GARDENING NOTES.

Shannon News, 20 July 1926, Page 4

GARDENING NOTES.

Already the harbingers of spring are with us. The flowering currant (ribes) is showing welcome pink buds which will later develop into the graceful pendant sprays characteristic of these useful early blooming shrubs. The cherry plum trees are also unfolding their snowy white blooms, and the early wattle (acacia baileyana), with its sunshiny blooms, is with us again. The warmth' of our early July days did much to encourage the blooming of the violets, narcissus and anemones. In sheltered ' spots the hellebories (Christmas roses) are already bloom, ing. while such old-time favourites as l'orget-me-nots, primroses and wallflowers give promising signs of early blooming. A Use for Broken Flower Pots. More often than not those breakages are consigned to the scrap heap, but when broken up on a hard flat surface, from the bigness of split peas down to dust, there is nptliing finer for mixing as a draining me. dium for all potting mixtures. There is nothing, so good for making a compoSt free, and sweet and open. When the right ajnount is used the soil will grit sharply in the hand. The roots of the plants like to get down and search among the sweet porous grit. FVuit Trees for Pictorial Effect. Frequently where space is limited, one finds the desire on the part of the gardener to combine beauty with utility, and surely if we can admit the flowering cherries and the crab apples, we can find room for our good apples and other fruits. In addition to the charm of the bloom on the fruit trees there is, moreover, that of the fruit. In its various stages the fruit is always inter, csting, .and when the apples begin to ripen, there is a subtle harmony between them and the various early autumn flowers. Apples, quinces and pears may be used as a background to large borders. There is nothing so beautiful as a fruit tree in full bloom, as it harmonises with our early spring flowers. Pergolas of wood or trellis may have fruit trees trained over them, with snowdrops, daffodils and other flowers beneath, while our cherry plums, intermingled with almond trees, make ideal hedges, ornamental xand useful. This plan of gardening should prove more amenable to the average man, who often laments over what he considers the waste of ground entailed in growing things for mere beauty. When fruit trees are planted at the hack of large borders, the space beneath them may also he utilised for the growing of all varieties of early bulbs. The plan has much to recommend it, as the fruit trees would be worked round and receive more attention than is usually the case when, they are consigned to some, plot in the background. Manuring Fruit Bushes.

Gooseberries, currants, strawberries and other fruit bushes will be greatly benefited if given a little artificial manure now. Superphosphate and sulphate of potash mixed together at the rate of two of the former and one of the latter, may be used at the rate of one handful to each bush or yard run when applied to strawberries, scattering evenly on the surface and hoeing in. Old Ft-nit Trees. In many gardens . there are old fruit trees which have done good service in the past, and which the owners are loth to destroy. • There comes a time .however, when fruit trees get worn out and must be replaced, especially if profit is the aim. Seeing that all planting is best done when the soil is warm and in good working condition, it is advisable to grub out all useless trees, and at once prepare the ground in readiness for young, vigorous specimens. The sooner this is ■" done during the present month the better, the newly planted trees having time to become fairly well established before the hot summer months are with us. Making Hot Beds. ’Pile building of a hot-b’ed may appear, a simple matter; so it is, but there arc right and wrong methods of carrying it out. Many failures are caused by the gardener omitting to make the hot-bed' 1 firm. The fact cannot be too widely known that the firmer the bed in. reason, the longer is the heat retained. On the other hand, if the materials have been thrown together loosely, the heat becomes too violent, and does not last. For the amateur, there is no better plan than- to gather 'quantities ot fallen tree leaves. Tree leaves of themselves set up a very even and lasting heat when sufficient bulk can be gathered and firmly packed together, but for frames and. open.air beds something must be employed in conjunction, so as to obtain a shapely form. Any fresh manure will answer the purpose, but preference should be given*' to fresh stable manure where procurable. it is a mistake, too, to attempt to build the bed until the first heat is expended, by repeated turnings, after which, finish the bed, and spread a couple of inches of nice loamy soil on top for sowing the seeds. The site of the bed should be such that no surface water can collect around it. Built on the open soil of the garden, drainage is at once assured. In its construction the' sides should be “combed” down with the four.tined fork, so as to enable water to pass off freely, and its size need not exceed the size of the frame by more than six inches.