Gardening Notes

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 78, Issue 7017, 9 February 1949, Page 5

Gardening Notes

WORK FOR THE WEEK FLOWER GARDEN The borders! are very gay just now and one has only to travel round the district to realise how wonderfully well residents have worked, for it is most unusual to find a household with an unkempt garden. The winners*of garden display competitions do not earn their honours easily. They are got mostly by careful planning and attention to detail with good maintenance. This latter point is important, for the display must not be marred •by finished flower stalks or untidy growths. In hot weather some plants do not last long, but can often be made to flower a second time by cutting out the old stems. Then attention should be given to prolonging the display into winter, and here the dahlia, chrysanthemum, and michaelmas daisy come into the picture. These must all be well staked and by means of weekly liquid manuring kept going. Dahlias are surprisingly free flowering right up to advent of frosty nights, and old flowers should be taken off regularly. The ground round these plants should be kept will stirred with the hoe. Spent blooms should be taken off iceland poppies and sweet peas. Seed formation causes deterioration of bloom quality. Trenches for sowing autumn sweet peas can be prepared. Work on the lines of the celery trench by digging deeply, adding compost or old cow manure in the process. This is bulb lifting and plantingtime, and this job is often neglected. Bulbs should be lifted every third or fourth year at least, or quality will suffer. This applies particularly to narcissus, which increases rapidly and needs a good rooting range. When lifted examine the bulbs for evidence of eelworm. The sure symptoms are in the growing season. Yellow' striped leaves, shortened growths, and flowers betray its presence and call for the destruction of the bulbs. Should the bulbs when lifted feel soft on pressure, treat with suspicion. Bulbs showing black at the base and centre when cut open are probably too far gone, even for the hot water treatment. Layer border carnations. This is the regular way of propagation, though they also root freely from cuttings. With the winter flowering sorts, cuttings may be- pulled off and inserted in sandy soil. Lily candidum, ■ the Christmas lily, has only a short dormant season and can be lifted now if desired. Mildew is rife in young foliage of roses, and may also be on Michaelmas and delphiniums. Spray thes<e in any case with Bordeaux or cosan. This is the grub or caterpillar season, and holes or leaves stuck together reveal their presence on geraniums, camellias, flowering’ cherry, etc., calling for an arsenate of lead spray. There should be no delay in doing this, for if the several grubs are not already at work they soon will be, and the poison liquid will be waiting for them; for even after the moisture evaporates the arsenic ’ residue remains effective. Vegetable Garden Tomato spraying should be done, first with Bordeaux to ward off potato blight. Fruit setting will be improved by syringing the flower sprays only with hormone liquid.

Celery making good growth should not go short of water. For these and other plants needing it a good liquid manure is got by adding a handful of fish manure to the watering can. If available old cow manure is splendid and can be used in quantity, wateringdown for use. Potatoes ripened down can be dug an<T the ground used for the next crop. It may be leeks, early cabbage, or lettuce. Do not delay plantingsavoys, cauliflower, or broccoli. Onions and shallots are ripening but can be left in the ground after the. tops are bent over. Celery may still be planted. Although late the plants will come in useful in early spring. Seeds for sowing include lettuce, radish, and mustard, red and silver beet, carrots, and early cabbage to plant out in April. Dust Derris on all cabbage plants as the white butterfly is now much in evidence. Hoeing and weeding are more than ever needed. Weeds quickly produce seeds and have a wonderful way of hiding themselves in the row. They arc more quickly countered in hot weather. Gathering and drying sage, thyme, and mint for winter use should. now be done. Tie in small bunches and hang in a dust-free shed to dry off. Then they can be shredded and put in bottles. Fruit Garden This is caterpillar time in the orchard, calling for an arsenate of lead spray on apples, pears, quince, cherry, plum, and raspberry. Godlin moth, black slug and raspberry borer can all be controlled with this spray. Stone fruit trees should receive a colloidal sulphur spray to check brown rot and shot hole fungus. Watch for signs of silver leaf and cut out the branch. Apples also show pale growth twigs, but this is due to mildew which is controlled by spraying bordeaux or cosan. Badly twisted mildewed shoots should be cut off entirely. Syringing bearing trees with water is refreshing—washes off the dust and helps to swell the fruits. Indeed, a good soaking to the roots will be most helpful. A preliminary thinning of currants and gooseberry bushes can be done by cutting out some crowded shoots other than the leader of each branch. Quite a lot of the small canes surrounding raspberry clumps can be forked out as they will have to be removed anyway later on when reducing the season’s growth. Blue Flowering Shrubs Quite a dainty plant in this popular colour is now flowering and will continue to do so for weeks yet. It is Ceratostigma willmottii, growing a rounded bush of about 3ft. Flowers appear in small panicles* at the ends of the season’s shoots and are very effective both on the plant and for vase works. Quite a different proposition is the sea holly or erygium. with its steely blue thistle-like heads which last well after being cut. This hardy plant is well worth a place in the border. So is the globe artichoke with its immense heads of spiky leaves enclosing its blue floral centre. This is a popular vegetable in some Continental countries, but with us is given place because of its bold foliage and striking appearance.