GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17384, 21 April 1928, Page 22 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

SEASONABLE WORK. (By "Nikau.") Vegetables and Fruit Dig kumaras as soon as the first severe frost comes, or as soon as they are large enough. Plant any kind of "greens" that can be obtained in a healthy condition. Sow turnips, lettuce, silver beet, and onion in the open' garden, and cabbage and cauliflower in boxes (lettuce, too, if slugs are numerous) . Store fruit in a dry but airy place. Finish budding, as the time for this work js almost past.

Flowers.—Plant (in boxes to be kept on frames) cuttings of tender bedding plants, such as heliotrope, ageralum, double nasturtium, al.ternanthera, double petunia, geanium, begonia, fuchsia. Cut down perennials, such as helenium, Michaelmas daisy, golden rod, and -sunflowers. Sow hardy annuals and various biennials and perennials. Put in cuttings of roses and all kinds of shrubs. Sow new lawns and topdress old ones. Plant anemone, ranunculus, freesia, early gladiola, lilies, and various bulbous plants. Plant out beds and borders of violas, polyanthus, wallflower, and other spring flowers. Gather fallen leaves and mix with a little soil to form a compost heap.

NOTES. Old Lawns. —Every autumn we notice that lawns have become patchy, but this year the trouble is worse than ever, owing to the summer drought. More attention than usual will therefore be necessary. The first thing will be to deal with the weeds. Here we may have to remember with Kipling "that half a gardener's work is done on his knees"; we may have indeed to go over the whole lawn with a knife or a "spud," removing plants of broadrib (plantain), dandelion, etc. These- should be cut off at least an inch below the surface, and when a strip of the lawn has been cleared in this way some Weed-killer should 'be placed on each stump. A dessertspoonful of agricultural salt placed in each hole will kill the weed without doing much harm to the surrounding grass. Arsenic or various kinds of acid may be used, but they are dangerous to work with. It must be noted that the above weeds, and others, too,- will grow again if simply cut off. Paspalum grass is even worse, and can be removed only by thorough digging. This is a good time of the year to do the work, as the dug patches can bo at once sown with grass and snon made into a green sward again. If other weeds, such as pennyroyal and sclfhcal (Prunella) are numerous, the lawn should be cut closely, then thoroughly raked, to tear out many of the creeping weeds, and then sprinkled with "lawn sand." This is harmful to weeds, but not to grass; at the worst it merely turns the grass brown. If the lawn is mossy, it should be well sprinkled with lime and then raked. Another matter .requiring attention is top-dressing; for this purpose any good soil is suitable, provided it is. reasonably free from the roots or seeds of weeds. For playing greens much care is necessary in sifting the soil, and freeing it of weeds. Whether the soil used for top-dress-ing appears rich or not, some fertiliser such as superphosphate or basic, slag ■should also be scattered over the lawn and raked in as well as possible. Where the grass is thin a good mixture of seed should be sown broadcast, and then raked and rolled in. If the weather is dry, a different part can be watered each day until the sown areas have had their turn. To frighten birds, rags and scarecrows may be necessary here as in the case of new lawns. A point that is sometimes troublesome is this: How deep is the top-dressing to be? In the case of strong grass, one and a half inches could be allowed, but it is safer to work with a less depth. If necessary the work can be repeated when .the grass has made good growth.

Sweet Peas. —These flowers are the best of all annuals, as they possess great beauty and, sweet scent, and are

borne hi wonderful profusion for a ( long time. In addition, they last well; in water, and are thus very suitable for house decoration. For several weeks now it has been suggested that the winter flowering varieties should •be sown, either in their trenches, or in the boxes if the trenches are not •ready. As it is now time to sow the summer flowering kinds, a few notes on their culture are given. In the first place, the soil should be rich. Instead of growing peas year after year along the same piece of fence or wall, we should choose a new site for them. If this is found difficult, it is advisable to dig out a trench at least one foot wide, and eighteen inches deep, and remove the soil to another part of the garden. In exchange, soil from the vegetable garden or from a grass paddock should be placed in the trench. The opportunity should be taken to mix plenty of manure with the bottom soil, and if necessary to break up the subsoil. This change of soil is highly desirable, as sweet peas are subject to mildew'., "streakj," sleeping sickness, and other diseases, which may be held over in the soil from one year to the other.. If stable manure is not available, use cowduns, sheep-dung, compost, or even lawn mowings. The next matter is the sowing. This should be fairly thick, as superfluous plants can be taken out later and •transplanted. Thus the seeds may be set one or two inches apart, and the plants thinned to six or nine inches. Rirds being troublesome, it is necessary to stretch black cotton along the rows. Slugs are harder to deal with, but frequent dustings of a mixture of soot and lime will help to check slugs, and will also serve as a manure. Where slugs and snails are proved to be numerous, it is better to sow the peas in boxes and leave the seedlings until they have reached a height of four or five inches. If the plants have the tips pinched out when the third pair of leaves has formed , several sturdy growths will come from the axils of the leaves. This pinching out should always be done if the plants seem spindly. The next matter is staking, which should be done as soon as the plants are five or six inches high—that is, as soon as tendrils are formed. It is found that staked plants grow more quickly than unstaked; for another thing, plants that have been allowed to sprawl are very difficult to straighten and train later. Netting is an excellent thing for supporting a row Of peas, hut little branches of manuka or similar shrubs should be used to guide the plants up to the netting. The ordinary gardener is advised to buy a shilling packet of mixed s-fceet peas of high quality, as this will give perhaps the finest value that can be obtained in the whole realm of gardening. For the sake of those gardeners who like to grow separate named kinds, the following list is given: Jean Ireland, Mrs Tom Jones, Powerscourt, Constance Hinton, Royal Scot, Warrior, Grenadier, Charming, Hawlmark PinK; Youth, Majestic Cream., Kitty Ryder, Matchless, Charity, R. F. Felton, Picture Joan Ryder. A third way is to buy one of the collections of named sweet peas as sold by most seedsmen. One firm for Instance, is advertising 1G separate kinds for os, 8 for 2s 6d and 14 of an "Exhibitors' Collection for 7s Gd. Enthusiasts who want twenty or more separate named kinds will do well to send to a certain English firm which specialises in 10. packets (id packets in 'pre-war times).

Some Historical Notes.—The following notes are taken from a long article in the latest issue of "Amateur Gardening." The hyacinth is a native of the Levant, where it occurs abundantly in a form not unlike: tinEnglish harebell (wood-hyacinth? 1 . Even in 1597, as Gerard records, there were six varieties which were described as "particularly rare and novel" Justice, in 1754, describes upwards of fifty single varieties and nearly one hundred double varieties as a selection from the catalogue of two celebrated Dutch growers. One variety was sold for six hundred Sew for each bulb. The origin he daffodil is lost in the mists o antiquity, but the present-day cult of this flower oegan about a century ago wnen a Dean of Manchester raised daffodils from seed obtained by crosS" wild species with one ano her. T he modem tulip is derived irom various natural species found in Sea, Central Russia and perhaps Sloped into a mania lathe sevenbeauty.