HOME GARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 97, 13 February 1950, Page 7

HOME GARDENS

(By J. S. Yeates, Massey Agricultural College) AFTER-HOLIDAY CLEAN-UP A great many gardeners will either have been away from home on holiday, or else the rush of so many comings and goings has led to an accumulation of jobs which should be tackled now or in the near future. This is about the best time of the year to spray convolvulus with hormone weedkiller. This week is a difficult one to kill but the best chance is to let it grow undisturbed all the season (a wonderful excuse) so that it has as much leafage as possible. My best results have been by the use of about the most common brand of hormone (the oilbased ethyl ester of 2—4—D), diluting the 10 per cent solution as bought,'with 70 times its own volume of water and spraying on. For the first time I tried it, this method gave a complete kill to a large patch, but last autumn some (but not all) of my convolvulus spraying was only partially successful. I have sprayed the above mixture on to convolvulus scrambling over shrubs like tree lucerne and buddleia. Only the tips of the shrubs were affected and they soon recovered. I quote the results, but would advise anyone to try for himself on a shrub that does not matter too much.

The outdoor tomatoes are showing signs of colouring up now, and you may choose to remove some of the bottom leaves of your plants. It does no harm to remove some of the lower leaves, especially if they show signs of disease. It is however, a real mistake to pluck all the leaves off as I have seen some gardeners do. After all, it is. in the leaves that the plant builds up the sugar, and starches necessary to develop the fruit. Nor is direct sun on the ripening tomatoes necessary to ripen them. The finest dead-ripe and crisp tomatoes I have ever eaten were grown under a dense mass of foliage where I let the tomatoes ramble on the ground like pumpkins. Birds are the greaetst menace of ripening tomatoes, and one grower told me recently that he put some of his lead arsenate spray into the holes blackbirds had left in the tomatoes. After sampling that, the birds kept their distance. On the policy “better late than never,” there is still time to sow early maturing peas, early born carrots, round beetroot, and silver beet for greens. The real silver beet (Lucullus variety) in my opinion is a much better Vegetable than the rather bitter spinach-beet often recommended. There is still time to plant out Brussells sprouts, broccoli and savoy cabbages. The Flower Garden Apart from weeding, there are quite a few routine things to be watched just now. Antirrhinums, for instance, may have set seed from most of the flowers on their main spike. Cut this out, and new spikes of flowers will come along and renew the display. It is a very good general rule to remove any old flowers or developing seeds in order to conserve the strength of the plant. Gladioli are about at their best, and various gladiolus shows have been held. These are good opportunities to choose varieties for your future planting. The main lilies are past their best now, a few blooms on auratums being still unopened. Later species such as'L. speciosum are just commencing. There are some really good-coloured forms now of this so-called pink tiger lily. Later still we shall have L. sulphereum and L. phillipinense, to finish the season. Take the seed capsules off lilies when the petals drop,. unless you want seed. However, do not follow some advice I saw recently, to cut the whole stem off after flowering, to prevent the spread of disease. There are few surer ways of exterminating lilies. The leaves are required as long as possible in order to manufacture food and build up the bulb for next year’s dis-f play. Up till flowering time most of the food has gone into producing the flower, and the bulb is left in a rather weakened state. For the same reason, when cutting lily flowers it is unwise to cut too long a stem with them. To cut off one third of the stem is about as far as I would go.