GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17326, 11 February 1928, Page 22 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

SEASONABLE WORK. (By "Nikau.") Vegetables and Fruit. —Hoe between the rows of growing crops to keep down weeds and conserve moisture. After making deep trenches and manuring well, plants leeks and celery; give them plenty of moisture for a week or so. Pinch out the sideshoots of tomatoes and tram the plants property. Use all kinds of peas and beans as soon as they are ready. Give cucumoers one good watering every week Sow lettuce and turnips in well-manur-ed soil. Bud fruit trees. Flowers.—Prepare soil for new lawns to be sown in March and April. Layer carnations. Bud roses. Use the arsenate of lead spray to kilt caterpillars on the leaves of chrysanthemums, dahlias, and roses. Use lawn mowings and other grass to mulch the soil round azaleas,, etc. Sow seeds of biennials and perennials either in boxes or in open garden. Put in cuttings of pansies and violas. Stake dahlias ami remove some of the side shoots.

NOTES. A Good Rain. —Last Saturday’s rainstorm will be remembered for a long time for various reasons, but chiefly because it has savfcd lawns and many kinds of plants which were almost dead. It has also greatly helped runner beans, cucumbers, marrows, pumpkins, and other plants which require plenty of moisture. Remembering that the old promise of seedtime and harvest holds true even in the twentieth century A.D., we should be willing in dry weather to prepare the soil for the rain which comes in due season. For example, if the ground is ready, seed of turnip and lettuce may be sown very soon after the rain, and good germination is assured. The same argument holds for working the soil now for a new lawn, so that advantage may be taken of the first good rain in March or early April. With the presence of a fair amount of moisture in the soil, work may now be done with layering carnations, budding roses, sowing seeds of biennials and perennials, and putting in cuttings of violas, pansies, geraniums, fuchsias, and many other plants.

Watering Marrows and Pumpkins. —On farms and in some towns where water is scarce, not much can be spared for these moisture-loving plants. To economise and obtain the best results from the scant amount of water available, the following plan is recommended: —At time of planting, or even now, make a shallow hole within a foot of the root of the plant, and fix in this, vertically, a short drain-pipe, or even an ordinary llower-pot. The water can then be poured into the receptacle, with practically no loss through evaporation from the surface. In the ordinary way the water runs away from the root, and so does little good, but by the method suggested every drop is made to do work.

Dahlias. —-Owing to the drought, dahlias have suffered more than most plants, for moisture not only helps them to make plenty of stem and foliage, but also keeps red mites in check. For the latter reason it is advisable to give dahlias an overhead watering by syringing instead of merely pouring the water round the roots. In many gardens, especially any that are over-crowded, caterpillars are doing great harm by eating the foliage and the buds. The arsenate of lead spray will kill these caterpillars as well as those that infest roses, as ters, zinnias, chrysanthemums, and other plants. It also kills leaf-slugs on pears and plums, codlin-moth grubs in apples, and caterpillars on •tomatoes. If good flowers are wanted, many of the side-shoots must be taken out, and all flower-heads removed as soon as the petals fall. Some manure may also be sprinkled round the plants, to be dissolved by rain and other water. To prevent serious damage by wind, it is necessary to provide strong, tall stakes, and to tie the main branches to these.

Buding Fruit Trees —As a result of the recent heavy rain, the sap should be moving more freely in the various kinds of fruit trees and shrubs. A start may therefore be made with the trees which are making the most new growth—probably peaches and nectarines. Though some books say that budding is work for experts only, and not amateurs, there is no doubt the latter can quickly learn to do It well; They may not obtain Ihe 90 and more per cent, that the professionals claim, but they can reasonably hope for at least 50 per cent. As unsuc - cessful budding docs IlLtlo or no liarqi

to the tree (the branch or stem not being cut off for this as for grafting), even a cherished tree may be used for experiment. The writer has found trees of peaches and nectarines the easiest to work with, but a very diffident beginner may practise on a willow. Budding is simply the transferring to a bud from one shoot to another shoot, on the same tree or on a different one. It is really grafting on a small scale, the usual four-inch graft being reduced to a 2m shield of bark with bud attached. As we should expect, budding can be done most easily when there is a fairly close relationship between the bud and the “stock” (as we call the fosterparent), and when the bark of the latter lifts most readily. This condition occurs mostly after mid-sum-mer, from the beginning of January to the middle of March, but varying with the seasons. The expert scores in being able to select the proper time, after testing, for the various kinds of shrubs and trees. The work may be described thus: The stock should he of a thickness ranging between that of a lead-pencil and that of a man’s thumb. It should be of strong, healthy wood, such as is seen in one-year old shoots of roses and various fruit trees. The bud should usually be inserted low down, about the surface of the soil, but for standard roses the bud will be inserted at the required height, perhaps two, perhaps even, six feet. A T-shapcd cut should be made in the bark, the longer limb of the T pointing down the stem, etxtending for about three-quarters of an inch. The bark on each side of the long cut should be gently raised with a thin, ilat piece of bone, or the back of the knife-blade. The next ,thing as to select the bud and prepare it for insertion. The best bud is a fairly plump but pointed one (not a flower bud), found about half-way along a shoot of the present season’s growth. The aim is then to cut off this bud cleanly, having it as a kind of * n the centre of a shield of bark. To do this, slip a sharp knife in. and down behind the bud, starting a.bput a quarter .of an inch, and finishing half an inch or more, below the bud. \ little piece of wood will usually be found lying in the bark, and some people are careful to remove this wood, but such removal is not necessarv There is also a danger that the" core of the bud will be removed at the same time, and then, of course, no growth from the bud is possib e. The next operation is to insert the bud-shield, the right way up, between the flaps of the T cut, taking care to do as little bruising as possible of the tissues of the bud and of the stock. The final operation is to tie up the wound carefully with raffia, m a way as to hide almost all the cut, but to leave the bud itself to peep ou like an eye. It is very important to keep the bud fresh, so the cut m instock is prepared first. By means o budding we may put a good kind of plant on a poor one, thus securing fruit in a short time. Beginners max start by putting buds on branches, and if the buds "take,” the branches may be cut off when fair growth has been made. Very inle ; res ! n ? neriments may be carried out .n this v- a v for example, the one-pear tree mav' easily carry three kinds of pears, or anv of the related plants, such as quince, hawthorn. *‘japonica rowantree Photinia (Pagoda tieo,. hwm tree etc. Plums, peaches, and nectarines mav be inter-budded. The Sr has Japanese p - sad Prunus pissardii on a peach tree, anu JeSe P s en another peaeh Headers should certainly do a little budding, either for diversion or to ~~ , hpr „ i s a leaf beside the bud it should'be shortened and then used as a handle for holding the bud. Ge^^Uy green, °and' stays dormant until the =liS£fS;»K SSSfSSSsris the bud.