GARDEN NOTES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2414, 20 March 1915, Page 11

GARDEN NOTES

(By "Kowhai.") These notes are written solely for the amateur gardener, for the busy city man who likes to spend an hour or two in his garden after being shut up aU day, for the women who derives great pleasure from growing a few plants to brighten her homo, hut to whom it would be a weariness to study garden books, and for all those who are endeavouring to keep a small garden bright and attractive all the year round. To these I say do not attempt to grow too much.- Choose what plants you wa.nt for your garden and for supplying tho house with out flowers, and whatever you decide upon grow the best of its kind that is to bo obtained. Readers aro invited to ask questions. Those gardens that were well hoed would get the benefit of tho heavy rain of last week. Tho ground is now in Uplendid condition for roceiving seeda, and cuttings. Take advantage of all fine weather to get on with seed-sowing and planting out seedlings and bulbs, as the weather seems generally unsettled. Continue sowing 6eeds of perennials and hardy annuals. The sooner tho seeds are in the pans now the better. During very heavy rain protect tho seed pans by throwing some covering over them. DOUBLE SHIRLEY POPPIES. There is a beautiful variety of these poppies called Yates's Queen, the seeds of which may he sown now. Transplant the seedlings as soon as big enough to handle, into their permanent quarters. The plants will begin flowering about October. The poppies themselves are exquisite, reminding one of very large ranunculi, and the colours vary from pure white through all the shades of pink and salmon to the brightest scarlet. They will grow in any good garden soil, but prefer a. light bandy one. Therefore thoso who propose to grow them in a heavy soil should lighten it by the addition of some sand or fine road grit placed round the roots of the plants. BULBS. In trenching a- garden for bulbs mark off a strip at one end about two feet wide. Lift the top soil from this, and wheel it away to a. safe place. Fork into the subsoil plenty of decayed garden rubbish or well rotted manure and road grit. If tho soil is a heavy clay one the more decayed rubbish and grit you uso tho better. ■Light sandy soils can do with less, as they are naturally porous. Ivow take the top soil from the next two feet and throw it on to the subsoil of the first strip. Treat the subsoil of the second strip in the same way as you treated the first, afterwards throwing on to it the top soil from the third strip. Continue this process till you come to the end of the bed, when the top soil from tho first strip will be used to cover tho siuhsoil of tire last. Now fork into the top soil of the bed as much leaf-mould as you can get. Remember that the natural home of daffodils is in the woods, where they are annually covered up with falling loaves, which decay and form leai-moula for tile bulbs to flourish in. For manure, fork in 4oz. of bone-dust and loz. of sulphate of potash to the square yard, just before the bulbs aro planted. Sand can ho applied when planting the bulbs. Place it in the bottom of the holes for the bulbs to rest on. Keep a mixture of honedust and sul?ihate of potash ready in an old biscuit in. Mix up about 12lb. of bonedust and 31b. of sulphate of potash at a time. BULBS TO GROW. The bulbs mentioned in tho following list have been chosen for two reasons: (1) Their price is not beyond anyone's purse; (2) Thoy are beautiful varieties ami wellproved hardy ones:—Emperor, Empress, Liolden Spur, Albicans, J. B. 11. Camm, Sir \Vatkin, Duchess of Brabant, Barii Conspicuous, C. T. Backhouse, Paper White Elatus Plemis (double yellow), Albuo I'lenus Odoratus (double white). More expensive bulbs aro:—Apricot, Ariadne, Gloria Mundi, Glory of Leiden, Horace, Lucifer, Madame de Graaff, Sea/gull, and Primrose Phoenix. Get a bulb cataJogue from your seed merchant. ROSES. Rosea at this time of the year are oiten .attacked by mildew. This is brought on by tho changeable weather acting on tho young foliage. Syringe the leaves with clear water and then dust flowers of sulphur all over the bushes. Keep a supply of flowors of sulphur always handy in a tin with a perforated lid. Should the attack of mildew not yield to this simple 'remedy, make a mixture of Sunlight soap and sulphur, using 2oz. of sulphur to ioz. of soap. Melt the soap, and work in the sulphur, and then dissolve the mixture in one gallon of hot water. Spray the trees well. This will also rid the bushes of green-fly, which is rather troublesome just now. For rose- cuttings use the shoots that have borne flowers. Remove the top flowering part, and take about six inches of the stem for a cutting. Make the cut just below , a joint. Cut off the lower leaves and plant tho cuttings firmly in a shady position, using plenty of sand in the soil. Keep all suckers well cut away from tho roots of rose bushes. FLOWERING SHRUBS. Cuttings of all flowering shrubs may now be taken and planted in a shady place. Make the cutting from six to nine inches long of nicely-ripened wood. Treat in the same way as rose cuttings. TRENCHING FOR SWEET PEAS. In growing ■ sweet peas for ordinary garden or house decoration, it is hardly necessary to trench so deeply as for show peas. If they are to be grown in clumps mark out a good big circle, and remove the top spit of earth. Break up the earth m the second spit, and dig into it plenty of animal manure if it is procurable. Failing this, uso decayed garden rubbish and basic slag or bone'dust. Basic 6lag is better for heavy soils. Use 4oz. of basic slag or bonedust and loz. of sulphate of potash to the square yard. Mix the manure thoroughly with the soil in the bottom of the hole and then' return the top earth. Don't put any manure in the top soil, but if you have it, fork in a littlo soot. If the peas are to be grown in rows follow out tho

same directions. I strongly advise growers to get in tho stakes before the seed is sown. Very expensive seed is best sown in seed pans, and tho seedlings transplanted as soon as they get their third pair of loaves, but otherwise the seeds may be sown now in tho ground. Full directions for sowing and a list of good kinds will be given in next week's notes.

VEGETABLES.

As the ground in the vegetable plot becomes vacant, dig it thoroughly and manure with decayed garden rubbish. If the garden rnbbish has not been treated with superphosphate ns recommended in notes published on March 8, give it a good sprinkling while burying it. Where root crops are to he grown in the Spring the manure must be buried deep. Wherever a little patch of ground is to be vacant all the winter sow it rather thickly with oats. Later on these-will be cut and the roots dug in as manure. Onts cleanse the ground splendidly and tho roots enrich it very much. Small sowings of carrot (Shorthorn), onion (Giant Rocca). lettuce, endive, and turnip may still ho made. Carefully follow out directions given for seed-sow-ing in garden notes published on March 8. Turnip seed sown later than this week will only yield green tops at tho end of the winter. ' LIQUID MANURES. The most satisfactory liquid manure for all purposes is made as follows:—Put into an old sugar bag some cow dung and about a shovelful of soot. Place this in an old tub of water (old oil drums or empty benzine tins also answer the purpose), and leave for a few days. When using the liquid add sufficient clear water to make the manure tho colour of weak tea. Be careful not to apply strong manure to plants. Half ounce of guano in one gallon of water is a vory (juick-acting manure. One ounce of nitrate of 6oda in one gallon of water is very much used for vegetables. Liquid manure should never be applied when the ground is dry. First water well with ciear water. Liquid manure should always be weak rather than strong. When applying liquid manure take a short stick round with you. Make a gutter round «acn plnnt. <ind pour the manure into it. As soon as the ground has absorbed the manuro cover over the earth again. In this way 'all the manure goes down to the roots, instead of running all over the bed and on to the path. Garden notes next week will contain seasonable notes about pansies and violas' chrysanthemums, sweet peas, cel?ry, cauliflowers, and soot waterInquirer—A reply to yonr query will appear in next Saturday's issue.