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Practical Gardening

BjjlllsaPreSsg&SD- Combridse • Dip.

SEASONABLE REMINDERS

PRUNING AND SPRAYING. DIFFERENCES IN BUDS. The continuation of the fine weather still makes much gardening work possible that usually has to be put off until later, owing to heavy rains. The planting of roses, fruit trees, shrubs and roots should be put in hand while the soil is warm and friable. Seed sowing is at a standstill until possibly the end of July, according to weather conditions. Where readers have a small conservatory seed of stock ten week mixed carnation, dianthus, antirrhinum and one or two similar things may be sown, but only moderate success may be expected since the conditions are not good, and it is an. experienced man’s work to get things to grow out of season.

Seed potatoes may be procured and be laid out in seed trays tc green and sprout. This work cannot be started too soon after June has come. All that is necessary is a light, airy shed with little or no sunshine playing on the tubers. The early varieties are: Epicure, Robin Adair, Early Rose, Jersey Bennes and Snowdrop Kidney. For heavy land avoid a pink potato; they will turn out too waxy.

No opportunity should be lost to turn over any vacant ground and allow what is to come of bad weather to have its full effect. Parsnips should be lifted and have the frost on them, as also should rhubarb crowns that have been in for some years. Readers who have no roots should procure them now. It is a good time tc plant, and there are some good roots offering. This also suggests such useful adjuncts to the vegetable garden as thyme, sage and lavender. Do not miss putting these things in now. A plant cf each is not expensive, and will prove most useful. Chives, another useful herb, obtainable by roots in winter, conies in for attention now; its use is well known in the culinary department. Eschalots should be planted in June on the shortest day and dug on the longest, but invariably we find them left until quite late in the year. In consequence, some of their usefulness is lost. Pruning and Spraying.

Prior to particularising upon this annual duty that is the garden lover’s lot, it might be helpful to give some word of encouragement to those who feel that the first is beyond their comprehension and the second beyond their patience. With so much in print and so much being said about pruning, it' may well be remarked that it is confusion worse confounded to write more. The most confused things are with a little care made plain, and pruning becomes a delight when the pruner makes of his tree an object lesson to himself and his friends. To make a tree do what you require in the way of fruitbearing is an art that none need fear to acquire. It is easier where only a few trees are kept, as is the case with most of our readers. When a tree has been established for many years, and is several feet high, as so many pear trees are, the usual plan is to allow it to do its best every year; but where trees are young or in the making, there is a real joy in watching them do what you wish them to. The interest may begin by marking and watching the progress of one part of the tree. The marking is essential, since it is so easy to forget which part of the tree is under observation, and just for what purpose it was intended to watch it. Take, for an example, a tree that has borne very well but which appears to be going back. Its fruits are smaller, less flavoured, and its leaves are not so healthy-look-ing, nor its growth so vigorous. Usually this is attributable to over-crop-ping. That is to say, the fruiting habits of the tree have been formed too early in its life history, and they are in the ascendancy, the consequence being that the sap that should go to growth and foliage development is being put into the fruits. The interest will lie in this case in watching the effect of reducing the fruit-bearing properties of the tree and seeing the growth again obtain the ascendancy. The fact that a tree has been planted a number of years usually ensures good root development, and it is safe to assume that the root t/stem is bound to send up an ample supply of sap to resuscitate a tree and give it the necessary balance of growth over fruiting. Clean Fruit.

In regard to spraying, this calls for no more care or regularity than is bestowed upon the sowing, weeding and thinning of vegetable seeds, and is followed by more encouraging results in this at least, that the resultant crop is easier to handle, cleaner, and less trouble to prepare for meals. There are two or three times in the season when spraying must be done to ensure clean fruit, and when carefully done it is most effective. It would appear from various reports among those interested in trees that the season just past has been very bad for the ravages of Red Spider, and it is evident by the results that our local inspectors are examining home gardens and recommending spraying to be done as a control. It is found that Red Oil does control the pest, as well as many of the scale insects. A winter spraying of oil or caustic soda mixture, of which the recipe will be given later, should be applied after pruning is complete. Pruning.

As outlined above this becomes intensely interesting as the results of the work are marked and noted. It is usual to describe its treatment as from a j'oung well grown nursery tree, since in these there is no confusion in alluding to terms descriptive of various parts of the three, but by far the larger number of our readers have older trees that are more puzzling. Especially is this so with Japanese plums, peaches, nectarines and pears. There appears to be such a mass of twigs and branchlets that it is a wonder how to make any headway without adding to the confusion next season. In the case of a pear that has gone up too high, it is safe and advisable to top it; the lower branches will receive the added supply of sap and will mature many a dormant fruit bud, thus bringing the fruit nearer the ground. The abundant supply of new shoots that will arise from the cut branches can be dealt with next winter pruning, thinning them down to a profitable number.

Annual pruning of large trees that have not been properly framed when young is not necessary, but correct thinning of fruit spurs and fruit bearing laterals is necessary and wise. In the case of peaches and nectarines, fifteen to twenty years is the profitable life of these trees, but in home gardens a tree may be often rejuvenated

by cutting its main branches hard back and allowing it to break away freshly. Japanese plums respond free-

ly to this process as the old branches are full of dormant buds that quickly make up for what is cut out. Apples, cherries and English plums do not answer so readily to this treatment. The cherry has a tendency to bleed after being cut back and the other two make what are known as water sprouts, shoots that give leaves and branches and no fruit spurs. Difference in Buds. The most necessary thing to observe on any tree before pruning is to note where its fruit is carried, and what is the difference between fruit buds and growth buds. The rule is that fruit buds are fat and plump; growth buds are thin and narrow and they lie close to the bark. The next thing to notice is the difference between new and old wood. New wood indicates growth made during the season just past; old wood may be of any age, but it can be gauged by its position on the tree. The length and condition of the new wood has a marked influence upon what pruning is to be done. For example, if it is short and thin growth has not been good and it must be encouraged. The other thing is to note the relation of one branch in respect to its near neighbours. This leads to the understanding of those terms leader, lateral, fruiting shoot, fruit spur, etc. Lastly, the behaviour of the fruitbearing portion of the tree after fruit has been carried is most instructive. It does not need a very close examination to reveal the fact tha* there are scars where the fruit stems have been growing and beyond them is found either fresh fat buds for next year’s fruit as in apple and pear, cherry and English plum spurs, or new growth containing buds in interesting formation extending beyond the portion that has borne fruit, as in peach, nectarine and Japanese plum. In the case of older trees the experience is to find fruit being produced near the top of the tree, its weight deflecting the upward growth of the leader and making the branch all out of shape. The correct thing to do is to remove the fruit-bear, ing portion of this branch for a good way down its length and shorten back last season’s growth by three-quarters of its length. It is seldom wise to cut back into last year’s wood, but if it must be done owing to so little growth

being made during the ryast season, then cut back to the place where it started from. This may be identified by a slight swelling and the appearance of leaf scar marks very closely placed together. Stone Fruits. The stone fruits, as peach, nectarine, and Japanese plum, carry their fruit upon lateral growths of one year old and these are produced from the main branches. Where they are overshaded or overcrowded they quickly die out, and it is the renewal of these that is so necessary. In the older trees these

also creep up to the top of the branches and they are encouraged to be produced lower down by hard top pruning and by completely removing every alternate lateral down the branch. English plums and pears are renovated by what is spoken of as spur pruning. The spurs are cut back to half their growth and the trees are topped if getting too tall. Apples very easilv overbear, and these must have very drastic treatment along, the main arm by removing the fruit buds and laterals growing near the top, and by shortening back the last year’s growth as hard as possible.

CULTURAL DIRECTIONS.

PRUNING GOOSEBERRIES. ASPARAGUS BEDS. When one begins to prune gooseberries the first thing to be done is to cut clean away those branches which are lying upon the ground. Next, examine the bushes for crowding; and if an old or worn-out branch can be removed to make room for a young one, do so. The new growths of this year should then bo shortened, to remove the weak points. If the bpsh is a drooping one, the shoots should be cut just above a bud pointing upwards, and this will help to keep the branch off the ground. Some varieties grow nearly erect, and tend to

ASPARAGUS BEDS,

A reader writes: My little bed of asparagus has proved to be such a delight to my family during the spring and early summer that I have decided to enlarge this sphere of my activities. A site for new crowns has been selected alongside the present bed, and odd times I am preparing it for planting next October. The bed will not be more than five feet in width; if it is wider it is difficult to eradicate weeds without treading on the soil and injuring the crowns. My new bed, therefore, will only be five feet wide,

and by planting one row down the centre and rows at eighteen inches from the centre I shall accommodate three rows, and there will be a foot allowed between the outside rows and the extreme edge of the bed. I am double di ßging the soil and breaking up the subsoil thoroughly with a strong fork. I have managed to secure a load or two of manure from a farmer and this is being incorporated with the soil. The surface of the now bed will' be left rough until spring.

CHTVXS.

This herb is a relative of the onion, and its shoots, on account of their mildness, are used for flavouring soups, salads, etc. It was formerly grown extensively throughout the United Kingdom, but at present is rarely cultivated. A native of’ Britain, it requires no particular soil or position to grow to perfection. Chives arc propagated by division of the roots. Plant the divisions six inches apart, with a foot between the rows. In autumn they require to be top-dressed with good rotten dung, which is forked in the following spring. During the summer the surface must be kept free from weeds and water given in dry weather. Every third year a fresh bed should be made. Before planting the ground should be deeply dug, and a good dressing of «v«U-; rotted manure added. As soon as til* planting is finished the bed should be well top-dressed, should there be any danger of frost. In gathering the shoots should be cut off close to the crown of the plant, as required for use,, and the bed frequently hoed during spring and summer months.

A FRUIT TREE PRUNING HINT.

Now that the pruning season is upon us there will be occasions when one could do with a long-handled pair of secateurs to reach some high branch, and although there are such implements on sale, there is usually not enough work to warrant their purchase, and as they do not happen to have a pair next door, the result is that one lias to act the monkey and scramble amongst the branches, and however delightful trccclimbing as a pastime may be to the average boy, it is anything but a pleasure to try and get among the branches of an apple or plum tree to cut off a few twigs that are out of reach. The illus-

tration how a pair of ordinary secateurs be be made to do the work without any trouble beyond a little ingenuity. Procure a piece of wood four to six feet long by an inch square, shape out a groove at the top end in which to fit one handle of the clipper, fasten a small brass pulley near the bottom of the groove—a cotton reel fastened by a piece of wire through the centre hole and passed round the rod will do very well. A piece of picture cord attached to the handle completes the device. It will not cut very largo branches, but will be found useful for small current season’s shoots. A small keyhole saw attached in a similar manner will do for stouter branches.-

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/TS19310620.2.136.21

Bibliographic details

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 145, 20 June 1931, Page 22 (Supplement)

Word Count
2,530

Practical Gardening Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 145, 20 June 1931, Page 22 (Supplement)

Practical Gardening Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 145, 20 June 1931, Page 22 (Supplement)