Gardening Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXI, Issue 19034, 11 June 1924, Page 7

Gardening Notes

(BY ALKANET)

VEGETABLE GARDEN. Seed potatoes should now be ready. Place in a shallow tray about 2 J inches deep. Put in a warm, dry place and they will start sprouting. Those with weak shoots should be discarded. Treated in this way only the strongest ones will be planted and this is an advantage. Onions should now be sown. The weather lately has been very favourable for the sowing of any kind of vegetable seeds. A sowing of broad beans, if not already in, should be attended to. Tomatoes should be now sown. If intended for a greenhouse they should be sown in boxes in a compound of old turf. Double the quantity of soil with sharp sand, cover the seeds lightly and do not water too much. A succession of lettuce should also be sown and an early sowing transplanted into rows or beds, bearing in mind that lettuce must be well manured if success is hoped for. The first sowing of early peas should now be put in. On light, warm land plant in rows 2 feet apart. Stretch black cotton across to protect them from the birds. On heavy and wet land, peas can be grown quite satisfactorily as follows:—Dig the land well and be liberal with the manure. Then make a ridge by drawing the soil together where the row is to be. Make it about 12 inches higher than the surrounding ground, and about 6 linches across at the top with the sides sloping so as to make it about 18 inches wide at the base. Draw a drill along the top and plant the peas, putting them rather closer than when planting under usual conditions. Cover the peas with soil and protect them from the birds in the usual way. Every liO or 14 days draw a rake along the sides to keep the soil clean and to let fresh air into the soil and to let out any excessive moisture. The blackbirds may dismantle the rows in their search for insects and any damage done should be repaired. Early cabbage should be planted out and a few seeds planted for succession. Cauliflower should also be planted out. These are more difficult to grow than cabbage, requiring better land and more manure. They should not be planted where cither cabbage or cauliflower have been planted for at least two years before. FLOWER GARDEN. ROSES. From now on, is the time to plant roses. They are undoubtedly the most popular flower grown and give a big return for a small amount of attention. Most roses will grow anywhere, but some kinds are more satisfactorily and more easily satisfied than others. If in doubt as to the best kinds, consult your nearest dealer. He would be able to assist you in naming the most popular varieties. Roses may be grown in beds or among the other plants in the garden. If intending to make a bed entirely of roses the choosing and placing of the different kinds, especially if the bed is to be in the middle of the care should be taken to put the strong growers in the middle of the bed and the dwarf varieties round the outside. A well-placed bed of roses, planted in the proper season is a delightful acquisition to any garden, however

small. Roses, locally, should not be pruned before the end of July. It they are pruned early they will break into bud too soon and the frost will spoil the first crop of flowers for next season. Bu the end of July season will be well enough advanced to avoid this risk. PERENNIAL PHLOXS. These have come into favour very much this last year. They are very beautiful plants and if treated properly give a very gay display indeed. When planted the first year (as generally received from the nurseries) they will send up two or three branches and will flower for a long time. They should be lifted every winter and divided into smaller be broked Iwk wkw kwk w kw ylo plants. If unable to divide some of the sprouts formed at the base, just below the surface of the ground, should be broken leaving only about from four to five. If any more than that arc left, the display of flowers the following year will be disappointing and will not last as long as it ought. The plants need not be put in fresh soil every year; the same place will do, but manure and deep digging proves very beneficial to them. They are very hardy and will grow almost anywhere. MICHAELMAS DAISIES. These are some ot the most easily grown plants that adorn our garden. They are in fact so hardy that they are sometimes ttllowed to become a pest. If, however, the plants are broken up every winter, leaving only

two or three sprouts on each plant and destroying the rest they will be quite easy to keep under control. They are very useful for cutting and bloom at a time when few flowers are available. A few of the varieties are useful for garden purposes only, but the majority last very well inside. Seeds of nemesia and ten-week stock should now be sown also aquilegias. The latter thrives best in the open. .The seeds need a considerable amount of moisture to make them germinate. The present weather is also suitable for sowing larkspurs in the open ground. Violas should also be sown if not already in the ground. THE ORCHARD. The orchard should be attended to at present. If not already turned up see that it is done, so as to sweeten the land. A slight dose of lime would be beneficial if the land is heavy. If light land the lime is inclined to bring a large crop of sorrell and therefore should “be avoided. Peach trees should have a spraying of bordeaux mixture. For a small garden vermorite is recommended, as it is easily mixed. Fruit trees can be pruned any time now. but it is generally best to leave them until about August so that the spraying and pruning can be done at the same time. Currant trees, also gooseberries should be planted. For pruning of these the same rules should be observed in the case of fruit trees. Gooseberries should be transplanted this month or next. It can be left until later, but June or July are the best months. TREES AND SHRUBS. Wattles will soon be in bloom. If you intend to plant any of these they should be chosen while in bloom. As these are sold in pots, they can be procured and planted at any time, although the best time is about September or October. This is the time when evergreen shrubs show to their best advantage. Some of the conifers are exceedingly handsome. They have quite different tints now in contrast to their summer suits. They are as a rulfe suitable for drives,, but are sometimes too large for siiiall gardens. Of the native trees the red pine is one of the most handsome and should be very extensively planted. It is of slow growth, but once well advanced it is very beautiful.. It is a very hardy tree and no insects or diseases seem to trouble it. For town beautification it is excellent. A shrub which has been a great sijbcess this mild autumn is the leeulia. There are some very fine specimens to be seen in the town and suburbs. Their beauty has attracted a lot of deserved attention. The mild season has also allowed the poinsettia to show to full advantage. Some very fine brackets have been on this rather rare and frosttender plant. It has, this year, paid well for any attention and care it may have received. The weather locally has favoured a very fine display of autumn foliage; better than has been seen for many years. A list of the most noteworthy autumn-tinted trees and shrubs will be included in the next gardening notes.