Gardening Notes

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19828, 30 April 1927, Page 16 (Supplement)

Gardening Notes

(BY

ALKANET)

! AUTUMN OPERATIONS J ‘ . The season has advanced another * stage. VVe have had the first real 1 autumn rain. The chief problem now J tor the gardener if he wishes to grow ’ vegetables successfully will be to facilitate the drainage as much as possible. * The moisture has put a stop to all 1 tcjp<i,resing of plants unless the soil is ■ sandy and the manure very old. Liquid ‘ manuring should uow cease, as in cold I and wet soil it will tend to check the 1 growth of the plants instead of help- * i n g- ’ Keep the soil among the plants hoed ' frequently, this will help to keep the 1 land well drained. Do not trear.f on ’ the soil any more than is necessary, as ’ it will make it hard and cold. At this time of the year sandy and ‘ rather poor land will often come into - •profit before the better land. Lettuce . may be grown successfully on light ’ land if treated liberally with manure. 1 ; Tho birds may be troublesome. They jarc always on the look-out for now > ; green during the winter. The safest 1 plan is te plant, about twice as many - ; icttuce as needed. This will allow for waste. * i Early cabbage may be planted in {sandy land. 'Phis is about the only ‘ i time they may be planted and do ■ really well in that sort of soil, as it is generally 100 dry in the summer and the cabbage fly is very troublesome. The sandy land will also give very i early peas and beads. In many eases , they will be reariy to pick when. in most gardens, they are just being sown. If the soil is not so light as sand. , lettuce and peas may be had earlier than usual by planting on ridges. It will make more work, but the results will be worth it. The ridges should be made from two to three feet apart ami I about six to twelve inches high. They i may have two rows of lettuce on top of each, but only one row of peas. If covered with wire netting, the birds cun be kept off. but if this method is too expensive, or too troublesome, some strands of black cotton stretched to and fro above the plants will help to some extent. KITCHEN GARDEN • Cabbage and cauliflower should he ■ I planted as early as possible. The; jr-older the locality, the earlier t hey - should be planted. In warm land they | may be satisfactorily planted at any time, but if the soil is inclined to be at all cold, the earlier they are in the better. Silver beet may be sown in light land, but will not be ready fur use until late in spring. Cabbage would probably give better results just now. Turnips may be sown, but only in light warm land. Onions should be sown now and earlier sown ones should be kept quite free from weeds. Winter spinach may be sown now. All roots, such as ]»arsmps. carrots. swedes, etc., may be dug now and ‘‘heeled in” until they are needed for use. The tops, however, should not be cut off ton short, or they will rot. AU potatoes should be dug by now or they will become covered by weeds. Those already dug shook} be pitted, if there are. more than can bo used in the next month or so. Pumpkins and marrows should he gathered and stored, where the frost cannot reach them. Do not make more than two or three layers. Some straw between the bottom layer and the ground will help them to keep botHorse radish should be dug now and the long slender roots should be selectitd for next year’s plants. This plant will become a weed if allowed lo spread and it should be kept in a ' comer where it cannot choke out other ’ plants. To grow it. properly, they ' should be planted out fresh each year. They are then not difficult to regulate. ; If they are left year after year, they ' soon take possession and become a nuisance, as well as not cropping as well. I tion of fluid at the joint, is never a! ' matter which you can afford to neglec' . ■ ft pays in the long run to knock oil , ’ 'work, at once and rest. A splint, W'’ll ( . .{covered with Hut. so that me Lard; /wood does not feel u neomteri able ( /against the skin, should be worn m thci Jiiuck of the knee to prevent any move-1 I menl. A. dressing known a- Scott .- J dressing should be applied, ami a i age firmly wound round the swo'icn • area. The leg should not be I bear the weight of the body at all. la few days the swelling will have gone ‘‘down, and at the end of a week the I knee may be moved very gently. The I object is to avoid moving the knee too J soon, as it might bring the water hack, ’-and, on the other hand, to avoid keep ‘ ling the knee stiff toe long, for fear I that it may grow permanently stiff. •The best plan is to begin moving the | joint very gradually, increasing the i range of movement a little day by day. A knee that has once been injured is more susceptible to injury a second - time, therefore a generous period should be allowed for the knee to re- ; j gain its strength before it is made to -! do full work. In the case of a frequent 1 i recurrence of the water on the knee, j say two or three times in the year, it is an indication that there is something wrong with the inside of the joint, and lan operation may be necessary to re- * : move the damaged cartilage from the [knee. The removal of the cartilage ■does not interfere with the free inove1 i ment of the knee when once the wound ; j is healed up. ‘ ; Boys have taught me the lesson of 1 j youth, optimism, good temper and justice. —Headmaster of Merchant Tayj tors’ School.

DIGGING WORK 'the recent rain will have, reminded us of the nead, to (dean out all drains ready for the winter. Any hedges that have, not been clipped should be attended to without . delay. New ground to be used for garden should! be dug and trenched ready for planting later. It is not an unusual sight to see the turf taken of new ground and stacked to rot. 'Phis is a mistaken policy. The turf is the cream of the. land and it should not be taken away. If any trouble is experienced in covering it with ordinary digging, it should be trenched deeply. Lover it with plenty of loose soil ai.i’* the crops will be better accordingly. Tho turf contains the bulk of the. humus in the soil, which is the best thing for growing vegetables. Manure crops such as mustard, lupin, etc., should bo turned in now. They will grow very little after this month. Oats, barley or rye-corn are best for sowing just now. The seeds must be well forked in. or the birds will not give them a. chance to begin to grow. TRANSPLANTING SHRUBS AND TREES Tho planting season for all plants and shrubs is .just about to begin. It is rather early for most things yet, but any herbacious plants not in flower at present may be planted with perfect safety. Any alteration in the garden that entails moving any large evergeen shrubs should be at tender’.' to as early as possible to enable tho plants to get re-established before the winter sets in. Before transplanting any large evergreens, or. in fact, any at all. the plants should go through a process known as ‘‘wrenching.” To do this, insert a strong spado all round the tree, dig it in as deeply as possible, aml then press on the spade as if trying to lilt, the tree out. The i tree will be separated' from the bottom soil, but should not be moved. This i will very likely make tho foliage of I '.he tree i'lai; for a while, but it will i s-oon recover. Tho wrenching should be j re.e.i in another ten or fourteen ; days, after which oven a very large i reo may be transplanted with perfect safety. There, are, of course, trees that will not transplant when they are any size, such as gums, acacias, grevilla, peppertree. etc. The following, again, wi'l not transplant unless a lot. of soil is taken with them: —Azalea, rhododendron, azalea mollis, and ericas. 'these last lot may be planted; almost any time, except in mid-sum mor. AUTUMN FOLIAGE 'the very early frost we had three or lour weeks ago seems to have given us a display of yellow autumn foliage that we very rarely have locally. The weather is usually too warm for the ash and the Canadian maple to “turn” as they have done this year. The leaves usually drop before they have a chance to colour very much. Another tree that has turned tx) a beautiful yellow shade is tho white cedar, or meiia azederach. 'this free is not. so popular as it should; be. The tulip tree has been very handsome in the more red shades and the amalanchias have been better this season than they usually are. 'rhe quereus rubra has been rather disappointing, but. quereus palustris and eouxnhi are at present looking verv fine. Some very fine specimens are to be seen in the surrounding districts. The. lirne from which the oaks turn colour may differ a lot and the tints ; may vary considerably from year to I year. The locality in which they are I planted will influence them considerably. In fact, if they are planted too i '-.ios- 1 to a large overhanging tree, they : • may not colour at all. Being planted ; ! where the sun does not reach them i will also prevent them colouring as •they should do. It is the differences /■,' .■•mpe-t'nture that causes the dispaly j and, the bigger the difference, the bet- | ter the display. I FLOWER GARDEN j The planting out of all blubs should ; be brought to a close as soon as pos- ■ sible. Narcissi should not be left unpin nt cd any longer. Hyacinths, tulips and oxias also should be planted, or they may collapse. \nemones and rununeulas may be planted considerably later than this, as storage ripes not seem to affect them. If they are left too late, however, their flowering period will be late accordingly. If beds are not ready for them, the bulbs may be sprouted, in boxes or in the open. Place them out singly, allowing half to one inch between each bulb and cover with some light sand. An inch or two deep will be quite sufficient. They will send out roots in.-less than a fortnight and. at that stage, will transplant very freely. In cold d.ist.rifts, and in land inclined to lie cold and wet. they should be planted on ridges six to eight inches high. Plant two rows on top of each ridge and allow six inches between each plant. The soil must be well worked and well manured. Pansies, nemesias, primulas, wallflower, antirrhium, Margerite earna-

Lions, violas and coreopsis should be | planted now. i 'fhe old-fashioned marigold (lagetes) ! has come into favour again. Some •very good improved varieties arc now being offered by seedsmen. The young plants usually come up by themseves if the seed,' is allowed to fall, but the quality soon deteriorates. This annual is very suitable for early spring flowering. In warm districts it will flower in mid-winter, if planted early enough in the autumn. It does best if well fed. but it is astonishing the number of blooms it will give in quite poor land. When the summer, with its heat, arrives the plants often become unsightly, but in the winter and early spring they are very showy. The frost does not affect them to any great extent. Another annual that is very satisfactory to grow for early spring display is the annual chrysanthemum. If sown in early autumn, they will flower in very early spring and give a very goad, display. There is a very large range of colours to be had, both in singles and doubles. They do quite well on poor land and will seed themselves if left alone. If they are allowed to do this, however, they very soon run to indifferent colours. It is best to get new seed every autumn. The wet weather having set in, tho use of liquid manure is stopped for this season. Manure should not be allowed to lie on the surf-ace. as it collects the moisture too much. Pot plants in the house or in the glasshouse should not be given any stimulant. The growth will not bo very great on account of the drop in the temperature. Pot plants should be watered sparingly and only when the soil in the pots shows signs of becoming d',ry. Excessive moisture in winter is very harmful.