GARDEN NOTES

Waikato Times, Volume 92, Issue 14254, 3 January 1920, Page 2

GARDEN NOTES

(By “Nlkau.”) “All the ' flowers and trees do close To weave the garlands of repose." —A. Marvell. Saasonanie Work. Vegetable and fruit. —Weed and thin young crops. Keep the hoe going between the rows. Stake tomatoes and cut out the side-shoots. Mould up potatoes, cabbages, tomatoes; and indeed all crops will benefit by tins treatment. Plant out passion fruit. Sow, peas, lettuce and cucumbers for succession, watering the ground well beforehand. Set out various members of cabbage family. Spray with arsenate of lead for codlin moth, leeches, and grass beetles. (It should be remembered that this spray is a deadly poison, so that all fruit on which there is likely to be any arsenate should bo well wiped before peeling or eating). Spray with lime-sulphur for leaf-curl and brown rot, and other fungus diseases, though it will be seen that leaf-curl has almost completed its ravages for the season. Mildew on vines, roses, sweet peas, garden peas, etc., should be treated by dusting flowers of sulphur on the diseased ■pants. Flowers. —Sow seeds of biennials and perennials, shading with scrim for a few days; otherwise frequent waterings must be given and the soil is then likely to cake and crack. Stake carnations, etc. Pinch out centres of French and African marigolds to make bushy plants. Save seeds of freesia, sweet william, Argentine pea. Mulch and manure sweet peas and rosea. Floe the ground round shrubs that have flowered, and do all necessary pruning so as to obtain flowering wood for next year. (Azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons are best left alone, unless they are badly shaped, but lilac, svringa, deutzia, and similar plants may be pruned yet; the best time is immediately after they have flowered). Lift bulbs, ranunculus, anemones. If possible, give violets a thorough soaking. Special Notes. Transplanting.—lf dull weather is chosen for this work,' bedding plants may still be set out, but watering and ■shading must be given for a few days. For a dry situation French and African marigolds are suitable, as they will grow where most plants fail, though naturally they appreciate good soil too. Th§ plants should he put in a little deeper than usual, if the best results are desired. It is also a good plan to soak the earth round the plants a few hours before transplanting, as a large quantity of soil can then be kept on the roots. If this precaution is taken, quite large plants may be successfully transplanted. The trowel should be kept free from rust, so that the soil will come off without crumbling away; ■ this one little point may make the difference between success and failure. Pear leeches or slugs.—Hellebore and arsenate of lead are the standard | remedies, but throwing dust or dry,j ashes on the leaves is also effective. '■ The dust clogs the pores of the skin ; of the leech, and also dries up the slime, so that the leecli shrivels up. This remedv is still more effective if a good watering is given a few hours (after the dusting; the leeches will then be washed off, though at other times they can resist a heavy downpour. Where a crop of frdit, such as ‘ Bon Chretien pears, is ripening, this method seems preferable to the use of poisonous remedies such as, arsenate and hellebore. Broad beans,—These should be picked as soon as they are ready, in order to allow the later ones to develop. There is an edible podded variety which should be tried, though it Is extremely rare. If the pods are used Just before they retain their full size, they provide a very delicate dish. Though not so suitable, the ordinary broad beans may be used in the same way, and will probably be enjoyed by people who do not care for the beans themselves. In this case, the pods should be used before they are halfgrown, or they will become too coarse. Sugar, or edible-podded, peas.— These are not nearly as popular in this country as they deserve to be, but they are properly appreciated on the Continent and in America. There are several varieties, some medium :n , height, others very tall. Probably the best variety of all is the Mammoth ' Luscious, which grows to a height of four or five feet, when properly staked. The pods, which are often more than five inches long and an inch wide, -•are cut and used like French beans. If they are allowed to grow until the seeds are half grown, they will be foqnd quite tender and stringless, as delicate as asparagus, and preferable to any variety of beans. Cabbage.—The soil is now in good j order for planting out all kinds of cabbage. This operation may be performed by making holes with a fork or hoe, but Is most easily done by means of a dibber. To make such an implement, a stick may be shaped like ; a wicket, but a better way is to use an old spade or fork handle, about nine inches of the shaft and pointing the end. The holes made by | the dibber should be filled with water , A law minutes before the plants are 1 put In. If the roots have no soil on them It is well to wet them thorough- ! |V and then draw them gently through , some fine, dry soil In this way the { delicate hair-roots are covered and arc ; not liable to injury To obtain the 1 greatest success, the plants should not have their roots exposed to the sun or wind. In transferring the plants from one part of the garden to another, the best way is to water the plants well ( before they arc moved, then make the holes,, fill the holes with water, then take out the plants in small numbers — bay in a dozen or a score- at a time. Passion fruit. —-No garden in the Waikato should be without one or) more good plants of this useful fruit. 1 It may be easily grown from seed, so : plants can be cheaply obtained. The writer has over a batch of forty seed- j lings raised from some seed saved two | top three years ago. The usual thing i is to depend on self-sown plants, but ; it is simpler to save a fruit each year for seed to keep up a supply of young vines. The present is a good time to obtain plants from seedsmen, as there Is still plenty. pf lime for the plants . to make good" growth before winter. A sheltered position should be chosen, since the passion fruit will not stand severe frosts. Do not plant the vines too close to the wall or fence, or the roots will not get sufficient moisture. •Slugs and snails arc vo-y partial to passion vines, so the latter should be protected by tins from which the bottoms have been removed. Buddlqia vaGahilis veitchianus. — Some very fine specimens of this plant may now he seen in full flower in local rardens. The Buddo ia is one of the best of all shrubs, ns if, yields a wealth of beautiful bloom extending over a long season. The sh.ane of the plant, looT is a relief from the bushy, compact growth of other shrubs. It -s hardy enough to grow in most parts of the South Island, but it reaches its best in this island. Though not of recent. introduction, it is hardly ever seen in the older gardens. Rambler roses.—Arches, pergolas, hedges, rustic fences and walls are row gay with ramblers of all kinds— ; single, double, pink, crimson, red,; and evcq Wue. Dorothy Par-

kins is the common double pink, but Dorothy Dennison and Lady Gay, though similar, excel it. American Pillar is a largo single pink, with yellow stamens. Hiawatha is a brilliant scarlet, and Crimson Rambler is too well known to need description, i White Dorothy Perkins is a little later than other ramblers, and is perhaps the showiest of all. Good fences of ramblers, Including Wtiite Dorothy, may be seen in Claudelands. Violet Blue is the blue rambler; it is a semidouble, not very beautiful but interesting, 'because it is so close an approach to the long-sought “blue rose." Children’s Gardens.—Weed, thin, hoe and water well. Sow lettuce. Save the best strawberry from the next box you get, put it in a safe place to dry, and neit week you will be told how to grow strawberries from seed.