THE GARDEN

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 249, 18 September 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. Rose beds that have been pruned, will be -all the better if a good dressing of well-rotted cow manure can be spread over the bed and forked lightly into the soil. Animal manure is not a complete manure by. itself, but it can be helped out with a dressing of superphosphate (four ounces) and two ounces of suljrhate potash per square vard. Old garden sods are very often depleted 01 available potash long before the. rest of the plant foods are gone. There may be potash in the soil but it is not available to the roses growing in it. If this soil was given a rest for a year or two the potash would increase, but in the case of beds that are established this is not always possible, and it is better to give them what they want in the way of potash than to let them languish for want of it.

Wo know that supplies of potash are short, but there are wood ashes, and old burnt paper is a source of supply. Too often paper is thrown away, but if collected and burnt in an old drum the ashes can be collected and kept dry until they are required. Gorse is said to give the best percentage of potash, and clippings should always be collected and burnt separately. During the last few: years the Korean chrysanthemums have come into favour with gardeners. They are easy enough to manage, and whenv a lot of new plants are wanted the_ old shoots are divided up and the pieces replanted to make new beds. They are also good plants for growing in pots for. greenhouse and inside decorations. They begin to flower much earlier in the season than the older varieties, and are also useful for vase work. A few should be tried out before going in for them wholesale. We think there is a good future before them as bedding plants, especially for the second row from two to three feet high. Gladioli coring can be planted out now, particularly those showing signs of sending up shoots. The others may only be just showing the new growth, but many may be froni three to four inches long, and it is time to get them into the ground when they are like this. Sand is a good thing to use round the corms, especially if the ground has been manured recently. It is not considered right to plant them in man--11 red soils, but with careful planting in sand they will be quite safe.

SEED SOWING. There are plenty of hardy garden plants that can be grown from seeds, and these can be sown now. The main points about germination are warmth, water, light and air, and a good fine soil in which to sow the seeds. One of the main tilings when sowing the seeds is to sow thinly so that the young plants do not become drawn and spindly. As soon as they are large enough to handle prick them out into other boxes of fresh soil where they

HELLEBORES

will have room to grow. Giving plenty of room will help when it comes to planting out. Each plant can be lifted with a good ball of earth and this when put straight into the soil is often better than watering the young plants into the soil. When pricking out plants of preparing soil for pricking out into it' is a good plan to give the soil a light dusting of superphosphate and mix it up with the soil before it is put into the boxes. We have often tried tin’s out with the most tender seedlings and have found that it helps them to grow strong and healthy. When settling these plants in the spaces reserved for them, press the soil round them, firmly. As soon as they begin to grow the hoe should be used between the rows to keep the soib open and free.

VIOLETS. -- Several growers have been complaining that their violets have not been doing well and that they are looking yellow and the leaves are not large enough.' The main trouble is that the plants are not planted early enough in the season and the land is not properly prepared. September is the best month to set the plants out, and the soil must be well trenched and manured. Work the manure well into the surface soil and use some superphosphate when planting. The runners that grow away from the old plants are the best pieces to use; some ot them may have a few roots, hut the balance will only be cuttings about six to eight inches long. Trim away all the leaves that go under the ground and put them straight down into the soil, and leave the tip just above.

Set the plants out in a row at least a foot' apart and the rows at least eighteen inches apart. They are often very slow to make new roots, especially during dry weather, when they should be well-watered. Spray the plants once a month with lime sulphur, at a rate of one part of the lime-sulphur to 100 parts ot water. Red spider and tlmps are the greatest trouble, but the limesulphur spray will control that. A GOOD GARDEN SOIL. / Soils that have been well cultivated during the uutumn will give better results than those that have just been dim out of the rough. Those who go in Tor gardening must keep their son in good heart, and one of the best ways to do this is to dig in green crops as often as possible. 11 you Have a spare piece of ground sow it down now wit! blue lupins, and dig them in as soon as the flowers begin to show. bom. plants will grow in poor soil, hut take the general run of garden plants, amvou will find that they will grow bet ter in a soil that is full of humus ant plant food. If unlimited amounts pi animal manure can ho dug in- the soi will become rich, but at the same time it will tend to become acid and to correct this lime must he used. There is another soil that is hard to work aru that is one that holds too much water to bring it to fertility it must liavi drains put through so that the surplus water can get away qinekiy. It is use less to trench a piece ol land that is waterlogged and touvep the water underneath, but put drains through it which will take the surplus water away and that heavy soil will he as fertile as the deepest loam. Soil bacteria cannot he expected to work in a waterlogged soil, hut when the watei is taken out it will he growing crops as good as any -other. Some gardeners have an idea that putting sand on heavy clay will improve matters, hut quite as much good can he. done by digging cover crops, particularly those of a leguminous nature. Leguminous crops require lime to bring them to perleetion ; there maj he a few ext options,, but the majority require' ’lime at some stage or another When the surplus water is taken away it allows the soil bacteria to get to won and these free the potash, phosphates nitrates, and other plant foods. Keep ing the surface of the soil in a good workable condition allows air to enter and this is filtered and in turn leave nitrogen in the. sod. This is then avail able to plant life in the _ form o nitrates. There are other things tha go to make the health ol the plants hut as they arc available in most soils or in the other manures that are put in it is not necessary to go into thal part now. Jf the hoe is kept goinp amongst growing crops it will help ti keep the soil fertile because it admits air and stops undue evaporation from, the soil. Liquid manure is helpful tc plant life because it holds food in suspension and is in a form Hat is readily, available to p'ant life. Plants do not take up solid food, but must have it in solution.

Hellebores or Christinas roses, as tliev are sometimes called, are ver.v satisfactory plants to grow for flowering late in the winter. They like a cool, moist situation where they can be given some mu nine as a top-dressing in the driest and hottest part of the year. They are easily grown from seed if it is sown as soon as it is ripe. Seed that sows itself under the leaves of the plants is often more satisfactory than that sown in boxes. Although these plants do not like being disturbed, they are liable to exhaust the soil they have been growing in. It is necessary then to prepare a fresh bed for them by trenching the soil and adding a good dressing of manure Bone dust worked in is useful and lasts for some time. If old plants are to be taken up and replanted. they should have all the soil washed out of the roots, and then the plants can lit divided so that each piece will have plenty of roots. Plant firmly, leaving the crown just above the surface of the soil. When set out, the plants should not be disturbed for several years, but should be kept clean and free from

weeds They are . not subject to attacks by insect pests, as they arc poisonous to them. Hellebore -powder is .prepared from the roots of these plants and is a splendid insecticide. Some of the newer hybrid varieties are much taller growers than the old ones, and they are well worth a' place in the garden.- 1

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN. So far this season has begun well with the chance for a successful vegetable garden. One of the main problems at present is to keep the soil open and free, and to thin the young plants out to the correct distance that will give them the best chance to grow to perfection. It is not advisable to give them too much room, but when such crops as carrots and parsnips can be grown so that they cover the ground with their leaves it. will help to keep the ground moist during the growing period. You may have noticed tliat when a good crop of weeds covers the ground the soil dries out much quicker than when it is kept moved with the hoe. , When working amongst onion plants care must be taken to draw the soil away from the young plants rather than up to them. Lettuces, as soon as they are about 2in high, will benefit from a dressing of nitrate ot sodaused at the rate of an ounce to lilt of row. Pound the soda as finely as possible and then dust it along the row and water it in. It should not be allowed to remain on the leaves ot the plants or it may burn them. Liquid manure can follow this soda and will be found to help the plants„aloiig, and lettuces must be grown quickly to be S Leek seed should be sown in a wellmanured piece of ground, and they must be kept clean during their growing season so that they will he strong enough for planting out about the end of the year. This vegetable is a most useful one and lasts well through the winter and into the spring. It spe cially long roots are required for show purposes, they should be raised in trenches and the earth drawn up to them as they grow

Parsnips are long, deep-rooted vegetables that like a deeply-worked soil one that was well manured last season for some other crop will suit them very well. If large roots are wanted, the seed should he sown early in the sea son, hut as a rule medium-sized roots are the ones the cooks like best, and next month will he soon enough to sow the seeds. There is a turnip-rooted variety, but it does not Seem fo find much favour except where the soil is very shallow. It is quite as good as the long-rooted variety and does not need such a deep soil. In carrots it is the stump-rooted varieties which seem to be the favourites, and nearly every gardener has some growing. The intermediates can he grown in any ordinarysoil, hut the long, deep-rooted varieties like a deep soil worked in the same way as for parsnips. The seeds of all these plants should be sown thiuly to save work in thinning out. Red beet is another plant that has turnip-rooted, intermediate, and long varieties. The turnip or globe is the favourite, hut during the last few years the intermediate variety called Obelisk has found a lot of admirers. The colour of this variety is a dark red without streaks. These plants like a little salt dusted along the rows when they ire about two inches high. Thin them to four inches apart. Taller growing varieties of peas can he sown now, and as soon as they come up the plants should be staked with nice twiggy- pieces of wood ior the peas to climb up. Keeping the plants from trailing about on the ground means a wonderful difference in the crop, and besides that the peas are easier to pick. Prepare ground for French beans which can ho sown next month. These are very susceptible to the cold, and are useless unless the situation for the early ones is warm and dry. Horse radish seems to he coming into favour again and is very easy, to grow. Simply cut the roots into short pieces about three inches long and plant them in any- good soil, about a loot apart.