GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 104, Issue 17466, 28 July 1928, Page 22 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

SEASONABLE WORK. (By "Nikau.") Vegetables and Fruit.—-Finish rough digging and trenching. Sow broad beans, early peas, White Stone turnip, radishes and lettuce (in boxes). Plant lettuce,eschalot, rhubarb, cabbage and cauliflower. Stir soil round early cabbages. Plant, prune and spray all kinds of fruit trees, including currants, raspberries and gooseberries. Flowers.—Cut coniferous hedges (lawsoniana, macrocarpa, and juniper). Plant hardy shrubs, in- - eluding roses. Prune all kinds of roses, starting with climbers and finishing with teas. Plant various lilies and irises. Prune weak and superfluous growths of deciduous shrubs. Put in cuttings of shrubs and roses. Layer azaleas, rhododendrons, daphnes, camellias and other shrubs that arc hard to grow from cuttings. Get native plants from the bush. NOTES. Pruning Flowering Shrubs.—The folluwjjjg notes have been taken from a publication by one of the greatest authorities on horticulture in New Zealand. "The pruning of flowering shrubs must be undertaken with some knowledge of the subject, as obviously different kinds require different treatment. Much ignorance prevails on. this matter, resulting in considerable damage to the shrubbery. Rhododendrons, camellias, andromedas, azaleas and kalmias, etc., should be only sparingly pruned, as the thinning out of weak 'and superfluous growths is all that is necessary for their development. The early summer months arc the best time for such treatment. If rhododendrons and other evergreen shrubs have overgrown themselves and require hard cutting back, it must be done late in winter just before tho sap souiis to ascend, thus ensuring strong and vigorous growth before the frosts set in. Weiglia, Deutzia, Spirea, Pliiladelphus, Forsythia, lilac, flowering currant and honeysuckle, etc., should not be pruned till after they have done blooming, when the knife or secateurs may be used with freedom. This ensures strong and vigorous shoots which will hear the flowers for next season's display. if pruned in winter, as is sometimes done, much of the flowering wood will be sacrificed, therefore it will be understood why these shrubs often fail to give the display that is expected of them. Wise and judicious thinning out of all the weak and superfluous branches in the winter is, however, recommended, and the removal of such will add grace and dignity to the appearance of the shrub when in flower. Pruning, therefore, should be definite in purpose—to encourage growth, to improve the general appearance, and to obtain greater freedom in blossom." It may be added that most native plants look best when allowed to grow freely, hut all except the conifers can be cut back every year, it' necessary. With a little skill and care it is possible to thin out and shorten the growths without disliguring the whole shrub or tree.

Some Special Apples.—Jn the notes published last week an intended reference to some kinds that need special treatment was omitted, but is made now. Two of these arc Irish Peach and Jonathan. The former bears nearly all its fruit at the end of the willowy, bent shoots, and if those are cut out or shortened to two or three inches (as recommended for the weak growth on most apple trees), almost all the fruit-buds will be cut off. Irish Peach, therefore, needs little pruning except the thinning out of the branches in the centre. If the tree is too large after a few years, it can bo cut back hard for the one pruning, and then left almost untouched for three or four years more. Jonathan is somewhat similar, though more than half of its fruit is borne on spurs as is the case of most kinds of apples. The numerous weak shoots with fruitbuds at their tips may be cut back in the hope that they will later form proper spurs, or they may be allowed to bear the fruit which the buds are now promising. Sturmcr and Scarlet Pcarmain form very definite spurs, and intermediate between them and Irish Peach come Gravenstein and most of the kinds seen in local orchards. In the long run it is better to aim at the formation of spurs all along the leaders and other strong branches, even at the sacrifice of the fruit which would be borne at the ends of the weak shoots. Rose Pruning.—Like other shrubs and trees, roses should have all the dead and unhealthy wood removed; also the branches or twigs that cross and crowd one another. After this has 'been done the problem of pruning begins: Which shoots are to be cut out completely, which are to be left short and" which arc to be left long?' In the first place, roses grown for exhibition need far more severe cutling than those grown for- garden and

house decoration. While the former should he cut to -within six or even three inches from the ground, the latter may well be allowed to form bushes with leaders-two to three feet long. In the second place, Hybrid Perpetuals need far more cutting than the Teas do, while the Hybrid Teas occupy an iintermediate position. In the third place, weak shoots are to be cut more severely than the strong; indeed, strong plants of Hybrid Teas and Hybrid Perpetuals should have all weak growths cut off clean at their junction with the branches, as was recommended for climbing roses. A well-pruned H.P. will have about six strong healthy shoots differing in length according to their thickness, with no shoots thinner than a lead pencil. Again, to keep the bush open, the shoots will be cut across just above a bud that points outward. Newly Planted Roses.—These should not be pruned until the usual time, or even a little later, though they may have been shortened a good deal before being sent out by the nurseryman. They should be pruned severely, as if they were intended for exhibition, for a number of really strong growths will be thus obtained. Even new climbers should be cut back to within eighteen inches of the soil. Old Bushes.—lt is safe to say that nearly every garden has some old bushes that need renewing. Cultivation and manuring will help, but we can do more by pruning and spraying. Thus the mosses and lichens that give the plants such a look of age and that also take nourishment from them and harbour pests may be removed by the soda-lime spray or wash; strong lime-sulphar will also do it. The pruning should be very severe; for example; rods ten or fifteen feet long may be shortened to three feet, and shoots three feet long may be reduced to six inches. It may even be advisable to cut out all the old rods except one or two. As a result, there may be several strong basal growths formed to carry on the life of the plant for another twenty years. Pegging Down Roses In public and other large gardens, many of the strong rose shoots should be pegged down. if this is done, dozens of flowering shoots will be formed on the rods, as the bending forces almost all the buds into growth. The same rods, however, if left erect and pruned in the ordinary way, would send up only two or three flowering shoots. Strong growers such as Fran Karl Druschki, High Dickson and J. 13. Clark are especially suitable for this method of cultivation. Standard Roses.—These need special attention in pruning. Almost invariably the top part of the plant is of a different variety from the stem, and any growths coming out from the latter are to be ruthlessly cut out. Then the head'of the plant, has to be pruned. It will not have the long and strong growths so commonly found on the ordinary bush, but in their place will be a number of rather slender shoots branching in ail directions and therefore crowding one another. The pruning consists in thinning out the twigs and shortening the thicker branches until the head is only twelve to twenty inches in diameter. The head should be made symmetrical if possible. Rose Cuttings.—Though the autumn is the best time for putting in rrise'cuttings, some of the shoots taken off in pruning should be made into cuttings. Each should be cut across just below a bud, and should be from nine to fifteen inches long. 11 is .ilmost needless to say that only healthy shoots are worth considering, if there is not time to put in the cuttings properly, they may bo pushed into the soil round the plant until they can be planted in a little trench and rammed tightly.