HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION NOTES

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19118, 10 July 1930, Page 4

HOME ECONOMICS ASSOCIATION NOTES

(Contributed.) The next public meeting of the H.E.A. will be held to-morrow evening when Miss Beck will give a demonstration of cake making in the Gas Company’s new demonstration hall. “ Standing room only ” is always the fate of late corners at one of Miss Beck’s demonstrations, so they know what they may expect! Mr Humm was unable to give his lecture on “ Planning and Lay-out of Gardens ” on the evening of Friday, June 27, and his place was taken at very short notice by Mr Reese, who gave an interesting and instructive address that was much enjoyed by all present. It was illustrated by many beautiful lantern slides. Mr Reese said that it was impossible to touch upon every branch of such a gigantic subject in one evening but he would try to give as many hints as possible on the most important points. One of these was the selection of a suitable site for a garden. You might double and treble the cost of laying out by buying a section in a bad position or one infested with twitch or in too low a position. He had heard of a hill section that cost £IOO on which the cost of laying out a garden was £3OO, An other point worthy of careful consideration was the placing of the house on the section. Houses all in a straight row looked so ugly and uninteresting and your next-door neighbour’s bathroom, kitchen and scullery made a very unpleasant outlook. Put your house near the road and have a fine garden

at the back or vice versa. Tastes differ tremendously with regard to the type of garden preferred, but shrubs give the best results with the least labour. In the speaker’s opinion shrubs are the finest study in horticulture, they give both shelter and charm Seme prefer lawns and flower beds, but, to many people, these, without shrubs, do not constitute a garden at all, and such an arrangement involves a tremendous amount of labour. Lack of preparation of the ground is the greatest mistake made in horticulture. A garden has to be thoroughly and deeply trenched only once but this once is absolutely imperative. When you plant roses is the time to incorporate manure. Trench 18in deep and put one foot of manure in the bottom of the trench and you’ll have a great rose bed. Lawns also must be deeply trenched. Don’t put any rye grass in your lawn —it is cheap but nasty. It comes up quickly but soon becomes tufty and ugly Best seed to use is Chewing’s fescue and to three parts of grass seed use one part of clover seed. The best plan in forming grass edges is to senv seed six inches further than you intend to have your lawn or border and then cut it off clean with the spade. Shrubberies should take the place of hedges and give f(ir more beautiful effect. The selection of suitable shrubs is one of the most important points in gardening. So many people purchase shrubs without knowing anything about them. In half the gardens in Christchurch forest trees are planted on quarter acre sections. By the time they are properly developed they have to be cut down. In planting shrubs it is necessary to study the size and requirements of each one Flower beds require a great deal of labour to keep them in good condition. A properly planted flower bed may give some wonderful effects, such as is obtained with purple petunias and the modern antirrhinums. But flower beds with a mixture of odds and ends are great failures. Live hedges may be extremely beautiful. Laurel is the aristocrat of hedges. To keep it in good condition clip it with the secateurs. Macrocarpa also makes a fine hedge, good in sandy soil. On the hills, the Himalayan cypress should be used: such a hedge in .Napier, 55 years old. is a very beautiful sight. A pretty little hedge is made by growing ivy on very strong wire netting. One such hedge. 20 years old, is clipped once or twice a year and keeps in splendid condition. A matipo hedge wears old quickly. Mr Reese gave also valuable hints on rockeries and rock gardens, garden ornaments, stone and brick Avails, garden paths, vegetable gardens and drying greens. With regard to the last he said, “ The drying green can be made just as beautiful as any other part of the garden, if the pests are made of good material and climbers planted round them and the wires are taken down when not needed. Everyone could improve the garden in this way.” At the conclusion of his lecture Mr Reese was accorded a very hearty vote of thanks. All communications intended for this column should lie addressed to Miss. Saunders, 69 Mays Road, Papanui.