HOME GARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 32, 13 December 1948, Page 6

HOME GARDENS

(By J. W. Goodwin, N.D.H. (N.Z.), F.R.H.S., Massey Agricultural College.) STAKING of plants The importance of timely and tidy staking is seldom realised, and many fine displays are marred by untidy staking, or damaged through lack of support for, taller plants. Cultivated plants may frequently produce such a profusion of flower or foliage that the stems are unable to support them. If no support is forthcoming, these plants topple over and flower is lost among the foliage of other plants. Plants which have gone down are rather difficult to straighten without damage, and if they have been down for some time the growth is all to one side. A stake in time saves time, for in addition to its own weight the plant is subject to damage by the weight-of the rain or lashing of winds. At the present time many summer and autumn perennials are in need of staking, and as growth is now rapid all the medium and tall growers should be staked immediately. Supporting plants is one of the finer arts of gardening. Stakes too large or too numerous are incongruous and mar the whole effect. Camouflage should be the order of the day. Plants grown in groups for mass effect make a solid block when in flower, and the method adopted here is to encircle the plants with a ring of stakes joined by strands of raffia. Procedure Outlined Alstromeria Chilensis, Pink Peruvian Lily (not a true lily) is flowering now. It is a rather weak-stem-med subject and needs support to show it off to full effect. It should be staked, and it may be too late to do very much about it now. However, it is such an excellent example of plants of this habit that we will (on paper) stake it now. Bamboo cane 1-3 to \ inch in diameter and 2| feet in length would be most suitable. These canes are strong and of neat appearance and should have the base cut just below a node or joint. If cut too far below, they split when pressed into the ground, and are difficult to push down. The outer row of canes should be spaced 15 inches apart around the clump, with the base close in and a slight slope outwards. They should be firm with six inches in the ground, and the two feet height should be sufficient to support the plants without the tops showing above the foliage at flowering time. If set early in November, a tie about 12 inches above ground level would support any heavy growth. Today they will have reached their full height, and two more ties will have been added.