GARDENING NOTES.

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXVI, Issue 95, 18 May 1938, Page 4

GARDENING NOTES.

* WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT. *

THE WORK OF THE WEEK. VEGETABLES. Cabbages and cauliflowers may be planted wherever the ground is fit to get on. Avoid unnecessary tramping over heavy, waterlogged soil. Lift, divide, aind replant chives. The rush-like foliage is very useful for salads, taking the place of onions. The plants are very hardy and will thrive in any soil. Remove all stakes and pea-sticks and place in a dry place for future use. Scrape the soil from the bottoms of the stakes before storing away. Thin out seedling crops, carefully removing the weeds and filling in any gaps. Frequent hand-weeding and hoeing will be necessary to keep weeds under control. Frequent stirring of the surface soil is a means of assisting growth. Make a sowing of onions for early planting. Where there is any doubt about the drainage or the soil is at all heavy, it is best to sow on a raised bed. ’ THE FLOWER GARDEN. As soon as the soil is in working condition plant out seedlings of hardy plants. There is still considerable warmth in the soil. Dig all seedling weeds under where space permits, otherwise they must be removed by hand. Hoeing is not satisfactory at this season. Further plantings of bulbs may still be made. Keep the surface stirred round those already planted, being careful not to damage the young, tender growths. Plant out seedling sweet peas where available. Allow plenty of room between the plants; from nine to twelve inches is not too much. Cut down the flowering stems of delphiniums, Michaelmas daisies, etc., and lift and divide the plants where necessary. Remove any stakes which are no longer required. Scrape the soil from the bottoms and store away in a dry place. Plant out polyanthus, primroses, pansies, and violas. PRUNING OF FRUIT BUSHES. SHOULD NOT BE DELAYED. The pruning of all bush fruits should be done duiing May and June. To get satisfactory results it is nenessary to have some knowledge of how the various bushes bear their fruit, otherwise quite a lot of damage may be done. Black currants bear on young growths of the previous year, hence new wood should be encouraged and as much as possible of the old wood should be removed. These bushes are usually grown as stools; that is, they are encouraged'to throw up sucker growths from the base, the old branches being removed right down to ground level, using a saw if necessary. Any wood showing borer holes should also be cut out. Red and white currants bear mostly on spurs. New growth should be shortened back to encourage spurring. The growths should be thinned out to keep the centres of the bushes open, and any suckers from the base should be removed. The ideal with these bushes, as with gooseberries, is to have a bush on a single trunk forming a head about a foot from the soil; then it is comparatively easy to work under the bushes without doing harm to the branches. Gooseberries also bear chiefly on spur, and new growth should be shortened back, the leading branches to three or four eyes, and the laterals or side growths to one or two eyes. Keep the centres of the bushes open, and remove any branches which are crossing or getting entangled with others. All sucker growths should also be removed. Gooseberries may be grown successfully on the Cordon system, the branches being trained on low wire fences, this system having the advantage that the fruit may be more readily gathered. Grown in this way they act as a useful low shelter fence. Raspberries bear on young canes of the previous year’s growth. All old canes should be broken or cut out at the base and the new growths be reduced to four or five of the strongest and best-placed canes to each clump. The canes retained may be shortened a few inches. Any sucker growths which appear between the rows should be grubbed out. If allowed to remain a jungle will result, making it very difficult to gather the fruit and impossible to cultivate the ground. Raspberries like a rich, moist soil. After pruning, a good dressing of stable manure may be spread between the rows. Care must be taken when working round bush fruits, as their roots are very near the surface and may easily be damaged by the careless use of the spade. HARDY WINTER - FLOWERING PLANTS. From this time onwards throughout the winter there is a general scarcity of flowers. Autumn-flowering plants such as asters, dahlias, and chrysanthemums are almost over, although the late-flowering varieties of chrysanthemums will continue to bloom till July, while winter-flower-ing shrubs are scarce. Among the hard winter-flowering annuals mignonette is of special value, both for garden decoration and cutting, specially the varieties that produce the large flower spikes. Of late the white butterfly has taken a heavy toll of seedlings plants during late summer, the caterpillars being particularly fond of mignonette, stripping every particle of foliage from the plants. Calendulas, the greatly improved single and double varieties, have brought this rather despised and old-fashioned flower into prominence and high popularity owing to its hardiness, rich coloring, and free blooming qualities. The

vastly improved varieties of Iceland poppies comprise many beautiful colors, including' the mast delicate art shades. Early planted seedlings are now flowering and will continue throughout the winter. These poppies are a valuable addition to winter and spring- flowers, being useful for table and other indoor decoration, besides making a brave display in the garden. They are of very easy cultivation, thriving in almost any soil and freely seeding themselves. For the warmer localities round the coast and where the ground is light or sandy, nemesias bloom well in the winter if the seedlings are raised and planted out early. -There are many very beautiful colors to he had and both dwarf and tall varieties are procurable. Gaillardias are indispensable for winter flowering. The bright colors make the large flowers of the perennial varieties particularly attractive for garden decoration as well as for cutting. The blooms are borne on long, firm stalks and are easy to arrange in vases. Gaillardias thrive best in light, well-drained soil, doing particularly well sandy ground where they tan gei their roots well down. I inaria is another useful winterflowring annual. It is quite hardy and once established will produce self-sown seedlings in quantity. It is very free flowering and has many different colors. The flowers keep well wh-n cut. Abrti’ons are useful winter-flower-ing shrubs. They are hardy and when plauted amon'- other shrubs in partially sheltered positions give an abundance of flowers through several months. Bouvardias are shrubby perennials and very useful for winter blooms in places which are not subject to frosts. The blooms, which are in shades of pink and red, are freely produced on the terminals of the shoots. There is also a white variety with rather larger blooms which are sweet-scent-ed. Luculia is a very valuable shrub for winter flowering, producing its trusses of pink, sweet-scented flowers in mid-winter. Unfortunately, luculias are not quite hardy and cannot survive hard frosts, but the plants thrive in warm districts near the sea. POTASSIUM SULPHIDE. Sulphide of potassium, or “liver of sulphur,” is an excellent remedy for mildew and should he more generally used. Applied at the rate of one ounce to ten gallons of water it acts as a preventive of many fungus diseases and is perfectly harmless to the most delicate foliage. If applied at twice or three times the above strength it is a powerful fungicide but rather apt to injure delicate foliage under certain conditions. For use out of doors the strength of the application must be adjusted to the weather. For roses and similar plants one ounce in three gallons of water is the maximum strength for cool, damp weather, while in hot, dry weather and with a somewhat flagging plant one ounce in six or seven gallons of water is the limit of safety. Enough soft soap to make a good lather should be added as a spreader and to make the solution stick to the plant. The great objection to the use of sulphide of potassium is its objectionable smell, but in the open air this goes off in an hour or so. It should be remembered that liver of sulphur will blacken whitelead paint and for inside a greenhouse, zinc white should be used instead of lead paint, and thus the blackening may be avoided. PREPARING THE GROUND FOR PLANTING. The preparation of the ground for trees and shrubs should he thorough, as, once planted, they are destined to remain for several years in the same position. Deep digging and working of the soil, the incorporation of humus with the subsoil are requisite, while adequate drainage is essential, especially where the sub-soil is in the nature of impervious clay. While on the subject of planting it may be wise once more to emphasise the need of discretion in the choice of plants of this description. The majority of suburban gardens have an area of not more than a quarter of an acre —many considerably less—and to plant in such limited areas trees which grow to a height of 60 feet or more is a great mistake. The whole effect is spoilt and the surrounding ground rendered practically useless for general garden purposes. There are so many really beautiful shrubs which are easily grown that a suitable selection can be made for every locality and purpose. Where space allows of the planting of a shrubbery, however small, efforts should he made to so arrange the plants that the effect is beautiful all the year round. This may be effected by the choice and arrangement of evergreens interspersed with some of the deciduous shrubs which change color or produce berries at this season of the year. When planting don’t lose sight of the ultimate size of the subject. Plants are usually quite small when received from the nurseries but under favorable conditions make fairly rapid growth once established. Of course it must be remembered that shrubs and trees vary greatly in their rate of growth as well as in their ultimate stature. Never crowd the plants. It is better to leave ample space that they may develop without encroaching on each other and the space between may he utilised, while the shrubs are small, for planting liliums, perennials of various kinds, or spring-flowering bulbs may be planted to fill in the gaps.