GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 29 April 1915, Page 51

GARDENING NOTES

(By Mr. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.) / Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.)

All potatoes ought now to be dug up and stored away, and seed potatoes should be sorted, and laid by in a cool airy room, until they are wanted for planting in ; the spring. Seed should always be selected from a good, well-grown crop. . They should be of a medium size and of good shape, and not allowed to sprout until planting time, as it weakens the vitality of the tubers. Onions should be stored in a cool place. They keep best when tied up in strings; this work can be done in wet weather. Early carrots and beetroot should be stored in dry sand, and covered up from rain and frost. They are best stored outside in -pits in a convenient part of the garden. Parsnips are usually left in the ground much later, and they can be dug as required for use. Celery and leeks ought to have a final moulding up now. This should be done when the soil is dry. A few cabbage plants may be planted to come in late iii the spring. Asparagus beds may now be done up for the winter. Cut away all the old plants, they are now done growing, and fork up and clean the bed of weeds, giving it a good dressing of well-rotted stable manure. The winter’s rain will wash down the fertilising matter to the roots, and benefit them. Dig and manure all vacant plots, so as to have them ready for planting when the time comes, and clear away all decaying vegetation, and place it on. the manure heap. Keep down all weeds, for if they get a start now, it will be impossible to keep them in check during the wet and frosty weather. * “ THE FLOWER GARDEN. I The beauty of the flower garden is now over for the season. All plants that have done flowering should be cleared away, and the beds and borders should be made as tidy as possible before the winter sets in. ‘ Seeds which are ripe should be picked, named, and put by until the time for sowing. All herbaceous plants, which require separating, may now be attended to. Gladioli may be lifted and stored away safely until wanted in the spring. Keep on planting narcissi, they make a good show during the spring months; also hyacinths, tulips, irises, crocuses, ixias, sparaxis, and other spring flowers. Primroses and daisies may be separated and planted out in their permanent places. Take up and put in pots or boxes any plants which are worth saving from the frost, such as geraniums, salvias, and others which will not stand the winter. Now is a good time to tidy up and trim fences. They are always best clipped up to a pointwide at the bottom and tapering towards the top. This style looks neater than square tops, and, besides, the rains have a better chance of getting at the roots. Hedges should be well clipped in at this season. It is a mistake to leave the hedge grow too wide ; it soon gets out of shape if not well cut in at the winter clipping. If any planting is to be done, the ground should now be dug over, and holes made, so as to have them ready for planting in due season. If this is done the air has a chance to sweeten and pulverise the ground. If fruit trees are to be planted in quantity, it will be wise to have the ground well prepared beforehand. The lawns should be constantly mown, and well rolled, especially after rains, and any bare patches should be sown down with seed, which should' be covered with a little fine soil and gently patted down with the spade, or rolled. It is a mistake to dig up those patches as they get too soft, .and make a bed for the grubs to get into. The. harder the surface of ’ the lawn is the less chance the grubs have of burrowing into it. Where new lawns are to be made, now is a good time to commence the work, by digging or trenching the ground, leaving a rough surface for the weather to play on during winter. It can be sown down early in the coming spring. After April it will he too.late for autumn sowing. When sown too, late, the" winter frosts lift up the' young seedling plants, which have not sufficient time to get a good hold of

the ground. People ought now to make up! a lisfe/df what they are going to plant, and hand it in # a nurseryman as soon as possible, so that hey execute his orders early. v Early orders can be supplied from the best stock, but when left too late/most of the choice plants are gone and the selection is not often so satisfactory. , ‘ ' \