GOOD LAWNS NEED CARE AND REGULAR ATTENTION

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27397, 9 July 1954, Page 8

GOOD LAWNS NEED CARE AND REGULAR ATTENTION

GARDEN NOTES ”

[Specially Written for "The Press”!

[By

T. D. LENNIE,

AJLRJ'H., N.Z.I

Friday, July 9, 1954. A trim, well-kept lawn is essential to the complete picture of a modern home. Regular care and maintenance are necessary to the upkeep of a good lawn, put there may be natural reasons why tne best of care fails to achieve the desired result. Just now, one of the common defects of the lawn is self evident, being that low form of plant life known as moss. Moss is a product of dampness, as in the bush. It appears automatically in soil that is damp, sunless, and impoverished, and under these conditions grass will disappear. That is the reason why moss is so conspicuous in winter, and a bit more subdued in dry summer weather.

To eradicate moss and restore grass fertility is not difficult, for sulphate of iron applied as a drench at loz to a gallon of water, will correct the soil condition favourable to moss, and give grass the chance of re-establish-ing itself again. The procedure is to tear the moss about with a rake before watering in the iron solution. Then it will be necessary to apply a top dressing of soil and manure, and sow fescue seed for a new sward. About the end of this month will be a suitable time to act.. FLOWER GARDEN

The flower borders should now be generally tidy because of the clearing away of spent growths and digging in of fallen leaves. To most soils, a sprinkling of lime can be given with advantage, when it will soon disappear into the ground. Where there are vacant spaces, shrubs and trees can be planted. On the street front and down the sides of a section tall growers are best, and here the flowering fruits, so beautiful in spring, can be used effectively. Flowering apple, prunus, peach, apricot, and cherry, give such a grand display that they cannot be left out. Apart from the run of good shrubs to flower or berry, there is often a desire for less robust growers that will make a good show towards the front of the border or in restricted spaces. In this section are most of the hardy heaths or heathers in their wondrous array of shape and colour. The grevillias, too, are worth mentioning for their highly decorative flowers. Beaufortia sparsa, the miniature scarlet bottlebrush, the cistus or rock rose, the New Zealand kaka-beak clianthus, and the blue flowered ceratostigma, will all justify a place. Then of course room must be found for a boronia and a daphne. There are now several varieties of these highly fragrant shrubs. Rose planting should be dpne. It can be argued that perfection of flower was reached long ago, but each year, new and more striking sorts come along to claim a place. Some of these are the Doctor, Peace, Frensham, Sutter’s Gold, Ena Harkness, Karl Herbst, and Cynthia Brooke. Most of these can be got as standards, for it is only a question of budding low or high, and the climbing forms of some of them originated as sports, but are otherwise similar.

The planting of liliums, spider lilies, and arums should be finished. Attention can be given to border plants such as gypsophilas—Bristol Fairy and Flamingo pink—and the many useful summer flowering perennials. Prepare for planting gladioli. If corms show rusty patches, soak them in an aretan solution for 15 minutes.

THE GREENHOUSE Preparations should be on the way for seed sowing, by mixing potting soil, cleaning pots of moss etc. Avoid over watering. Keep top soil loose by stirring. Some seeds can be sown and cuttings made of chrysanthemums, geraniums, arctotis, and gazania. VEGETABLE GARDEN No one can say that the weather so far this winter has interfered with due gardening work. It has been a most favourable season, and bears out a credible assertion that weather conditions run in seven-year dry and wet cycles, and that we are now approaching the peak of a dry cycle. This would seexn to be borne out by the unfailing evenness of the mild weather of the last two years at least. Such being the case, routine work should be well up to date. Well-gro’wn green crops can be dug in. With barley, the easiest plan is to open up a six inch deep trench, pull the barley, and lay it in with a generous sprinkling of lime before covering over. Or of course, the crop with lime, can be just crushed flat and dug in. Vacant spaces can be deeply dug and left rough till August. Seed potatoes should be sprouted under cover. Good early sorts are Epicure, Jersey Bennes, Arran Pilot, Arran Banner, King Edward, and Chippewa. Plant shallots, garlic, cabbage, and lettuce plants, mint, sage, thyme, etc., also rhubarb, and prepare for planting asparagus. Where the soil is well drained, sow early peas, long-pod beans, lettuce, cabbage, and cauliflower. Root crops may be dug and re-buried in a handy position, if their growing site is needed for digging over. FRUIT GARDEN

Pruning should now be in full swing, especially with the bush fruits. The ideal gooseberry should have a single stout stem, 12 inches clear from the ground. All low, spreading branches should be cut away, leaving a shapely framework without crowding of branches so that the future picking of fruit will be simplified. Currants should be reduced in height. Cut out as much old wood as possible. All these should be sprayed with red oil at one in 20. Stone fruits can also be pruned and given a lime sulphur spray at the same strength. Apple and pear tree pruning and spraying can also be done. With these, shortening of tall laterals is necessary, and both lime sulphur and red oil sprays should be given. Plant all kinds of fruit trees and bushes, raspberries and loganberries, and also strawberry plants. The vine should be pruned otherwise it will grow too freely. All side laterals should be cut off at two eyes from the main branch. ANSWER TO CORRESPONDENT

“J. M.” Ferry road.—There are two kinds of kohLrabi, the green and the purple-skinned, and I think the latter rather the better. This vegetable is of Swedish origin, and akin to the swede turnip, but not so tasty or easily prepared. If used young, it can be cooked by boiling, but it never becomes soft like the turnip. Its flesh is so hard that sheep farmers have to slice it before feeding to stock. Somehow it has never become a popular vegetable.