THE GARDEN

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 141, 15 May 1940, Page 4

THE GARDEN

Notes are published under this heading, and readers interested in gardening -are invited to send in questions relating to matters upon which they wish expert advice; answers, will be published with the weekly notes.

THE FLOWER GARDEN. AVe have had the pleasure of inspecting, a fine lot of chrysanthemums tiiat have been grown in a very odd lot of “pots,” such as old buckets, small drums 'and boxes that were made for the purpose. Some of these utensils had three plants growing well. They were not grown for show purposes,- but for cut flowers, and when the cold weather came on they were taken into a glasshouse and stood on the floor and on the benches. Some were put in an open shed and were doing well. AVe can commend this style of culture to those who want a quantity of cut flowers in the winter. The plants require very little attention during the growing season—an occasional watering and, when the buds begin to show, a topdressing of some manure that has been kept for the purpose. The staking was clone by putting some bamboo sticks round the plants and running some strings round them. The flowers' grow quite naturally and seem to like this treatment. It is well worth trying, and the work will give a lot of pleasure. Sweet peas that have been started in pots and boxes should l>s transplanted either to the open ground or to larger pots, where they are potted Up singly. AYhen this is done, twiggy sticks can be put in for each plant to cling to. If there are more than three shoots showing, the-.superfluous shoots may be pinched out. AVhile the plants are growing in the pots keep the soil into which they are to he put well worVed and stir: in plenty of lime. AVlien putting seedling or any other close-growing plants in a'bed or border at this time of the year it is a good plan to have a piece of board to walk upon., Although the soil may be dry enough to walk on, it compresses it too flinch and a board will keep the feet from sinking in and will compress the soil evenly. It will also act as a line +o keep the plants straight. Beds that contain daffodils, anemones, and ranunculus plants must he/

kept clean and free from weeds, and when the weeds are taken out they should be cleared away and not left to root up again. Leave the surface of the soil as open as possible so that the air can get into it. Give the anemones a dusting of air-slaked lime. Even if it falls on the. foliage, it will not do any harm. Gladioli corms that were taken up some time ago are ready now tor cleaning, which means taking the old corm from the base and collecting any small cormlets. you wish to save. Put the large, clean corms in open paper hags or boxes, hut do not close them up of some of the corms may begin to get damp and grow. They should have plenty of dry air at their resting period. The small ones can be sown in boxes now, but they should have some of the outer husk stripped from them. A good soaking overnight in warm water often helps this work. PLANTS PROM DIVISION AND CUTTINGS. Plants that can be raised now can be taken and raised under glass, either in a glasshouse or in a cold frame. Aubretia is a slow rooter, but those who have a border of it should look round the jilants and they will find sonic pieces with roots which can be put in a box as though they were seedling plants and leave them for the winter. They v iil need a certain amount of water, but should never be over-watered. Diantlius plants can be pulled to pieces and the small pieces planted up in a box of sandy soil in the. same way as aubrotias. The plants make very pretty edgings to paths. One of the best of them is Diantlius deltoides. The old border pinks can be treated in the same way. Pansy and viola cuttings can be taken now. The pieces that should be chosen are the small, unflowered ones from the centres of the plants. Plant them up firmly, and keep them fairly close for a few days, when they should pick up and begin to root. " Pentstemons make a

good show in the garden and are easily grown from cuttings if the right pieces arc taken. These will be found at the base of the plants and ill some eases they may already have roots. These will continue to grow, and cuttings taken now will make good plants for spring planting. Good pentstemons can also be grown-from seeds sown now under glass and are well worth wmlc. ROSE PLANTING. If it is proposed to make new rose beds or to replant old ones this season, the work of preparing the soil should be done as soon ns possible. A rich loam is perhaps the best medium, but they can bo successfully grown in most soils, provided that the soils are properly prepared and aro generously treated. Where, the soil is light and sandy a liberal quantity of rich, heavy loam will make a lot of difference. AVe would prefer good loam to clay, because it is very hard to incorporate with the soil and will he dug up years afterwards in the same state as it was put in. If the natural soil is a heavy clay loam a good, strawy manure will do a lot of good, but lime will work wonders with a heavy soil. It acts slowly, but its action is certain. Then, drainage is necessary to stop the lower part of the bed becoming water-logged, and such a soil is fatal to the growth of any plant, except water plants. Roses are deep rooting subjects, and, therefore, the subsoils should be well broken up so that the roots can penetrate easily. If a reasonable quantity of strawy manure is worked into the clay it will help to keep it open. The surface soil can he given a dressing as the work proceeds. AVe believe that the best way to manure roses is from the surface after the plants have begun to grow. The roses when first planted should have only good, clean soil round their roots; then when the manure is put on the surface it can bo mixed with the soil, which lias a fair proportion of lime in it to work on the manure and let the plant food substances loose where they will be taken up by the soil water. Dwarf roses are often planted too thinly and leave a lot of bare ground showing. If they are planted about 2ft apart they will cover most of the ground when they are growing. Some varieties of roses are more suited to certain districts than arc others. AYhen taking names of varieties ascertain whether they are susceptible to disease or not. The older pernettianas are rather liable to black spot, but as the new ones come forward they aro getting further away from the Austrian briar blood. The old teas and hybrid teas were more or loss immune to this disease and now that they have assimilated some pernettiana blood they often show more of the black spot. In the case of mildew the positions are almost reversed, for while the hybrid teas are prone to it the pernettianas are only slight sufferers. Amongst rambler roses the polyanthus and wichurianas- are very liable - to mildew, especially when they are grown in cold countries. The dwarf polyantha ruses will suffer from mildew if they are grown in damp situations. AVlien preparing land for them treat it in exactly the same way as for the stronger growing varieties and they can bo planted closer' together than other roses, but the beds should not be wider than can be worked from cither side. Standard roses planted in the middle of beds of polyantha roses make them look much liotter. Firm planting is_ essential with all classes of roses. > • Vi - •' QUESTIONS. “J.H.” says: “I have some perpetual flowering carnations' which I am going to pot up for the winter, as [ may have to move from‘ here during the. winter and I want to take them with me. I would like your opinion on the potting material I have made. The soil is some old sods that were stacked up last winter and have broken down well, and into this I have mixed sonie loaf mould, and some sea sand, which lias a. small quantity of sea shell in it. This soil seems to be good to the feel, but I am waiting until T hear what- you have to say before J begin potting. Tlic pots are clean oin ones and I have plentv of crocks. How much of the latter should 1 use in the bottom when potting?” The potting soil is all right as far as' it goes, but we think that it could be improved -by the addition of some lime and a little wood ash or soot.. The lime that is in the shells will not be enough for the plants. Sea shells are very slow at dissolving and a little slaked lime will provide what is required. The plants can also be dusted with lime alter. they are potted. It will lie enough if you put about half an inch of crocks in the bottom ot each pot. one large piece to cover the hole in the bottom and then some small pieces round it. A few rotten leaves over the crocks' will stop the earth working through. AA'lien potting up the plants, pot firmly and if the plants are from pots use a small to get the soil well down the sides. “Gardener” says: “I have an old apple tree in mv garden which only, gives a few hard, small apples every year, and I was wondering if it would he possible to graft another kind on to it. I have read of this being done in some cases and would like to know if an unnamed variety is any use as an understock. Does the variety of apple that another is grafted on have any effect on the quality of the flavour or size of the new apples ? AVhat is the usual variety of apple that nurserymen use to gralt other varieties on?” . It does not matter what kind of apple the old one may ho, it can be grafted over with another variety. This work is I rest- done in the spring, when the sap begins to run. Get the scions in the dormant season and heel them into the ground until you are ready to do the work. About the end ot September or the beginning of October trv tlic tree to see if -the bark will lift', and if it docs then the branches may be sawn off carefully, so that the bark does not rip down. Before sawing the branch through cut the bark right round and it will not break so easily. The understock, as far as we know, lias no effect on tlie fruit, but there are some varieties which will grow better on one stock than another. The variety nurserymen have been using is a selected variety of Northern Spy, hut others have been ' n -ed also. “AV.C.” says: “Two large, tall orange trees, Boorman about twenty years old, came to light when the tall, neglected growth was cleared away from them iate last spring. Some flowers then formed on them, which have since developed into a few small fruits about the size of walnuts. Both trees were carefully watered during summer and now look a healthier green. Would it be safe to saw off the upper half of the trees now, or prune them in anv way?” In the first place, yon are not certain that the trees are Poorman ; they may be seedlings which may be only shy bearers. As far as cutting them back is concerned, this can be done at any time. If you think that they are really Boorman it might pay you to give the 6oil round them a reallv good manuring. Some well-rotted stuff dug iii all round the tree will start them going again Although we have often been told that pruning lemon and orange tre ?S is unnecessary, we

have found that it pays to let the light into them. Even it the roots are cut when digging round them it may help them to set more flowers. The manuring is the most important part of the culture and would advise you to do this well. The rubbish which you have cleared away may have improvised the soil and until you get it rich you will not get a great 't al of growth, even with pruning and watering.' THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. The preparation of- the soil for the coming season is the most important thing in the vegetable garden at the present time. Although it is fairly late in the season now, crops can still be grown for digging in The general idea prevails that as long as soil is dug and left in the rough frosts and the weather will break it down and to a certain extent sweeten it; but in our experience the frosts here are not nearly heavy enough to do much good, and it is preferable to sow some sort of crop on it for digging in later. Any crop that will grow in the winter .will be useful. Some gardeners believe in western wolths, a kind of ryegrass, partly because it grows well in the cold weather and partly because the quantity of roots it produces arc about three times the quantity of oats and naturally when this is dug into the soil it will break up into fairly small pieces. Horse beans will also grow in the winter and can be relied upon to do good to the soil. 1 ’ If you have any manure to spare, wheel it out when the state of the ground allows and spread it out for digging into the surface soil. The compost heap will provide some material that will be found useful. Broad beans can be sown in rows about four feet apart. This allows the plants plenty of room to grow. It may be necessary to put strings along each side of the row to keep the stalks from falling over. If any trouble lias been experienced with rust it would be a good plan to soak the seed in a formalin solution for half an hour or so. The strength to use is one part of formalin to 300 parts of water. The leek crop wilt need some at tention now and can be given fairly frequent doses of liquid manure. Blants that are being grown for show can be earthed up as required, or as they make growth. Celery can also be up as soon as it is. large enough. The soil must not be allowed to get in between the leaves, and to stop this it is a good plan to wrap brown paper round the stems to keep'them down. In the case of some of the sell-blanching kinds brown paper alone will blanch the stems perfectly. AA r lien onion seed has' not already been sown it will be better to sow it in boxes under glass. AVlien the young plants are about three inches high they can be taken outside to harden. Cabbage and cauliflower seed can bo grown in the same way, and from a gardener’s point of view these plants will be found as good as, if not actually better than, those plants that- are grown entirely outside. There may he some runner lieans that have escaped the picker’s notice, and when the pods are good ones it may be worth while to keep them for seed purposes for next season. One cannot grow too many of these, and any that cannot be used can be salted down for winter use. The white-seeded varieties can be shelled and used as lima beans and they will be found to be very good.