THE GARDEN

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17864, 4 June 1926, Page 10

THE GARDEN

WORK FOR ALL SEASONS

Answer to correspondent; — P. Page.—A file or a whetstone is the usual medium for sharpening a spade. But you don't want an edge like a razor-blade for ordinary gardening purposes.

Trenching and digging all vacant • plots will provide plenty of work when the weather is fine, and the sooner this : necessary work is finished the lietter. | Throw the surface soil up roughly in i order to expose as much of it as pos- I siblc to the weather. The action of frost, wind and rain will benefit the •oil as much as a dressing of manure. JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. Lift this crop as soon as possible. Select the quantity of tubers required for seed first, choosing the best shaped with the fewest and most shallow eyes. Bv doing this for several seasons a splendid tvpe of tuber will be secured, one that will lie uniform in size, with eyes quite near the surface, and will prove more profitable and less wastefui than the average sort. Having selected the seed, put the remaining tubers in a dump, just as you do potatoes. Don't put them in a dry shed, for they will lost that freshness so desirable when used. Plant the seed at once The first growth of the seeds are the best. Although this plant will grow in anv soil and situation, the best results are obtained when it is grown on a deep, friable loam that is well drained. Manure the position in the auttimn or early winter to give the manure time to rot before the young tubers form in the early summer. FLOWER GARDEN. _ Autumn sown lawns will need careful

watching. Frost will lift thousands of the young grass plants and leave them on the surface, where they will perish if left for any length of time. One should not go on the lawn while the j surface is wet, but as sdon as the lawn i is dry enough to walk on without the soil sticking to the boots put a very light roller over it to press the wee plants back into the soil. All plants that are. likely to suffer from hard frosts should have some at--1 tention at once. A piece of stout scrim i attached to stakes over the plants will ward off most frosts. Arum lilies, boronias, the tender ericas, etc;., will all pay for some protection. Christmas roses should be covered with garden frames or small boxes with a square of glass for a lid. Slugs are troublesome among these plants. They climb up the flower stem and after feeding on the blossom return to the ground and hide under leaves and weeds. Take a torch late in the evening and catch them feeding. GREENHOUSE. Cinerarias - The first batch are fast opening their blossoms. Sec that each plant has plenty of room, for if crowded the foliage soon goes wrong, and half of the decorative value is lost. Give weak manure water twice a week and let. the plants have plenty of fresh air. The late batch should be ready for their final shift. Do not keep them too long in the small pots. Don’t be in a hurry to get this late batch into the glass house Keep them in the cold frame as long as possible. They I make better plants in the cool, damp I atmosphere of a cold frame, and are much freer from attack by insect pests. Examine lilies that are growing :n I pots. Green fly are very fond of these plants; spray the plants as soon as the smallest indication of aphis is seen.