THE GARDEN

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16833, 8 September 1922, Page 11

THE GARDEN

Help and Hints for Amateurs IsD

KITCHEN GARDEN. Seeds to sow—Beans, l>cet, broccoli, \ Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrot, cauliflower, celery, cress, cucumber, leeks, lettuce, onion, parsnip, parsley, peas, spinach, tomato, turnip. What to plant—Artichoke, asparagus. garlic, herbs, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, potatoes. Tomato plants are on sale at several shops, and quite f number are being j sold. Doubtless the bright sunshine ! has tempted people to think the cold ; weather is over for this season, but j we must expect quite a lot of wot days and cold nights, with several degrees • of frost. Therefore tender plants like i Tomatoes must have protection to keep j them alive. They should be covered every night with material that is frostproof. It is doubtful if any benefit is gained from planting tomatoes in the open during September. The greater number perish, and those that do survive are eo stunted that thov never make strong, robust plants. In warm near the sea and on the hills above the frost line, it may be safe to set them in the open, but even in these favoured places better results would be obtained if the plants were out next month. Watch cabbage plants.- especially those that, were set out in the a,utumn. and any that show feigns, of “ bolting ' (sending up a spike of flower buds) should be pulled up and fresh plants put in their place. Select one of the. varieties that mature early, so that the entire crop will be fit for use at one I Early peas are growing fast. Assist I them by putting some spray stakes I along both sides of the row. I's 3 j plenty of these ‘-pray branc hes. Vor tliev ; not only keep the plants erect, bur, break the force of the keen, cutting ; winds. Do not put the branches too ! close l to the plants. Give the haulm 1 plenty of room to develop, and keep I the stakes upright. Too often thee I are brought quite close together at the ; top. forming a sharp point. Avoid j this error, because the plants should b? wider at the top. This is an important detail, and it should he given the attention it deserves. VINERY. The hot sunshine of the past wees has stimulated the vines in all vineries, especially in. houses with little ventilation. W here the vines are quite close to the glass it would be wise to lower the. canes and suspend them two or three feet from the glass, as a protection against frost. The young slioote are very tender, and the bunches of flower buds are in great danger if near the glass. Every inch they are lowered will give them a warmer atmosphere, and greater security. The canes can be put in their proper position next month. Early houses need very careful and constant attention during burster of

sunshine, as often a very keen wind is blowing, and it too much ventilation G given the tender berries may suffer. Open the ventilators on the lee side, and sprinkle plenty of water on the floor early in the day. This will serve to keep the temperature down. The ■wind is apt to change suddenly, hence the need of constant attention. Directly a change comes about the ventilators must be altered accordingly. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the need for attending to these little but important details. LAWNS. Grass on lawns is growing fast especially on light, soils. The mowing machine should be put over the lawn twice each week if possible, to cut the strong blades of the coarse grasses while they are soft,. If this is neglected now, grass will soon become so bard and tough that the machine will not- cut it satisfactorily, and the result is that one lias to go over the lawn with a scythe. It there are any strong weeds in the lawn, make an effort to remove them during the present month. ]f they are dug out now the holes will soon become covered with grass. Toj*dressing should be finished. TP good soil is not available, give the ! lawn a liberal dressing with good gar- i den fertiliser. FLOWER GAR DEN. Finish pruning roses. Rrnbabiy those ! pruned last will give the best crops of I I flowers. In putting the beds tidy after pruning, do not dig very deep near the bushes. It is hero that much harm is done. The soil is made too loose. ; many of the roots are injured, and : some are destroyed. We should remember that the soil should grip tho roots as firmly as possible, and that those roots near the feiirface are of the greatest, value. Therefore, spare them by a voiding deep digging. The sur- I ♦are should not he disturbed more than J three inches deep. A dressing oi bo no manure or basic slag will improve the flowers both in size, and substance. Snowdrops, crocuses and other earlv flowering bulbs are fast going over. ' ] Before their foliage turn* brown, see j that each clump is labelled with w©*, j thor-proof. labels. Many small bulbs, are destroyed, accidentally, when tho jj beds or borders are being dug in the autumn, because there are no effee- I tive labels to indicate their positions. Thoroughly examine plants on rockeries. These are juet beginning to i grow fast, and all weeds should be re- ! moved at onoe. If not, t-h£y wil! grow j*ust as fast as the plants, and though ; email now in a few weeks they will in- - to such an extent that, in re- j moving them some of the choicest plants i will have to be severely disturbed, so much that they will be more or less i disfigured for the rest of the season. A j \ chisel is very useful to use in lifting weeds growing among rock plants.