IN THE GARDEN

Taranaki Daily News, 2 August 1930, Page 14 (Supplement)

IN THE GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Rose pruning can now be proceeded with. ' Burn the primings and dress the bushes with lime sulphur or an oil epray. Suckers should be cut off whenever seen. ■ Scrape away the soil until the place where the originate is found, then cut away the sucker and also the root. The beds should be dug over and a dressing of manure applied. Stable manure is the best, but failing that almost any manure can be applied. The ground is very wet and cold and planting should be reduced to the hardiest of subjects. Beds of spring flowering plants should be gone over with the hoe to keep down weeds and to prevent the surface becoming plastered. Ornamental trees and shrubs can be planted, also roses and hedge plants. There are shrubs to fit every garden. Any alterations to the garden should ‘be proceeded • with.- . • ■ Ground for lawns should be prepared as soon as possible ready for sowing next, month-. • • By the latter end of the month it should be possible to get many bedding plants put out. Chrysanthemum cuttings should be put in as they become available. Keep the sweet peas trained to their supports. Protection-by • a few extratwiggy sticks at the base will benefit the plants. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. 'Sow a few coeds of tomatoes for early planting. Protection will ■die necessary. - . The wet weather has prevented much work being done, but it has shown up the badly-drained spots. Where tjjere is any appearance of water standing- and a sodden soil maxe an effort to drain it. Keqp the' ground bet ween the crops clean and lease. Prune the peach, nectarine and plums, then the apples and pears. Rhubarb can be planted. This needs a deep, rich soil to do well. - New asparagus beds can be prepared and existing, ones .should be cleaned and manured. A sowing of peas can be made. A -well-drained warm position is necessary. . e •*_-■' . A planting of early potatoes can be made where there is not a possibility of frosts. ■Both peas and potatoes at this time • of the year should be planted bn judges. Clean up everything in the way of pruniiigs, old fruit, leaves and weeds- . that lie about or under the fruit trees, ■- and either burn or bury . them. < Get the trees sprayed after the prun- . ' 4 , - (Planting of new,-iru.it .trees should be done as soon as possible. ■Citrus fruits are best planted about the end of August. L-ETTUCE. ••• As a <>ah)d plant the "lettuce stands . supreme. Other things may be added to flavour or give zest to a salad, but the base 7 is a good lettuce. A lettuce to be good needs to be fresh, crisp and succulent, and it is almost impossible to purchase such a one at a shop, If it is succulent and crisp when gathered it is, either broken or toughened by the time it gets to the table. There are two distinct kinds of lettuce, ebs or unright, and the cabbage or dwarf heading. The cabbage varieties are much more popular, because they mature more quickly and stand longer before running to seed.. At one time the cabbage varieties were? inclined to be tough and also of a bitter flavour, but of late years varieties have been introduced in which* these faults have been overcome to a certain degree. The cos varieties are longer coming to •maturity, but arc usually less bitter and more crisp and succulent than the. cabbage varieties.- The. older sorts required the leaves to be tied up to get rt pvell-blanched, heart, but “self-closing’,’ varieties have been introduced,"thus doing away with the need for tying up' the leaves. The cos "varieties, are worth growing where the,.lettuee is esteemed as a salad. The treatment of either variety is practically the same, except in the case of the smaller cabbage Leading sorts; the plants can stand closer together, seed can be sown at almost any time of the year, but, what with birds and slugs, winter and spring sowings need a lot of attention. The lettuce needs growing quickly and therefore requires a rich soil, in fact, it cannot be too rich, and a bed of about a foot. of old hot lied or well decayed manure will grow excellent lettuce. In addition to good soil, liquid manure or applications of nitrate of soda is required to speed the plants up once they •start growing. A sowing should be made iu July and again in -August and followed by email sowings every fortnight until about March. During the hot weather it is difficult to keep up a supply, but 7 if the plants are shaded, given an occasional dose of water, and tiie surface soil kept loose to prevent evaporation, it is surprising what, good heads can be produced even in midsummer, Tiie autumn sowings will last much longer before maturing and those sown in late autumn will not mature till the following spring. The chief points to remember are to protect- seed,lings from slugs "etc., to plant in rich ground, and to force the plants to a quick maturity by liquid manure. CULTIVATION OF DAPHNES. These over-popular. swpet-sccutcd flowers are of easy culture, if : the few rules governing their management be kept in mind. Vigorous, healthy plants are. of first importance; indeed, it is no exaggeration to say that more than half the failures are due to weakly plants. Good plants should have a deep, healthy green colour, be well formed, and well balled in scrim. Those.having a sickly yellow appearance should be rejected. Daphne Odora, the species referred to here, is n native of China, and is found growing in that country in the 6hady gorges and other situations not fully exposed to the sun. This would Indicate that a shady position is more, suitable than one fully exposed. It does not follow, howeveT, that a sunny pdsi-. tion will not do: but .if planted in the

latter, care should be taken to provide a mulch round the roots, with the object of keeping the soil cool. Almost any soil will grow daphnefl, provided it is well worked and liberally manured, and it must ibe borne in mind that the plant will have to remain in its original position for many years, as daphne, once planted, cannot readily be moved, and the preparation of the so-i in the first instance is most important. No pruning of any sort is necessary, but the plants may, withoTit injury, be cut back lightly to the shape dekired by the cultivator. Removing the flowers will do no harm to the plants. Plant firmly, with the packing scrim uuremoved; this will , quickly decay when placed in contact with the soil. Training is a matter of taste, but a fine effect is had by staking up the centre of the plant and allowing the branches to hang down like a “weeping tree.” No failures will occur if the following cardinal points are remembered: —Get strong,-healthy plants; prepare the soil before planting, by having it well manured and deeply dug; shade the roots, if in a -sunny situation, and water in the dry weather. - WORMS. - The .Florist's Exd.iahge says:—-One of tiie gardening journals recently contained a note,' the writer of which expressed the view, that worms are of no particular benefit in the garden. As a matter of fact worms are apt to be a beastly nuisance, especially- when one has been setting out small seedlings and cuttings, for the night crawlers when retiring in the early morning have a habit of hooking a hold on to seedlings and cuttings and dragging them partially Into their holes. In doing so they , have purpose; they aim to close in their holes and at the same time, 'they either, knowingly or unknowingly are securing hum us, as all matter so dragged into the preio-rce decays. The worm has another aim in life. It does not eat vegetation or other forms of life,' its sole object being soil, and if the soil does not contain humus Mr, Worm soon migrates to a more fertile field. In a word, worms live on.-the humus in the soil and whatever they extract from it is not lost, for after passing the bodies of the worms,- it- is- excreted as a black mud which is said to be extremely rich in potash. Darwin once said that every morsel of fertile soil in the world has been made by worms. The richer the soil in humus the more plentiful are the worms. The assumption of some people that horse manure creates worms is sheer delusion, they simply are encouraged by it and for that reason one always finds lots of worms where decaying: manure is stacked. I‘oor soils are never, greatly pestered with worms and for this reason worms do not get .into the sub Soil, save in winter. <• HELLEBORE, CHRISTMAS ROSE. These plants derive their common name from the fact that they produce .’their-flowers in the depth of winter in the open. The beauty of the flowers becomes more or less spoilt by rains, on account of their being so close to the ground; the soil splashes on them and disfigures them. They are often lifted and boxed', potted or transferred to a frame, 'where they can be protected. They obtain fresh hold on hew soil, and begin to throw up flower -buds. Upon examination they will be found frequently to’ have pieces of soil adhering to them, spoiling’ their unless they are removed by one or two good syringings." These flowers are invaluable for cut purposes, and respond readily to" forcing. r ‘ CARNATION NATIONAL FLOWER. A proposal is afoot’in Jhc U.S.A, that the cariifition shall be made the national flower'of America. “Since the rose is England’s'national flower, and tiie lily' •France’s," ’ and the chrysanthemum Japan’s? why -’should lio't America have a national* flower,” runs the argument. It seems a’ good' idea—especially to ■ America’s carnation specialists. A declaration from-the President or an Act of .Congress would be necessary, it is suggested, to establish "the carnation as America’s national flower. TIIE BLUE ’ POPPY. The ‘"Blue Poppy" sounds well .whether. as tiie title-' of a book or a flower. Mecohopsis ? Baileyii. is the correct name of this recent introduction but no doubt as • the “Blue Poppy” it will be idore frequently named. It is a grand plant and is not so. difficult of cultivation as some of the other varieties of meconopsis that were introduced previously.- It can be placed in that list of plants of which it can be said that “it is not what they want that" matters, so much as what they do not. want.” Seeds are fairly easily obtainable- and it is a lovely plant that would grace any garden. It requires a, c.ool position where the soil is well drained but naturally moist. The’seed should be sown about November in shade aiid the ’ seedlings kept growing gently right -through the autumn and winter so " that the plants build up a strong crown-by the following summer • when they -send up the flowering .spikes and set seeds. With mccohopsis as with herbaceous calceolarias it is the insect pests • such as aphis, thri.ps aiid red spider that is th? cause of the large mortality amongst the 'plants. ' Once let these pestfl- get a foothold in the rosette of large sappy leaves, that lie practically on top of each other, close to the ground, and it is an almost impossible task to remove the insects and get the plants g-. in g again. s . | — GRAPES UNDER GLASS. / Early vines will requirq a little more heat as the bulbs swell, and break. A night temperature of about 58deg. to GOdeg. will suit, with a corresponding day rise. As the days lengthen and activity is more pronounced, the atmosphere may be kept a little more humid, but this must not be excessive, or soft, , flabby leafage will be the result, especially if high temperatures are maintain-, ed. As soon as it can-be determined which.buds .will bo retained all" the oth-

ei'fl should be rubbed -off, to avoid loss’of energy. Particular care should be taken to see that vines in pots do not suffer from, root dryness. When watering is done, let the whole bali of soil be well moistened through. When it is desirable to raiae new stocks now is the time to insert the eyes. Choose eyes from sound, thoroughly ripened wood, the most satisfactory being those generally found at the base of the laterals; The eye should be cut with about hail an Inch of wood on either side of the biul. Miuiy growers root the eyes in turves, ■but sinall pots are brat, as less root disturbances occurs when the time arrives for transferring to larger pots. Use a light, loamy compost, with some sharp sand added,, and fill the pots up ‘to within' one inch of tiie rims'. Place the eye on this and then cover over,leaving' nothing but the bud showing bn tiie surface. Plunge the- pots ’in" a’ propagating case in a house where a warm temperature is being mair.taiiied.' ’ HORSERADISH. One Very, seldom 'sees ' h<r."sjradish* grown. Possibly th'ere is reason for not admitting it too freely into our gardens, for if allowed to run wild it becomes an awful pest. It can, however, be easily kept in check if proper means of cultivation are employed. The root is' the part eaten, and it forms a nice condiment with react’ beef. The most serviceable stickfl of liorseradisii are those that are quickly grown, and are long and straight. To obtain such sticks the ground should be dug at least ISin. deep. Planting can be carried out any time- during the autumn and .winter. Straight pieces of root Sin. or 4in. in length are the best for planting, and may have a crown. If there is more than one crown they should ail be removed except one. Use a otout dibber for making the holes, whieh should be Ift. deep and Ift. apart each way. Place one get in each hole and then fill in to the surface. After a time growth will make- its appearance above the surface, and the roots soon thicken and

develop into fine sticks. When digging, trench out the roots’so as to take out nlLthe roots, for if any pieces are left in they arc sure to grow and become weeds. The whole of the roots should be' taken up each year and a fretsh planting made. - .