The Home Garden

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 244, 16 October 1940, Page 10

The Home Garden

WORK FOR THE WEEK. The Flower Garden As soon as anemones, ranuculi and freezias have ripened off they should he lifted and the ground dug or forked over. A slight manuring will bring the ground into a fit state to grow for summer flowering plants such as scarlet salvias, petunias, phlox, portulaccas, marigolds, etc. Do not leave the ground vacant. Anemone bulbs are generally not worth saving for another year owing to rust, and very much better results will be obtained by raising fresh bulbs from seed sown in December. Ranunculi are hardly worth saving, though if any particular plants have been outstanding it might be advisable to save them. Daffodils at this time of the year look rather untidy, but on no account should the foliage be cut off. They may be lifted and replanted in some out-of-the-way corner if not wanted. If the foliage is tied up, asters may be planted over the daffodils. Annuals which have completed flowering should be pulled up and a planting of phlox drummondii or scarlet salvia made in their place. Roses are now at full growth and soon will be flowering well. If the season is wet mildew will make its appearance, so it is advisable to dust once a week with sulphur. A weekly dose of weak cow manure liquid may be given with advantage. A top-dressing of blood and bone now will aid in building up a good show of autumn flowers. Carnations are now throwing up their flowering stalks. Although larger blooms may be obtained by liquid feeding it is advisable to allow the°plants to develop naturally. However, a dusting of oyster shell lime will do the plants a lot of good. Salt is also helpful. Chrysanthemums should be planted out in their permanent positions as soon as possible. The soil should not be made rich as the plants arcsurface rooted. Mix a handful of bonedust (steamed, if possible) in each hole and thoroughly mix with the soil. Make the soil very firm before planting and plant firmly with some loose soil on top. Shade the young plants for a few days to prevent wilting. When they are about a foot high they may be pinched back or allowed to break naturally. The former plan will make dwarfer bushes. Good dry weather subjects are cosmea, miniature sunflowers, celosia or feathered cockscomb, and marigolds (African). Cosmea and miniature sunflowers should not be sown until December, as late sowings will keep the plants dwarfer and they will be less damaged by the wind. The celosia is a good bedding plant, highly coloured, and Ute “feathers” will last right through summer and autumn. Ornamental grasses should also be sown for decorative uses. These are too often forgotten. Work In The Vegetable Garden The aim of every gardener should be to make his vegetable garden supply all the vegetables for his family throughout the year. It is surprising how much and the wide variety of vegetables which can be obtained even from a small plot if planted for succession and intensecultivation practised. The aim should be to grow just sufficient fo, every-day use. . Intensive culture means more manure and more work, but this is all worth-while if fresh, tender vegetables are available for every-day use. When space is limited I would advise growing a row or two of potatoes only, as this is one of the few vegetables that may be purchased when required and still be fresh. Vegetables such as cabbage, peas, beans, and particulaily lettuce are much crisper if cut from the garden just when required. Intensive culture also means keeping each foot of ground fully employed during the busy seasons; of course, after autumn, ground not occupied with winter crops, such as parsnip, carrot, leeks, etc., should be sown down in green crop to dig under. So that this may be easily done the winter vegetables should be given a plot to themselves. One thing that must be avoided in intensive culture is overcrowding of crops. The first thinning of carrots should be made so that the plants stand an inch apart; the second thinning can be made in two or three weeks' time, thinning the plants to two inches apart. The plants will hare then made young roots which, if washed and boiled, are delicious. A third thinning may be made later, leaving the plants six inches apart, the young roots being large enough to boil or used in stews. They ate also not only delicious but contain useful vitamins if eaten uncooked. Tomato Culture The time has arrived when tomatoes may be planted in the open with every hope of not being injured by frost. It is, however, advisable to secure well hardened and thoroughly healthy plants. Unfortunately, many of the tomato plants offered for sale have not been sufficiently hardened-off to allow them being planted in the open. It may be advisable to re-box the plants on arrival and gradually harden them yourself. This may seem a delay in getting them into their permanent position, but they will make better plants and will quickly overtake those that are planted straight out in the open A sunny position must be selected for them. Should any plants be unnecessarily tall they may be laid down so that only about three incnes of the top Is left above the soil. With such plants the first bunch of flowers is usually formed not more than nine inches from the ground. If the plants are not planted in too rich a soli, or unduly forced, bunches of fruit will form at short distances the whole length of the stem. The best method of growing tomatoes is to train the plants to one stem, pinching out the young growth which forms at the place where the leaf joins with the stem. The fruit sets are formed midway between the sets of leaves. The time to apply liquid manure is when the fruit starts to form. Tomato plants need an extra supply ot nitrogen from some readily available source just as the first clusters begin to set. Marked increases have followed light applications of sodium nitrate, sulphate of ammonia or some other similar fertiliser. If these fertilisers are not available blood and bone may be used. Where plants are a little backward a light dressing of super-phosphate and potash will be necessary. Tomatoes are attacked by various fungoid diseases and by the tomato stem borer. The former may be kept under control by lime-sulphur sprays and the latter by spraying the plants with an arsenate spray. The Fruit Garden The most Important work to be shortly attended to is spraying for codlin moth. It is the duty of every person who owns an apple tree to spray for this pest. This is only fair to your neighbour. The necessaryspraying material should be gathered and preparations made for this important work. Arsenate of lead, one ounce to the gallon of water, Is very effective. Spraying with lime salphur for black spot should: be done at the same time by adding the arsenate, one ounce to the gallon of spray. Where leaf curl makes its appearance a spraying of lime-sulphur (one part to 50 parts of water) will keep it in check. A careful watch should be kept for marked or badly placed fruit, and these should be removed. It is also advisable to thin out if the crop is very heavy. The ground under and around the trees should, be kept free of weeds. All young trees should be securely staked to prevent blowing over. It is not generally recognised the support a stake gives to a tree, for it is under the ground that most damage is done. A strong wind will cause many of the small feeding roots to become broken off or badly damaged, and no tree can afford to lose its source of food supply. A good tree is worth a good stake Dahlia Culture—Planting 1 ime The time to plant varies with locality, when the ground has dried out fairly well and has warmed up. Never plant when the soil is wet or soggy; if possible, plant in an open, sunny situation, at least three feet apart, out of reach of shrubs or trees. About two weeks before planting time scatter all over the ground a good potato fertiliser composed of 4 per cent, nitrogen, 6 per cent, muriate of potash, and 8 per cent, phosphate acid, together with an equal amount of bone meal. Spade this in well, and it is ready to give the plants a slight stimulation when plantea. Greer, rooted cuttings usually give better blooms than tubers if planted from three to four inches deep. One of the failures of dahlia growing is shallow planting. The hole can gradually be filled up as the plants develop. Cut all the green rooted cuttings back to two or three pair of leaves above the ground, or at least pinch out the top to cause the plant to branch. After the plants.are well started (or about six weeks after planting* or at least six weeks before you want blooms, cut bushes back severely, leaving about one-half the growth and not more than six laterals for the first blooms. This will give the plants an over-supply of feed-roots and start tuber production at once. When buds appear place a shoveful of well-rotted manure around each plant, or, in the absence of manure, for every ten plants a mixture of 21b. bone-flour (fine’), soz. sheep fertiliser, ilb. mureate or sulphate of potash. The nitrogen will stimulate growth above ground, producing large bushes and flowers, but it used to excess the flowers will be soft, wilting readily, and the bushes will be overgrown and lower the vitality of the tubers. Phosphoric acid increases root development, especially the lateral and fibrous roots, strengthens plant growth and gives substance to the bush and flowers. It also aids in ripening the tubers. This element is found in bone-meal. Potash is the balancing agent for nitrogen and phosphoric acid. It gives colour to the flowers and foliage, and vigour and tone to the plant in general. It is an essential in starch formation and aids in the maturing of well-nourished tubers. Don't use nitrate of soda as a fertiliser and don't try to grow exhibition blooms by forcing the life out of your stock with sheep or any other manure without balancing your plant food with phosphoric acid and potash.