GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 11 February 1915, Page 49

GARDENING NOTES

(By Mb. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.)

THE KITCHEN GARDEN.

. During the current month the following may be sown:—Peas, French beans, spinach, turnips, radishes, and lettuces. Plant cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, leeks, celery, savoys, and winter greens. Give plenty of water to growing crops, and keep the ground cultivated and free from weeds.

FLOWER GARDEN.

Keep the grass mowed regularly once a week, give plenty of water to keep the lawns nice and green looking, and roll after watering. This keeps the ground nice and even, and also prevents the grub from getting about easily, as it usually finds out the soft places to burrow in. As the sprinkler leaves the lawn soft where it has been playing, if not rolled soon after, the grub finds that patch of ground a suitable place to burrow in and lay its eggs, the consequence of which will be seen later on. Cut away all dead flowers, which have done blooming, as this gives the second crop a better chance. The ripening of seeds, exhaust the plant to a certain extent to the detriment of fresh bloom. If seed is not wanted it is well to pick it off, as this will prolong the blooming season of the plant, whilst dead flowers on the plant do not add to its beauty. The seeds of harejy annuals and other plants for flowering in the spring, such as perennial stocks, Canterbury bells, gaillardias, antirrhinums, violas, pansies, etc., may be sown now. By looking ahead the benefit will be noticed next spring and summer, when they come into bloom.

' LAYERING PINKS AND CARNATIONS

Now is a good time fur propagating pinks and carnations by layers and cuttings, or pipings as they are usually called. To propagate by layering get a few spadefuls of nice fine mould, and bank it around your plant, having cleared away all weeds or any other rubbish, which may interfere with the operation. The way*to proceed is by taking a nice strong shoot , one that has not flowered previously, in your left hand and clear away about a couple of inches of the leaves from the bottom. Then, with a nice sharp knife, cut a slit upwards, about half an inch, taking care not to sever the shoot from the parent plant. Then carefully insert the shoot in the soil, pegging it down to keep it in its place. A hairpin answers the purpose very nicely. When it is carefully pegged in its place, there will be a tongue about half an inch long, where the cut was made, which must be nicely covered up with the soil. On this tongue the roots will be formed. A little chip of wood inserted in the cut helps to keep the cut open, s.> that it may not heal up again before the heel takes root. Each shoot can be treated in this manner, and it will form a plant after it has taken root. At the proper time for planting they can be severed from the parent plants, and put out in their own permanent quarters.

Another method- of propagating is by cuttings; by tearing a shoot from the plant with a heel, or part of the old wood attached. These heels arc nicely pared with a sharp knife, and inserted in sandy soil in pots or boxes, and kept in the cool shade until rooted, being cai'efully watered when necessary. Carnations, pinks, and picotees are all one family, classed under tho botanical name of dianthus. Some people are at a loss to know the difference between the species. An ordinary observer could not see any difference, as the flower's resemble one another very much. The difference is in the markings, not in the shape of the (lowers. The carnation is defined by the markings running in flakes from the top to the bottom of the flower, or it may be a selfthat is, all one color. The picotec has its markings running on the margin of the flower along the outer edge, and the edge is clean cut, not fringed, like the pink. The pink has a fringed or scalloped edge, and the markings run horizontally through the flower. It may be a self color, but it lias always a serrated edge. This is as near as I can give a definition of the three species of the dianthus.

BUDDING.

This is now a good time for budding roses or any other tree that can be propagated in this manner. * The method of proceeding is by inserting a bud of one variety into a plant of the same species. The stock and bud must be of the same family. A bud will never take on a plant that is not naturally allied to it, for instance, a cherry will not take on an apple, nor an apple on a plum, but a plum and a cherry will unite so will an apple and a pear. A plum and a peach will unite, but a peach will not unite to an apple or pear. So, to be successful in budding or grafting you must always work with the same species. One variety of plant will not unite with a plant of an opposite nature. The modus operandi of budding is A stock to be budded must be of one or two years’ growth, not more than the second, with a fair amount of sap, so that the bark will lift freely, with a sharp knife. Cut out a bud from the plant you intend to bud from. This-bud is cut out in the form of a little shield about three-quarters of an inch long ; remove the bit of hard wood from the heart of the shield, and be careful that the bud does not come away at the same time. If a little hole is left after the wood is removed, the eye is gone, and the bud or shield must be discarded for another. When the bud is ready, put a horizontal cut in the stock where you intend to insert the bud. Then draw an unward cut, commencing about an inch and a half below the cross cut, and draw the knife no to the cut. Then lift the bark on both sides, so as to insert the prepared bud under it, and be careful to have the bud pointing upwards when inserted. Now get a piece of soft worsted thread or bassmat and neatly and firmly tie the shield, leaving the little bud free. A piece of damp moss tied around the bud will help to keep it cool. After a few weeks the bud will adhere to the stock, and the tying can be loosened to allow the stock to grow and expand. All shoots below he bud must be rubbed off, and none allowed to grow but the bud. In the spring time when pruning, the wood above the bud can be cut back. Apples, pears, plums, cherries, peaches, and a great manv garden varieties of trees and shrubs are treated in this manner.