GARDENING NOTES.

Shannon News, 17 April 1928, Page 4

GARDENING NOTES.

Seasonable Routine Work.

Continue budding chrysanthemums, for the earlier this is done the better will be the blooms. It is a highly necessary work, even if the plants are grown only for ..garden display. One bud should be left on each shoot and nice-sized blooms will then be available instead of bunchy masses. Exhibition blooms should be given manure twice weekly, and should be shaded as soon as the buds commence to show colour.

Dahlias are. now at their best, many varieties being in a mass of bloom. Keep all the dead flowers picked off to encourage tfle plants to bloom as long as possible. Continue to sow seeds of all hardy annuals biennials, and perennials.

Propagate violas,, pansies, primroses, polyanthus, and violets as soon as there has been sufficient ,rain to moisten well the ground.

Many shrubs- may be propagated from tiny cuttings if they are dibbed in sand and kept in a close frame. Continue planting anemones, ranunculus, and all bulbous things.

Lift gladiola conns as soon as the foliage turns yellow. Carefully shake off all soil before storing them away, as soil adhering to the bulbs will make them start into growth quicker. Continue sowings of sweet peas. Plant and propagate members of the iris family. Complete pruning hedges, and prepare sites for new ones as soon as the soil is suitable to handle. Sever carnation layers and replant them in their permanent positions. Continue all routine work, such as removing dead annuals, hoeing, and working up all spare plots of ground regularly. The borders will then be in a clean tidy state to face the wet wintry weather. The Vegetable Garden. Sow seeds of spring cabbage, cauliflower .and lettuce. Thin out rows of turnips, carrots, spinach, silver beet, etc., and encourage the plants to make rapid progress by free use of the hoe. All onion crops should be lifted and stored for awhile in a drying shed or verandah. Give leeks which are well advanced an abundance of liquid ( manure, earthing them up as they require it. Where garden space is limited, lift and store the main crop of carrots in layers between dry soil or sand. Gather a store of herbs, tie in bunches, and place in a muslin bag to dry. '

Lift early beetroot and store in the same way as carrots. Earth np the celery regularly and give the bed plenty of liquid manure. Give the latest sown dwarf beans a jlittle protection -if early frosts threaten. Sow broad beans and give the soil ai good dressing of lime. All garden plots may be limed with advantage. Also distribute ashes from rubbish fires and collect all available manure. Gather fallen leaves for leaf mould. Plant a few shallots and potato onions for the winter salads. Sow onion seed for spring transplanting. The Fruit Garden. As soon as the ground is reasonably moist plant main beds of strawberries indwell prepared plots. Deeply trench, and heavily manure ground for new raspberry plots. Place all orders for fruit trees with the nurserymen early. Late comers get, the leavings. Cut cfff all superfluous growth on figs, and root prune if the growth is gross. Avoid rich soil when planting. Remove suckers from base of cobnuts and filberts. Mark fruit trees which are. not bearing/ljut making vigorous growth for root pruning. Permanent Evergreen Edgings.

Many gardeners whose time is limited prefer an edging of a perennial type for their borders. All varieties of pinks are good for this work. Saxifraga umbrosa (London pride) is very neat, also the armerias (thrifts) of which there are several varieties. Some of the dwarf campanulas are ideal for edging the shady border. Primroses require very little attention \ but for a few months eff the year they 1 are quite bare and cannot be classed ( as evergreens.

I Violets need thinning occasionally, and the runners kept off them. Shrubs.

Unless one is purchasing from a

reliable firm, shrubs should always be chosen personally. It is a great disappointment to an experienced gardener to be sent an. over-hard or hidebound shrub. It takes so long to get a start and, if too old, may never do so after removal. While large specimens of many evergreens such as holly and griselinia, move excellently, the general rule is that best and

speediest results are obtained from planting shrubs still possessed of youthful vigour. Combined Fruit-cage and Poultry Run For several years articles have ap-

peared on the subject of “poultry in conjunction with fruit growing on a large scale,’ but one aspect of the subject doeS not seem to have been so thoroughly discussed. That is the question of combining poultry with the growing of bush fruit in the average-sized private garden.

Acting on various hints, a small private gardener who had a.piece of old pasture land 30 feet by 36 feet, decided to trench it w r ell and plant it with raspberries, currants, (red and black) and gooseberries. After planting operations were over, stout posts 6ft. sin. high were placed round at intervals of six feet, with a gate of easy proportions at the entrance. All the square surround and the gate was covered with half-inch, sparrowproof wire netting, and thick wires were stretched across and attached to the wooden uprights. Then, at a time. when the birds began to show an undesirable interest in the bushes, a half-inch mesh fishing net was securely fastened all over the top of the cage, the greatest care being taken to keep it taut at the edges. The reason for covering the top with fish netting instead of wire netting was twofold, as the whole of the top protection could he removed as soon as the fruit was picked, admitting frosts and birds to aid in keeping the plot healthy. When all fruit was gathered, the cage served a double purpose—a surround for the bush fruit, and a large run for poultry. Outside, but so close against it that the.birds’ exit gave into the cage by means of cutting away a small square of the wire netting, was placed the chicken house. The door was entirely independent of the cage, where food and water could be easily and quickly given.

To use this house for all the year would not, of course, be feasible, for during the fruiting season the cage would have to be left empty, unless a run adjoined it in another direction. But for other purposes the scheme proved invaluable, both from the point of view of the poultry and of the fruit.

The cage in question was used for fattening cockerels, and any birds which were destined for the market. All early hatched cockerels were placed there and remained until the time when they showed signs of tampering with the bushes. Then for the next few months, with the overhead net in use the cage became en-' tirely given over to fruit production.

But during those winter months the birds had done their bit, cleaning the bushes of an endless variety of insect pests, and fertilising the ground with their invaluable contribution of poultry manure. '' The gardener highly recommends this system, the healthy condition of the bushes, combined with the greater yield of fruit and the scarcity of weeds alone speaking w r ell for it, and again from the poultry man’s point of view', the gardener* declared that never had he raised finer table chickens. It also solved the ever difficult problem of housing fattening stock. Early Strawberries. As this fruit is so easily forced it is surprising that amateurs do not endeavour to grow' their own in advance of the outdoor supply. It is very interesting work and for equipment needs only a glass frame the size of the bed. The strawberries are grown in pots and should be potted up now, in order to give them an early start. Dig out some of the soil and place a layer of turf grass downwards at the bottom, then gather fallen leaves, placing them thickly over the turf. Plunge the pots to their rims in the leaves and make all as firm as possible. The gentle heat from the leaves induces early root action. As soon as frosts are a daily occurence, place the glass top in position, building an outside wall of turf to rest it on, and slope it slightly to allow for rains to run off easily. Until the flowers appear keep the plants somewhat on the dry side, then give more water and occasional doses of liquid manure. The plants will derive great benefit from frequent spraying of the foliage, and a moist but not stuffy atmosphere should be maintained. Admit a little air in the middle of a warm sunshiny day by lifting the top, a little. -