GARDEN NOTES

Taranaki Daily News, 3 May 1934, Page 12

GARDEN NOTES

THE WEEK’S WORK. , THE flower garden. Keep chrysanthemums securely tied. Any disbudding that remains to be done should be finished with all haste. Collect fallen leaves. Do not allow them to lie about. Either place them in a ■ stack or pit. ' Plant out Iceland poppies, ten-week and beauty stocks, sweet williams. ‘ Prepare beds for planting with springflowering subjects. Clear away any annuals, etc., that have finished flowering. Tie up any late-flowering herbaceous plants. Keep dahlias securely tied up. They still continue to give some welcome blooms. THE GREENHOUSE. Primula sinensis, cyclamen and cinerarias will need potting. _ c Begonias are beginning to ripen- oft and water must be gradually withheld. Schizanthus should be potted up as they . need it. Many of the tender bedding plants must be taken under cover. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Lift any potato crops. Store when dry. Pumpkins, marrows, etc., should be harvested and stored. Clear off any crops that are done. Sow the ground down in oats or other soiling crop. Prepare ground for planting rhubarb. Deep trenching and plenty of manure is required. A sowing of broad beans can be made. Plantings of early cabbage and cauliflowers can be made. Make a sowing of shorthorn carrots and turnip-rooted beet. THE FRUIT GARDEN. Prepare ground for planting currants and gooseberries. Cut out any useless fruit trees and prepare the positions for new trees. Clear up weeds, old leaves, fallen fruit, dead twigs, and bum or bury them. ' Cleanliness in an orchard is essential. SWEET PEAS. PREPARING THE GROUND. When growing plants of any kind the first thing to consider is the fertility or otherwise of the soil and the resources it possesses fop nourishing the plant Very few soils indeed are naturally infertile, but our modem ideas of perfection in the sweet pea are such that to get anywhere near perfection the soil has to be in a high state of fertility, much more than the natural condition of even the best soil. For sweet peas to give first-class blooms and to continue to bloom for a long period, one of the essentials to success is a deep root run. Unless the lower spits are broken up the roots are unable to get down far enough to be out of the way of the effects of the hot sun and ‘ to be in naturally moist conditions, pie soil for sweet peas should be trenched at least- three spits deep. The method is to mark out the piece to be trenched, a strip about 4ft. wide. Then a length is measured, and from this section the soil is dug out to the depth of two or three spits. The soil taken out is removed to the end where the trenching ' will finish, ready to fill in the last

; trench. After the trench has been got ' out the right depth, some good stable manure should be put in the bottom and

incorporated with the lower soil. This is to form a layer of moisture-holding material where the roots can get at it when the plants are blooming and the dry-weather is on. As each spit is removed a dressing of bonedust and basic slag at the rate of 4oz. of each to the square yard should be incorporated with the soil as the work proceeds. Some form of potash should also be added. Sulphate of potash or kainit is good, the first at the rate of 2oz. to the square yard, the latter at the rate of 4oz. to the same area. If neither of these is obtainable, wood ashes can be used. The quantity used will depend largely upon the amount available. In any case, there is no harm likely to occur from using too much. The trenching should be done some time before the ground is required, so that the soil can consolidate somewhat before the plants are put in. LAWNS. Lawns and other grass plots where the grass has become thin and patchy, and. where weeds have become numerous, should receive attention by having the weeds taken out and by being topdressed with fresh soil free from seeds of weeds. Resow with a little fresh grass seed and at the same time apply suitable fertilisers. Lawns that were laid down last autumn usually need a little renovating the following autumn, in the matter of rectifying any inequalities of surface and filling in depressions or subsidences with fresh soil. Carefully level, roll and sow some new seed. PERPETUAL CARNATIONS. A correspondent of an English paper, writing on the new perpetual carnations exhibited this past season, says:— “The best exhibited and outstanding novelty of the past season has been Robert Allwood, for this fine scarlet excels not only in size, but also is excellent in colour and habit. Not least among its good qualities is its keeping or lasting ability when cut. At random other good novelties are numerous. We have two crimsons in Othello and Wivelsfield Crimson. The first distinguished by its freedom of flowering and fragrance. It is a good carnation, although it does not appear big at the shows compared with last year’s novelty, Wanda, which is the largest crimson, and more suitable for exhibition or private collections. Wivelsfield Crimson is good in flower and habit. Although at times not quite as big as Topsy, it. is often of better quality, which is saying a great deal. My Love has continued to size up to our remarks of it of last year. It is one of the best in the cerise class yet sent from America, Salmon Spectrum Improved is an entirely different thing from the original. The British Carnation granted the Award of Merit to it last year, as well as to another, the difference between the two (if any) not being apparent, but there is no question that growers cannot afford to continue with the original Salmon Spectrum now that Salmon Spectrum Improved is available. Regal, in the heliotrope class, shot cerise, has not the fimbriation of Circe. It is somewhat like the old variety, Royalty, but larger. New whites are definitely wanted among Commercial white, which keeps in hot weather better than any other in this colour. For hot weather, Etheldor is another in the rosycerise class which stands rerdarkably well. For growth and a fine flower there is room for Scarlet Pimpernel, a vivid scarlet, distinguished for making a pretty plant. In the fancy classes we have Auroa, yellow, heavily marked pink. Achievement is also a clear apricot with darker apricot shades, a large flower, with strong growth. Pelargonium is quite unique in colour-

ing. While the ground is white, it is so heavily overlaid with crimson maroon that this is the dominant colour. Another unique variety is Princess Royal, which, in its colour of violet-purple, flaked with Tyrian red (or rays of cerise), is unlike any other carnation. Lady Simmons is much like Dimity, with a .white ground stippled claret. Thelma is one of the promising novelties. The salmonrose shade in this variety is still wanted. The slightly fimbriated flowers are scented, and there is no nonsense about the growth, which is quick on the job to produce flowers. Derek Richards, a salmon sport of Master Michael Stoop, will be popular with those who like the good points of the original. They are its fine, healthy constitution, carrying a large flower. Laura belongs to the fancy class. The clear yellow ground is spotted with scarlet, pink and white, giving an unusual combination of colour. The growth is vigorous and free enough for a commercial variety. Aurora: The second carnation to bear this name to those who remember the first old variety, raised by Mr. H. Burnett. In this we have the combination of a cream ground, suffused with light pink; another in the fancy class- The growth, although dwarf, is upright and strong.” Since the above was written, Robert Allwood has received the Sanders medal, awarded for the best nqw greenhouse plant shown to th jßoyal Horticultural Society during the year, 1933. ROCK GARDENING. NO NEED TO BE.EXPENSIVE. A lot has been said and written in regard to the building of rock gardens. Apart from the individual, who is so fortunately placed that distance and cost have not to be regarded in the matter, those who would like 1 a rock garden have either to use the material at hand or go without. We must be thankful that Nature and gardening in any form has no bias towards the millionaire, and a worker can get just as much success and often a better result if he is enthusiastic about the work. A rock garden can be yours with practically no cost except labour, and in many cases, so far as plants are concerned, be more successful than one built with-imported stone and costing a lot of money. There are, of course, all kinds of stone, and the tendency of the rockery builder is to employ that most readily available. Thus one man who built his own rockery built it very largely of limestone, and while this might horrify some people, the show of flowers is none the worse. As a matter of fact, in rockery construction, the stone or rock is far less important than the soil, and the wise man will spend more on the plants than either. In the end, with a good soil and as a result of the more valuable rockery plants, the rock or the stone becomes more or less hidden, when its shape ‘ and character, over which there may have been so much thought and care, will matter very little. From all this it will be realised that no one need fear to start a rockery. Nature always comes—perhaps even too readily —to the rock gardener’s aid. At the same time it is desirable that the rocks should vary in size and shape and that ;most of the largest should go to the ’ base. Then it is important to leave good-sized pockets for the plants, and to fill these with a really good mixture of soil. Crushed brick and flint or stone chippings may be added in moderate quantity. Take care that the pockets are filled to the bottom and tightly filled, even ramming the soil home. In this connection, as any portion of the work is completed, it is a good plan to give it a heavy watering, which will settle the soil in the pockets and then perhaps make room for more. Generally, also, the, slope of the upper surface of

every piece of rock or stone should be inwards to carry rain water into and not away from the pockets. If something in the direction of a boggy portion is desired, this can be arranged at the base of the rockery, digging out a deep hole of suitable size, - and bedding the bottom with a thick layer of clay, or even of concrete; Or a large old bowl or tray may be sunk “'to check drainage. Next above this put in a layer of peat and then of turves (grass side down), and finally of soil to the'depth of a foot. Such a special section should easily be kept moist without a very great deal of watering, and should form an admirable situation for kingcups, mimulus, spiraeas, fuchsias, water irises and other mois-ture-loving subjects. NITROGEN FOR NOTHING. When peas, beans, and other leguminous plants have finished bearing, it is a mistake to pull up and bum them. The tops may-be cut off and put on the rubbish heap, But the roots are much better left in the ground. The reason for this is that these plants are exceptional in being able to utilise and store the nitrogen of the atmosphere. Most plants depend upon mineral nitrates and ammonium compounds for their supplies of this element, but the legumes derive their supply from the air which is present in the soil. This action is rather complex and depends on the activities of a soil microbe. The organism invades the young roots and they multiply rapidly, causing the characteristic root nodules. It transforms atmospheric nitrogen into a form which the plants can absorb, and in return receives other foodstuffs made by the plants themselves. On the death of the plant the. nodules slowly decay and return to the soil both their nitrogenous compounds and those bacilli which are still alive. Thus a soil which has grown leguminous crops is actually richer in nitrogen than it was before the crops were grown. / CARE OF GLADIOLI. REMOVE CORMS FROM GROUND. As soon as foliage becomes yellow there is no need to leave the plants in the ground. They may be lifted, tied in bundles and hung up in an airy room until the foliage will part from the corms readily. They should then be cleaned and stored in a dry cupboard. Before putting away the corms should be soaked in a solution of formalin, using loz. formalin, 40 per cent to four gallons of water, and soaking the bulbs for 30 minutes. Formalin 40 per cent is just the ordinary stuff purchasable at the chemist's. One ounce can be measured near enough by allowing: 1 teaspoonful, ioz; 1 dessertspoonful, toz; 1 tablespoonful, loz. After the->corms are dried and cleaned the most convenient method is to store them in paper bags, writing the name on the bag. In each bag with the corms put a pinch 01' two of naphthalene. The bags can then be stored in any dry cupboard.