IN THE GARDEN

Taranaki Daily News, 20 June 1931, Page 23 (Supplement)

IN THE GARDEN

WORK FOR THE WEEK. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Now is the time to plant roses. Be sure and. place your order for roses, shrubs, etc. You may get some clear-ing-out lines late iu the season, but - probably' not the varieties you require ■ or' the quality you expect. Ornamental shrubs and trees, especially deciduous sorts, should be planted at once. Hedge planting should be done. At the end of the season many people regret that they had not thought of planting a hedge sooner. The ground is so cold that .outside seed sowing should be held up until the turn of the year. Dahlias that have been cut back should have the tops cut down and the tubers lifted. Securely tie the labels to the portion of stem left. A good storehouse for the tubers is ■ under a macrocarpa hedge, usually dry and frost, free. Chrysanthemum© are practically over and the old flower' stems should be cut down. Carefully weed the suckers so as to' encourage nice sturdy strong cuttings. Cuttings of various kinds of shrubs can be inserted. Flower borders should be manured and dug. Distinctly label such plants as liliums and paeonics that die com- . pie tel y. do wn. Carnation- beds should be kept free of weeds. An occasional dusting with lime will benefit the plants. Overhaul the rock garden. Plante that are overgrowing their position should be cut back hard. With many rampant varieties it is best to lift and divide, or replant cuttings, getting rid of the old plants. Pansies, violas, polyanthus, gaillardias, stocks,, calendulas, coreopsis, cornflowers are amongst the plants that can be planted. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN, Keep seedling onions free of weeds. Prepare the onion bed ready for transplanting. This should be done so that there is no delay once the plants are ready. Fork between the crops of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, burying weeds and bad leaves. Sow small lots of lettuce and keep up a succession for table use. Broad beans can be sown. This is a good crop for cold districts and heavy soils. . Dig all vacant ground, getting rid of all weeds and rubbish, ' which are harbouring slugs, etc. Make a sowing of. dwarf peas in a warm, sheltered position. A few sets of potatoes can be planted. A warm, sheltered position is abso- . lutely necessary for these. Place all potato sets in boxes to sprout. When sufficiently sprouted they can be plantedPlanting or sowing on raised beds is advisable during the winter, this counteracts the excessive wet. Artichokes, parsnips, carrots, .beetroot can be lifted, stored, and the ground prepared for another crop. Thin out and keep free of weeds any seedling crops. . . Prune the fruit trees and give a. winter spraying. This should be done early so that the ground beneath can be prepared for cropping. . , Any fruit tree planting should be done as soon.as possible. Order the trees and get them in so that they can be making new roots where they are to grow. PROFITABLE PRUNING. The pruning of fruit trees has always been a somewhat debatable subject. For a number of years close pruning was generally practised, but study and experience will modify the opinions of most thinking people in favour of moderate pruning. Pruning to excess means loss of. crop far too frequently. Close pruning will often lead to too luxuriant growth where a tree has been previqusly merely vigorous. Beginners should always try to remember that by pruning or cutting back a tree they reduce the number of. growth buds and thus concentrate the energies of the treb upon fewer shoot©. In consequence the few growths or shoots produced are often of greater vigour than those of the preceding year, before the pruning took place. This point must bo borne in mind, by all those who wish to deal intelligently with their trees when pruning them. TOMATO COMPOST.

Fine crops of tomatoes cannot be grown on weakly, stunted, plants. Although many plants will do well in an ordinary .garden loam, it is -iot advisable to rely on such for tomatoes under glass where every effort should be made to get the most satisfactory results from a limited space. It is necessary, also, to have some fresh soil each year. Those who are able to obtain turf should chop it up several weeks before using it. To each bushel add a couple of pounds of dry fowl manure, an equal quantity of wood ashes, and a pound of bonedust. Mix all together thoroughly and allow to stand two or three weeks before using. A spadeful of this compost at each station where the tomato is planted, or used in the potting or boxing of the plants, will be found to give them a push off that, will mean a lot to the future crops. HINTS ON ROSE GROWING. When a new rose bush is planted in a blank where some other variety has failed, first of all dig out and wheel away tne old soil and replace it with some good fibrous loam. This gives the new bush a chance to start away' quickly. Old bushes that have got a decrepit and gnarled appearance can often be given a new lease of life by lifting them, trimming back most of the thick, bare roots and. replanting, using some new soil around the roots. When planting the bush should be planted a little deeper than before. A rose bed or border that has been under roses for a long time is all the better for freshening up with a topdressing of good fibrous loam. The best way is to make up a compost of good fibrous loam, allow about a pound of bonedust and half a pound of lime to each barrow-load, mix it well, put a topdressing of four to six inches all over the bed or jorder. This will give new life and increased vigour to the plants. Many of the sawflies and maggots which gnaw the foliage during summer are'now hibernating in the soil around the bush, to reappear next season. Procure a pound or so of napthalene, scatter it thinly around the plants and hoe it in, going rather deep. This will account for quite a lot of intruders, and although it may not mean complete immunity it will reduce their numbers considerably. AU old loaves and weeds should be raked up and taken away, to be burned, for quite a lot of insects. Spores of rust, mildew and black spot winter over in such places,

TOPDRESSING FOR LAWNS. With' an increasing interest in outdoor games there is a correspondingly greater demand for lawns of healthy grasses free from leguminous plants, daisies and other obnoxious weeds. In dealing with very poor ground sickly grasses and healthy weeds, the first step should be to clear out the latter, then set about feeding the grasses. Light sandy formations are the meet difficult to deal with once they get worn out, and perhaps the best way of treating them is to lift the turf, heavily manure with well decomposed stable manure, work it into the soil, relevel and replace the turf. When it is outside the question to lift the turf and treat it in this way, much can be done by topdressing with stable manure. The manure should be passed through a half-inch sieve and then spread evenly over the ground to the depth of about a quarter of an inch. If the manure is too rough to be passed through a sieve it can be spread over the lawn, but the rough, strawy matter must be raked off after a few weeks. Brewers’ grains mixed with the manure is very good, and on heavy soils a certain amount of sand added to the mixture is an advantage. Heavy soils are apt to become moss-grown when allowed to get into a barren state, but this can be removed by an application of ground sulphate of iron at the rate of lloz. to the square yard. On both heavy and light soils frequent mowing without a collecting box on the machine will give a grass lawn of unusual thickness and robust health. Few soils .are so rich in potash that an occasional dressing of sulphate of potash is not marked by a decided improvement in the vigour and appearance of the finer grasses. One and a half ounces to the square yard is the quantity to apply. BULBS, CORMS AND TUBERS. The aniateur is generally not much concerned with the technical differences that exist between these three kinds of roots as with the beauty or usefulness of the plants. It may be of interest if an explanation is given of the differences. Hyacinths, daffodils and tulips are examples of bulbs proper; they are surrounded at their base by fleshy scales that overlap one another, and if cut through the embryo flower bud can be found in the centre. Corins when cut through give no indication of scales, yet there exist very thin, slightly corrugated ones externally, whilst the interior is solid. Gladioli may be taken as a. representative of corms. Tubers are underground stems, root enlargements or separate growths, such as dahlia, gloxinia, begonia, anemone. All serve the same purpose, the storage of food for the sustenance of the plant over a period adverse to growth. The period varies with every variety.' Tulips will only exist a few weeks, whilst anemones can be kept for two years. Delayed planting, however, is not an advantage, and the .longer the plant is out of the ground the greater the deterioration and weakness. MANURING BUSH FRUITS. Never use a spade near the stems of bush fruits, viz., gooseberries, currants, raspberries; they make a mass of surface roots, and to damage or destroy these roots will result in a reduction of the crop. If the soil is weedy or hard it can be forked over. A good mulching of manure is necessary. If stable or cow manure can be obtained it should be applied; if not, two or three handsful per plant should be given of a “complete manure.” There arc several complete manures on the market, but half flsh manure, half superphosphate; with an allowance of about one ounce of sulphate of potash, to each bush would give a good mixture. LOGANBERRIES. It is often asked how to prune loganberries ’and whether the canes should be shortened back or not. On every occasion always tie in enough new canes ip cover the trellis if they are obtainable.. It . is- not .always possible, and in such cases some of the old fruiting canes must' be Retained. Usually the canes produce a certain number of side shoots, in some eases a few at the top; in other cases quite a number; if the old canes are retained they will often send out quite a number. Where these occur cut them back to : within a bud or so of the main stem. In the case of young canes they can be cut back much closer. THE LION’S TAIL. Leonotis Leonurus is a South African plant popularly known as the lion’s tail. The are borne in whorls rather suggestive of the dead nettle. The colour, a terracotta or brick red, is very pleasing, especially when the plant sends up strong vigorous shoots. It requires a warm, well-drained position, and does not appeal’ to be very long lived, and a few cuttings should be inserted each year. They can be rooted in early summer, and if the plants are grown on, the top pinched out to produce a bushy plant, these young plants produce nice flowering plants by late autumn.