GARDEN MEMORANDA FOR OCTOBER.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 336, 7 October 1879, Page 2

GARDEN MEMORANDA FOR OCTOBER.

WRITTEN EXPRESSLY FOR THE AKAROA MAIL

Kitchen Garden,

The storm we are now having is almost sure to be followed by a few nights' sharp frost. Those who have potatoes well advanced had better prepare for the worst by landing them well up, and have some boughs, fern, or straw in readiness to put over them on the first appearance of a frosty night. French beans will be in good time if sown during the month. Seeds of any other vegetable may now be sown, if not already put in, and any planting remaining unfinished had better be done at once. Sow celery in a rich, moist spot, and protect from heavy rains until it is well up. Sow melons and cucumbers on hot-beds, also vegetable niarrows, pumpkins, squashes, tomatoes, capsicums, &c, to bring them forward to be planted out. Keep the Dutch hoe incessantly.at work during bright sunshine. Stir up the surface of tlie ground as recommended in the directions for last month, i ' j Fruit Garden.- > In exposed places see that newly planted trees are well staked before -the nor'westers set in. Remove weeds and dead leaves from strawberries, and apply a mulching of stable manure -between the rows to keep the plants moist during dry weather ; the juice of the manure washed down by every shower will prove beneficial. Trained peach and apricot trees may be disbudded, removing only a few at a time to prevent a sudden check on the growth of the trees. On dry borders/ mulch the roots of trained trees early. Avoid cropping too near fruit trees as is too frequently done even by those who ought to know better, as if a ievi potatoes or cabbage could not be sacrified for the sake of fruit-bearing trees. Flower Garden. Geraniums and other pot plants (indoors), will require strict attention as to watering, and about once a week a good watering with liquid manure will benefit them. Forward plants will require shifting into larger pots, taking care always to have some well-prepared mould in readiness for the purpose. Sow seeds of both tender and hardy annuals and perennials. Plant carnations, pinks, pansies, and other flowering plants—verbenas, scarlet geraniums, fuchsias, and dahlias — any time during the month.