Gardening Notes

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 11, 7 August 1930, Page 9

Gardening Notes

POPULAR ERRORS IN GARDENCRAFT.

Gardening, though the Ihbt of all occupations, was unquestiona-luy the last science, and many old customs leviowod in the Hght of present-day know ledgo .will have to be seriously considered in the near future,

It i>s not so \eiy long ago since the sawing of seeds and planting of tiees Was hedged iouihl with, elaborate litual, aiid unless these operations Avcrc perat the right phase of the moon TTjLtk correct incantations, it was declared no success could be expected. *J|ke-curious ideas often, arose through an iiKperfest. knowledge of scientific laws &md faulty reasoning.

It is often related how in our own tiaiifaei" country a test of strength ibetifreen bullocks Avas arranged. The onlookers noticed that the winning team in very contest had a w-liito bullock amongst its nuiinboT, and a curious- saying originated. It was to the effect that if you wanted-to win it was essential to have one white <b*ivllock at least joked up in the team. Many garden pTaetiees handed down from generation to goueration have just as -inivch. (or little) real foundation in fact.

- Take trenching for Rose beds as a starting point. It has long been argued that deep digging, at least two or three feet, was essential to Hose success. This Sard, iba'Ck.-bTeakLn'g work has damped *ie .ardour of many a promising begin»er in Roses growing. In the old days, •nfcen seedling stocks were in use for Boses, there,may -have been some slight 3«§tiiieation for such laborious prepara&OU; but when 98 per cent, of the Rose plants grown in- 3ST.Z. are worked •at cuttings with latcrnal roots systems, .»ie winders whether treiiching can really be jus.tified.

Science declares that tiie soil, apart from providing an anchorage for the .j4ants, stores up its food, furnishes a ¥«Qic for millions of bacterial life, and, im addition, acts <is a reservoir for soil

Mioistnre

a luring rainfall the soil water niove3MLen.t is dow-mward. but afterwards the »oveineitt--=is upward tO'war.d.f. tiie sifr-

It has been repeatedly proved that the A Rose roots do not descend to low levels ■ ia search of food, and if t.-liey did- the ■ roots are, quite capable of finding an «asy way to the subsoil evei\ ay.lien it is leilt in an unbroken virgin state. There

is, however, no need l'ov this foraging, for the soil .solution, which is in reality a liquid manure, is .brought to the surface by capillary action, ami the roots arc thus' able to absorb the soluble plant food brought by this action from sirbsoil areas.

..... All the digging necessary is one spade depth, an:l even then it is advisable to allow the soil to settle before planting, for it is only in a closely compacted soil'■that capillarity is possible.

•' Curiously enough, the exponents of a loose trenched subsoil are most insist-' «nt tm a thorough finning of the soil at planting time, and recommend a consolidation of the soil round the plants •by a vigorous application of sturdy '"number nines." This is quite correct scientific praefiee, as also is the regu.'suloosenin'g of the surface to check capillary action two or three inches frn.n the top of the soil.

Na-turally v a long established c-usi< m will die hard, and it will be necessny to prove that trenching is quite a:i'necessary. One of the iincst objeytt;lessons is~ to be found in an untrencho'J bejd which has been drained to allow an underground pipe drain being laid.

The general average depth of culiivation of ■ the bed is, say, .12 inches, but- over the drains it would easily run from. 24 to 30 inches.

~ If there is aiiy real advantage in trenching, surely one would expect to see much more vigorous plants and boi • ter ••flowers 'in the deeper cultivate:! .soil immediately above the drain. As a mat '-ter'-of fact, however' there is no such superiority, for taking plants all of one sort (the only correct test), some over the drain, some in, shallower soil, it will befolricl tha£ there is no difference in ■growth, or quality of bloom.

Further still, the "soil "in the drain will bo found to be again as compact as . the neighbouring ■un trenched area, and the idea of any advantage through deep digging is dispelled.^

To all beginncis, a woid of encouragement is given. Do not he'od the injunctions to dig leeply. Nave, your time and energy for stimn^ of the surface, apply liberal decayed manuie, supplemented by a complete chemical plant food, and water ami mulch m the summei. All these piatiees aie quite sound, and aie crniiecl oul by the exponent of tier.eh. as Welt. The leturn m qtiabty bloonib a\ ill .easily equal that of the ticaching t-la\ c.

Vnother popuhu euoi is that deep hole*, must bo dug foi the i>]anting of tiees and sluuhs. In soils A\hoie the •lateral diamage \o\ el is dose to the suiface or where theie as uiipeivious day, a water holding reservoir is then created, and when a plant is placed above; such, a tank or well, there is mue-h. disappointment and considerable ■criticism regarding- the hardiness of the nursery stock. It may be accepted as a golden Tule that no hole should be dug deeper than the natural; drainage level, while, better jitil'l, if planting- a border or breakwind, it is much better to ..plonrgh. or work the whole strip the same depth throughout.

At the• present time there is quite a demand for emlbossed-aluminium, 'labels, which are attached' as permanent records to the stems or branches of garden plants. Where they arc regularly closely .-scrutinised they may remain without injury, but in many gardens grave damage is 'done, by the wire or string cutting deeply into the stem, and in a high wind it is not uncommon to see the branch or top of the tree ruined because of inattention to the labels. This danger is not only due to metal tags, but the string of an ordinary manilla plant label, if left on at planting time, may easily cut. deeply into the expanding trunk, and cause

considerable disappointment and loss. The correct method to adopt, if labels must be used, is to attach the tag to a stake and place it in the ground in front of the tree or shrub. Best of all, the names should -be booked up in a garden notebook, and the position indicated. The tag may then be taken oft" and a permanent record of the position of the tree is then available without risk of injury.

A further argument against attaching metal labels to Rose plants is that at oach. pruning the labels are liable to need removing to other branches to allow cutting awav'tlie edne -which' previously arriod the, identification1-tag.-'

peror's dark claw of a hand crept Slowly under the purple rug ,with' which he was covered, and, taking "out of It a^ revolver, he fitted into it a' golden bullet that he hadi long carried with him and blew out his brains. V

This was the story told in Hayti and believed in so strongly than since that moment no man had visited Christophers castle since his death until the American traveller, referred to above ,bribed a number of natives to act as guides.