GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 19 August 1915, Page 47

GARDENING NOTES

(By Mr J. Joyce. Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.) THE DIFFERENT MODES OP PROPAGATING PLANTS. As a general rule trees and shrubs, which seed freely, are very difficult to propagate by cuttings, and are seldom grown except from seed, as, for instance, tin* ash, oak, sycamore, horse chest mil, Spanish chest nut, hazel, apple, pear, plum, cherry, the differcut species of eucalyptus, or gum family, acacia or wattle family, also all the pine species, and .most of our New Zealand forest trees. On the other hand, plants which do not seed freelv are easily propagated from cuttings. We scarcely" ever see any seed on the different varieties of the willow (which can he easily increased by cuttings), the many kinds of poplar (every cutting of which will grow if planted in the right season), (lie oriental plane and most of our garden shrubs, either deciduous or evergreen. The conifers are exceptions, as they seed freely and can he propagated from cuttings, whilst the pine family objects to he increased in any other way except by seed. Ihe different varieties of the rhododendron seed very freely, and are very, difficult to raise from cuttings. They are generally grown from layers and seed, and the seedlings answer for stocks to graft the better kinds on. Camellias, too, are difficult to propagate from cuttings; they are usually grown like the rhododendron by layering and seed. The single camellia seeds freely and the double-flowered ones are grafted on to them. Plants which are slow to grow from seed and difficult to propagate from cuttings are ■usually increased by layering. The method of layering a plant is to cut at a joint upwards, about half an inch or more, care being taken not to cut too far into the branch, or it might snap off when bending it into the ground. When the cut is made the branch is bent so that the tongue made by the cut will point downwards ; then it must be pegged down, and covered well with the soil. It will take root by this little tongue, but it will he about twelve months before it can be separated from the old plant. If the summer is dry a good watering occasionally will be of benefit. If the old plant is any size, several branches can be layered at the same time. Sometimes a twist of the branch will answer instead of a cut with the knife. Some plants will grow by merely putting some soil over the brandies to be layered. The laurestinus and laurel family and many others will succeed in this manner.

PROPAGATING PLANTS BY CUTTINGS. A cutting is a part of a plant taken from its parent, and inserted in a proper manner in the ground. Aftei a time it will put forth roots, and become an independent plant, but not a new plant, only a part of the parent with the same habit, foliage, flower, and fiuit. Cuttings of trees and shrubs are usually planted from the end of autumn until the end of spring. Soft wooded plants can be propagated by the young spring growth, inserted in pots or boxes filled with sandy soil, and placed in a hot bed or greenhouse, heated by hot water. When treated in this manner they strike very freely. Such plants as geraniums, fuchsias, verbenas, petunias, all the different springS 1 own plants needed for the garden, and chrysanthemums propagate freely when placed in a gentle heat. Cuttings of shrubs and frees require to be of wellseasoned wood of the previous year’s growth. They should be made about a foot long, cut at a joint with a nice clean cut. They should he planted pretty deep, leaving about one or two eyes above ground, two or three inches apart, and the soil made very firm around them. They usually take about twelve months before they ought to be disturbed, when they should be taken up and replanted, giving them plenty of room to grow. When making evergreen cuttings all Ihe leaves should be cut away at 1 lie lower part, leaving two or three at the top, and should not he allowed out of the ground any considerable time for fear of getting dry. Azaleas and heaths want special treatment. They must he grown in pols. and covered with a handglass. Very small hits of the tops of the shoots are inserted in prepared soil with a good mixture of peat and silver sand, and placed in a greenhouse or frame away from the sun. Several plants will grow from the leaf, such as the fine foliage begonias, gloxinias, and gesneras. Others are propagated from cuttings of the roots, such as apple stocks, pyrus japonica. Many stove plants are propagated in this manner. 1 was very pleased to read Mr. Roach’s letter in last week Tahiti , commenting on my notes on native trees and shrubs, especially as coming from one, as I perceive by his remarks, who knows what he writes about. Such a letter of appreciation encourages me to spend a pleasant hour in writing a few notes for the Tahirf each week. If also gives me to understand that the column or so taken up each week is not wasted. If others, who appreciate these notes, or who might differ with the methods recommended, would also express their opinions occasionally, it would be a guide for me, and would make the gardening matter more interesting, as then we would have various opinions, and out of it more knowledge would be gained. In the notes on a native garden, my remarks referred to a gentleman’s ordinary pleasure ground, wholly confined to native trees, etc., not what we see in public gardens. We have a couple of native plots in the Christchurch Public Gardens, but they take more the form a miniature bush, and are very interesting. But to see lawns and walks laid out and planted, as I said, with a fine residence standing in the middle would be a novelty. ' •