash hoed in at tenday intervals from now until the flowers are fully open will enhance colour charm, increase the size of the blooms, lengthen their life, and prevent the destructive disease known as fire. To Hyacinths: Feed weekly and alternately with half strength soot water (1 gallon per square yard) and sulphate of potash (1 oz per square yard) from now until flowering time, and the nobility as well as the beautiful perfume of the spikes will surprise ycu. To Delphiniums: Water each average sized clump with sulphate of iron solution (1 oz of the crystals in two gallons of water) to avoid pale leaf and give the shoots that vigorous start which is essential. Four pints per clump is an appropriate dose. To Scabiosa Caucasica: Spread a 1 in mulch of lime rubble broken to hazel nut size, or a Jin layer of freshly slaked lime 6in on all sides of each clump. You will never do scabious as well as you should unless you half smother it with lime. To Rhododendrons and Hardy Azaleas: Mulch around the bushes as far as the branches stretch with a 2in thick layer of riddled leaf mould. Stir the soil lightly beforehand, to ensure a “bite” for the mulch, and to rouse the surface roots to enter into it. To Lupins: Scrape the soil away from the shoots until the crowns are exposed. Fill a 3in pot with sand, mixing with it half a teaspoon of permanganate of potash crystals. Sprinkle this quantity of the mixture on the crowns of each average sized clump, and you will have no crown rot, while the permanganate will impart strength to early growth. To Sweet Williams and Canterbury Bells: Remove tiny straggling sideshoots and fork into the bed or border a lin layer of very well rotted stable manure. Both plants need a growth awakener, and this is just the thing. Later the manure will provide food food the development of perfect spikes. MESEMBRYANTHEMUMS. IDEAL FOR BEDDING. One of the most striking introductions of recent years is the 4in tall, much branched, semi-succulent mesembryanthemum crinifolium. Its large funnel-shaped flowers in buff, apricot, crimson and pink, make a glorious summer bedding picture. The plant is ideal for edging, carpet bedding and dotting about the rockery, and while inlant gardeners should not miss it, seaside gardeners will find it a great acquisition, as all mesembryanthemunrs love to be near the sea. NEW LAWNS. SOW THIS MONTH. Where new lawns are to be sown duing the spring time the work is best done during the month of August in most districts. The surface should at least be smooth; in most cases it will need to be carefully graded, for the appearance of a lawn depends very much on doing this well. The level and fall of the surface of the land must be carefully adjusted to suit the position of the lawn is to be quite successful. This demands a

great deal of consideration and labour, but once it is accomplished the result is permanent, and the lawn will always be a dominant feature in the garden. SOOT BENEFITS SEEDLINGS. A USEFUL FERTILISER. Soot is one of the oldest of garden fertilisers. The food in it is sulphate of ammonia, which exists in small quantities, but just sufficient to give a gentle stimulus to growth. That is why it is always safe to use soot. If, in early spring, you were to apply some of the more forcing fertilisers, the resulting growth would be rather spectacular, but would come a serious cropper if we had the sharp snap frosts we sometimes get in our fickle climate. Any kind of seedling—flower or vegetable—mixed border plants, lilies, perennial crops such as rhubarb, seakale and asparagus, and a sickly looking lawn, all benefit by occasional applications of soot between 1 now and mid-Octobcr. Give the lightest dressing, but don’t stir it in. Soot is a. heat absorber and retainer. Thus, soil having a light covering is warmer than bare soil. As soil warmth is what we all crave for in spring, the advantage of allowing the material to lie on the top, and its ammonia to wash down, is obvious. Soot varies in value. Gritty samples are the least desirable. The lighter the soot the better it is. Never use it straight from the chimney. At least one month should elaps v to give certain harmful sulphurous compounds a chance to escape. During this period store the soot in a dry place. WATER LILIES. OVERHAUL POOLS NOW. Start by examining the plants carefully for dead or diseased portions and cut these away. But be very careful not to disturb the roots. If you think it necessary, add a little more clean soil—preferably some river bottom —over the roots of the plants. A point to remember, too, is that failure, with water lilies and other aquatic plants is often due to their being too shallow or too deep in the pool. The leaves and stems must have sufficient water space in which they can submerge at will but, at the same time, the neck of the root should not be too deep or the leaves will become leggy. Speaking generally, we would say that the dwarf species of water lily and other medium sized aquatics require 10 to 12 inches of water —no more. Larger plants need at least 24 inches, sometimes even 30 inches of depth. Fallen trees leaves will have collected on the water surface at this time of year, and some will have sunk down into the pool. If the leaves are from oak or elm trees, they may be a little beneficial, but in most cases—particularly with poplar and laurel —they are decidedly harmful and poisonous to the occupants of the pool. Remove the leaves regularly, therefore. A child’s ordinary fishing net is handy for the job or you can float them on to a sheet of newspaper.