GARDENING NOTES

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 66, Issue 5602, 7 April 1943, Page 4

GARDENING NOTES

APRIL ACTIVITIES CROPS FOR WINTER AND SPRING There are many garden tasks that demand urgent attention during April. To ensure winter and early spring vegetables, planting must .be attended to, and the spring flower parade depends largely on what is planted now. VEGETABLE GARDEN Transplant cauliflower, spring cabbage and silver beet. Sow seed of onions for transplanting later. Prepare soil for planting of gooseberries,. currants &nd other small fruits. Plots for fruit trees should also be prepared now. Plots not required for immediate use should be roughly dug and left for the coming frosts to work on them. If the plots were given farmyard manures, a dressing of lime will help to sweeten them.

There is still time . to sow green crops for turning under and thereby help restore the nitrogen taken from the soil by crops. A mixture of oats, lupins, and mustard gives good results. FLOWER GARDEN Plant out seedings of iceland poppies, stocks, aquilegias and all hardy annuals. Hasten the planting of all spring-flowering bulbs. Violas and pansies transplant well during April. The polyanthus and primrose families can now be divided and replanted. Chrysanthemums will benefit from frequent liquid manurings, but discontinue when buds begin to show colour. Delphiniums can also be transplanted. Prepare plots for planting of flowering shrubs later in the year. Lift gladioli when foliage begins to turn yellow. SUCCESS WITH BULBS SOIL FOR BULBS Bulb-planting time is now upon us, and soil preparation should be undertaken without delay. The right me.dium for each class of bulb plays a most important part in successful culture, and the following table records the requirements of the more popular species:

Hyacinth.—Deep, loamy soil. Dig Ift deep, mix with each square’ yard 1-pailful of well-rotted cow manure and 4ozof woodashes, or 2oz sulphate of potash. Daffodil. —Medium to light soil, Perfect drainage. Dig Ift deep, mix with each square yard 1-pailful ot well-ratted stable manure and 2oz bonemeaL Cottage Tulip.—Medium to light soil. Perfect drainage. Mix with each square yard i-pailful of an equal part mixture of well-rotted stable manure and leaf-mould, and 2oz of sulphate of potash. Darwin Tulip.—Medium to heavy soil. Dig 2ft deep, enriching each square yard of each 1 foot layer with of well-rotted stable manure and 2oz of sulphate of potash. English Spanish and Dutch Iris.— Light soil. Dig Ift deep, mixing with each square yard 1-pailful of wellrotted stable manure and 2oz of bonemeal.

Crocuses and Snowdrops.—Medium soil. Mix plenty of leafmould with the top Ift layer.

PREPARE FOR DAPHNES Now is the time to prepare a plot if you intend planting a daphne bush a little later in the year. Many gardeners have given up trying sweetly-scented flower as it so often fails to grow. Daphne is not really a difficult subject. Most failures are due to the fact that while it strongly dislikes lime, it insists on a “sweet” soil, and that whereas it will not tolerate drought conditions it is equally intolerant of waterlogged soil. The soil can be kept “sweet” by adding a little broken charcoal to it; moisture can be ensured by incorporating plenty of leafmould and decayed cow manure into th’e soil, while’ efficient drainage will prevent waterlogged roots. The plant thrives best in semi-shade and should be given a mulch of old manure in summer. If there is any reason to suspect that the plant lacks moisture, make good the deficiency in liberal doses of water. LOGANBERRIES NEED PRUNING e Prune your loganberries as soon as you can now. The longer you leave them unattended—the longer you leave the strong new growths sprawling over the ground and choked up with useless old growths—the bigger the handicap to next summer’s cropping. Untie the old canes from the trellis wires, pull the long young growths to one sideband then proceed to cut out right down to ground level with sharp secateurs every old cane

there is. The cutting away done, sort out the strong new canes and fasten the best of them to the trellis : —to take the place of the old ones that have been scrapped. Perhaps you will have too many new growths for the space available. If so, don’t hesitate to cut out the weakly and crowded pieces. Tie in only the best half-a-dozen or so on each clump, spacing them out evenly so that each has plenty of room and there is no overlapping. Some of the very longest canes you can “top” now, to facilitate handling and tying-in. Generally, though, the “topping” proper is best left till late in winter.