GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 20 July 1916, Page 43

GARDENING NOTES

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

WORK IN THE KITCHEN GARDEN. Continue digging and manuring all spare ground, so as to have it ready and in good order for the sowing and planting in spring. Be sure not to dig in wet weather. - Now is a good time to sow an early crop of peas, and a succession of sowings should be made about every three weeks. They must be protected from the small birds by laying over the row a strand of fine wire netting, or pea protectors, which are sold for the purpose. These must be made secure, so that the birds cannot get underneath. There is little use sowing early peas unless they are protected, as the birds are very fond of the young shoots, and they will be sure to destroy the crop if they get a chance. Keep planting a few cabbages and cauliflowers for spring use ; also a little lettuce in a sheltered spot in good rich soil. Lettuces must be kept growing all the time if you want to have them nice and crisp. The iceberg lettuce is a very good kind, and gives general satisfaction. A small sowing of onions for salads may be made now. Place a few boxes or tubs on rhubarb, and over these some stable-yard manure. This will force the stalks and blanch them. The same treatment should be applied to seakale. A few early potatoes may be planted in some nice warm nook, where they can be sheltered from the late frosts. THE FLOWER GARDEN. See to the planting of roses, if any planting is intended to be done. They should also be pruned, and, if needs, the ground should be enriched with well-rotted farmyard manure. Take up old roses, which are not making satisfactory headway, and root prune them, cutting back the branches to about three or four eyes. Give them some good new soil, and enrich it with well-rotted manure, and they will make a fresh start. When pruning roses cut away all hallstarved looking wood and the useless branches, and leave the good strong healthy shoots, which should be shortened back to a uniform shape. The small lateral shoots should be pruned to one or two eyes from the base. It is not an easy matter to give instructions in the art of pruning; it must be understood to be done properly, as almost every tree needs different treatment, according to its growth, shape, and manner of training. It takes an experienced man to do the work satisfactorily. Where any quantity of pruning has to be done it is wise to engage a practical hand to carry out the work. Keep planting all herbaceous plants, such as pansies, violas, primroses, auriculas for edging on the beds and borders. All borders and beds ought to be dug over and finished as soon as possible. Keep the weeds off the walks, and roll the lawns occasionally. Plant any trees or shrubs which are needfed. Do not prune back flowering shrubs at this time, as you cut away the flowering branches. If they need pruning, or reducing, better defer it until after they are done blooming, and then prune as required. Hedges should be well cut back if the work has not been don© already. All necessary winter work should be carried out as expeditiously as possible, as the spring will soon be here, and it is so much more satisfactory to have everything ready and in good order for the general routine of spring sowing and planting. THE FRUIT GARDEN. The planting of fruit trees should be carried out as soon as possible, so that they will have a fair start when spring sets in. All the pruning should be got over quickly, as the necessary spraying will have to be done immediately. The trees must be cleansed of the different pests to which they are subject, such as the American blight, red-mite, scale, and codlin moth.

and the many fungoid diseases that attack them. The woolly aphis, or American blight, is a very great pest, and will soon destroy a tree if it is allowed to go unchecked. The best means of combating it is to paint with emulsified, oil, using a har'd brush, and well rubbing in the stuff or, if the use of the brush is too tedious, it must be put on with a spray- pump, using great force, as they are very hard to dislodge from the crevices in the bark. It is almost an impossibility to eradicate them completely; they must be constantly seen to. The use of the hose, where there is a good pressure of water, especially in the 'summer months, clears them out of their haunts for the time being, but, to be successful, it must be applied occasionally as required. July is a good time to dress the trees for the above blight, scale, .red mite, and all sucking insects with the emulsified oil. Instructions are always supplied by seedsmen, and others, who sell insecticides.