Gardening Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18785, 19 May 1923, Page 7

Gardening Notes

By

“HUMUS”

THE WEEK’S WORK. THE FLOWER GARDEN. Sow hardy annuals. Divide and re-plant Lobelia foi edgings. Plants Anemones and Ranunculus. Plant Canterbury Bells, Sweet Williams, Aquilegas, Verbenas, Pansies, and Violas. Plant Ten Week and Beauty Stocks. Prepare new Rose beds. Tie iii> long growths of Rambler Roses. Sow Nemcsia. and Phlox Dr unimondi. Place twiggy sticks to young Swett Peas. Make another sowing of Early Flowering and Summer Peas. Clear away any annuals that have done flowering. Lift herbaceous plants. Dig and manure the ground. * Gut down Michaelmas Daisies as they go out of flower. L*wns should be weeded and top dressed. Prepare the soil for sowing new lawns. The seed can be sown now. 1 his is the tune to transplant any trees or shrubs. Lift and renovate herbaceous plants and borders. THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. Dig and trench vacant ground. Prepare the ground for planting early Potatoes. Sow a few early Peas in a warm, fairly dry position. Lift the early sown Carrots and store in a dry shed. Earta up Celery ana Leeks. Make a sowing of Turnips. Weed the autumn sown Onions. Look over seed Potatoes: keep them in a. light position. Cut down Asparagus tops as soon as they turn brown. Sow lettuce lor succession. Prepare the ground lor new Asparagus beds. Manure winter Rhubarb. DIGGING AND TRENCHING. It. is a truism, yet one not always realised, that, successful cropping is usually the result of digging deeply am thoroughly. Many of us are incli-x d to go to work in a piecemeal fashion, digging a bit bare ami hoeing a mt there. Often such a policy is thrust . upon us because we have some crops that should remain in the soil until they arc finished with Rather than imperil the success of our digging, we should take ouu the obstructing carrots or other vegetables and pit them ■somewhere. We can then go ahead with our trenching, manuring, liming, and so forth. There are various systems of trenching and deep digging, but all aim at breaking up the subsoil to lit it for supplying food to deep-rooting plants in some cases the subsoil is brought to the surface, but this is usually a mistake as it is not yet fit to become the hief rooting medium of most plants. In place of real trenching, doubledigging or bastard tr-nching is commonly practised. To do this, dig out a good trench one “spit’’ deep, and remove the soil to the other end of the plot, to be useil for filling in the furthermost trench. After the first trench has been macle, dig or fork the bottom soil, that is. the subsoil, taking care to leave it still in the bottom. If necessary, use a pick to loosen this layer. Then dig the second trench, using the top spit to fill the first trench; then loosen the bottom of the second trench, ami so continue till the patch has been dug. By this means the whole plot is broken up to a depth of two spits, and the crude subsoil is .still left in the bottom. In the course of a few years this subsoil will have been incorporated wdth the top soil by the action of Nature’s diggers—the humble but industrious and useful earthworms. Deep-rooting plants like parsnips also do their share in the work of deep cultivation. Where plenty of stable manure or compost is available, it may very’ well be laid in the trench alter the subsoil is loosened ard before the top spit is thrown in. Finally, the surface should be left rough and loose in order to expose the maximum surface to the sweetening influences of air and frost.

MINTER DIGGING. Without sonic knowledge of the character of the soil, it is not possible to advise as to the lines; on which winter digging should proceed, but some idea can be given by taking two types of soil, heavy and light. On heavy soils, winter digging and ridging i.):>y be a necessity to get the soil aerated and pulverised, so that it may work freely in spring and summer. With this class of land the soluble fertilising elements are not readily washed out of the soil; but there is another point to consider: to get the best return from retentive land it is essential that there must be provision for free drainage. When this is so, digging, trenching and ridging may be undertaken with advantage. But there are eases where a garden may have to be made on a similar soil where, from want of an available outlet drainage cannot be carried out. Tn such a case, winter cultivation by deep digging would he unwise, as the soil would retain too much moisture and the air would not penetrate freely into the soil. By leaving the ground undug until most of the winter rains were past, the soil could be got into better condition for sowing and planting garden crops earlier than if dug in autumn. To -fig. light, porous soils in the autumn would be unwise for a quite different reason, as they would be exposed to the washing effect of inins and would havn a very large proportioi of their fertilising elements washed clown out of reach of the plants’ roots or out in the drainage water. ROTATION OF CROPS. The important matter of croprotation should receive due consideration long before the time for sowing and planting arrives. The ground can then receive the treatment necessary for the welfare of the different crops. A change of site is, generally speaking beneficial to most vegetables, although unions may be an exception, as these will do on the same plot for many years if it is kept in a state of fertility by manuring, without any deterioration of quantity or quality. Carrots, parsnips and beet should follow crops that I have been well manured the previous year, as the use of fresh manure fc do- ! tnmental to tap-rooted crops. I’he high cultivation required for celery ! leaves the ground in fine condition for I the growth of any other crop. The

cabbage family, including turnips, sho-uld not be grown on. the sameground for two consecutive years, and, where possible, it is best to give a three-year rotation. It is essential, to get the heist returns front the garden, that the ground should be deeply dug and freely worked, so that the roots tan extend more readily in search c?i the nourishment necessary for the production of higii-class vegetables. SWEET PEAS. Seed of the epring flowering Sweet Peas is sowable now. Deep digging in a well-worked soil, moderate manuring, using only the very oldest litter obtainable in the lower spots. No more manure until the plants begin to show bud, when tbey can be given a sprinkling of chemical manure and weak liquid manure. Cut out ‘ome of the tendrils which so often get tmsted round the flewer stalks, and see early to the tying up and training to prevent the plants breaking down with their own weight. Easily grown wben not over-manured ; hard to hanale when people try to produce flowers before the plants are set. Rational gardening gives the best results. AITUM N FEE DING PERPET UA L CARNATIONS. Autumn feeding hits been proved to e an absolute necessity with plants .rown in pots. The loots being re--tricted in a confined space, have not :hc freedom that is obtained by plants rowing in the open ground. The slants should now be in a vigorous, wealthy condition to withstand the mild forcing process during the winter iionths. Hie best results are obtained from a fertiliser compounded : foods adaptable to the requirements >i the plants. The substance of growth obtained from organic ieeoing :s of such a character ti.at diseases do iiot trouble the plant t ) n great extent, and being naturally matured the glauous bloom upon tiie lu'iage is gieatly ncrcaseiL and e ro-.i m uo:. being healthy the stem and calyx of the looms are strengthened. Blood and one, wood ashes, dried sheep manure, re good, and should be given nr small loses. To obtain the best results the Jants should jeceive an application :nuu every fortnight during the autumn and winter months. SHADED BORDERS. To stock a border that is favourably ituated as to sun is i fairly easy matrter, but as most guidons also possess a border that is at least partly shaded, ao frequently find one part of the garden a blaze of colour, while the other .■» comparatively' bare. T'lils need not •e, for there are innumerable subjects of a perennial nature that may be used, and will give a good account of thom--elves. h irst a word as to soil. Owing to lack of sunshine, and the fact that die soil is rarely cultivated as it should be, the first duty is to bring it into ondition. It should be well dug or trenched, and a good quantity of manure worked in it. Doronicume, perennial Phlox, Heleniurns, Pinks, Michaelmas Daisies, Campanulas, Chrysanthemum Maximum, Shasta Daisy, Aquilegia, Sweet Williams, Pansies, Violas. Anemones, especially the Japanese Anemones ar<? all amongst the varieties that will grow and bloom well in a shady border I ’LA NTING SHRUBS. Now is the time to consider shrub planting. Places should be allotted them, the ground prepared, the varieties selected, and the order placed with the nurseryman. Our gardens would be much better by a judicious selection of rhe better varieties of shrubs, but somehow or other people v. ill select large-growing evergreen vaiieties which in a lew years outgrow tlieir stations and become a nuisance, there are a large number of varieties winch would never outgrow their positions, flower profusely every season and in every way arc suitable for small areas, yet one seldom sees them. People seem afraid of planting anything that is slow growing, being under the impression that they are weak and tv ill not do well. M hat does one want with a lot of tall ever-green shrubs in a quarter-acre section. All that is required in the way of ever-greens is sufficient for .shelter; beyond that no shrub should l><> allowed t-o grow more than three or lour feet high. UH LB ARB. Rheum hybriduni. native of Mongolia, is generally considered to be the parent tho garden rhubarb, though it is considered possible that some of them may be the result of crossing with Rheum undulatum of North America. The plant 'is grown for its leaf ivhich, under cultivation, attain considerable dimensions, ami are A'ery valuable in eary spring before gooseberries become available. It may be grown from seed, and some kinds come icmarkably true, but it is better to increase the well-known kinds by division of the roots, and though it is satisfactory when left undisturbed for years it is better to lift, divide, and replant every four or five years. The plant is the greediest of all vegetables we grow, and it also likes to get plenty of moisture. It will thrive in a cool (lamp part of the garden almost a swamp, and when trenching the ground ni preparation for planting, put in plenty of stable manure and compost heap. Lift the old stools and divide them into as many pieces as there are crowns, plant at a distance of thice leet apart each way, and see that the buds are just level or an inch under the ■mrface. AV hen planted, give a goad mulch with strawy .stable manure, .?nd the established beds, after being cleaned and lightly dug, should be mulched heavily with stable manure. Roots for forcing are often lifted nuw and left exposed to the weather until it- is time to pot or bog them up. TO DISSOLVE BONES. Bones are a valuable manure, but unless brought to a fine powder, they are so long in becoming available us plant food as to lessen their value, lhere is a certain n.mouut of Free bones available from most kitchens, i and us •■..umma h cam. is ccu..--..s process, thd IdlmVrhlg method of disbheiri Will lx? found useful, •lahd a. lili’ge Watrtt'ght hogshead, and t'dvbf t-h<? bottom with about six inches •>f tlfy fegil j on this put a layer of bmifis of the same depth, and cover them entirely with wood ashes (dry and unhlcachcd). on these another I layer of bones, then ashes, and so on ir amilllL Leatve it

exposed to the rains all summer and winter till spring. Then on removing the contents of the hoghead the bones will crumble to powder under a slight pressure, and form one of the most valuable manures ready for immediate use. From 2oz to 4oz of such dissolved bone manure is the proper quantity to apply per square yard as a winter dresisng or in preparing ground for sowing or planting, working into and mixing well with the soil at least a spit deep, or as deeply as may be in the case of fruit trees or roses without injuring the roots.