THE WEEK’S WORK AT A GLANCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 146, 10 September 1927, Page 28 (Supplement)

THE WEEK’S WORK AT A GLANCE

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN September means a lot to the enthusiastic amateur gardener. This month is the beginning of spring when the foundations should be laid for autumn and winter. The weather conditions have every appearance of being brighter and every true gardener is impatient to commence work. Sowings of all roo.t crops should be made. Beet, carrots, turnips, radish and parsnip. For salads for summer use, sow lettuce, mustard, cress, spring onions and leeks. Cabbage, cauliflower, onions and silver beet plants may be tansplanted at once into good, rich soil. Tomato plants are now available, but should be only used by those who have very warm and sheltered positions. Sowings of peas can be continued for many weeks to come. The best early pea is William Hurst, 15 to ISin. For second early Daisy or Stratagem, and for late or main crop Yorkshire Hero. Peas should be sown in small quantities every two or three weeks to obtain a succession of crops through the season. Beans, brqad, French and butter, now require attention. Broad beans that have been sown earlier in the season should be nipped back to make them branch. These can he quite successfully grown as a dwarf if kept pinched back to 2ft. Canadian Wonder and Golden Butter are two of the finest dwarf beans for Auckland district. Now that the danger of frosts is practically over, heavy sowings of potatoes should be made. Arran Chief and Gamekeeper are two varieties that resist the blight and generally give satisfactory results. Plant the seed when well sprouted IS inches apart and 2 feet between the rows. Asparagus beds may need attention. A light dressing of ordinary salt will greatly help—2oz. per square yard. * Strawberry plants should be given liquid manure to help the growth of the plant. Cabbage and lettuce plants that are at a standstill may be watered with nitrate of soda. loz. per gallon. THE FLOWER GARDEN Spring, spring, glorious spring is here at last. Every enthusiast should commence sowing summer flowering annuals. Sow in boxes asters, phlox, marigolds, cosmos, stocks, pansy, poppy, etc. Sow in boxes of sandy soil and keep well watered. Protect from the hot mid-day rays of the sun. Rose trees are now throwing up their new foliage. Occasionally this should be examined for any sign of green aphis on the leaves. Scale or moss on the stems may be removed with lime and sulphur. Tecoma hedges that have been nipped by the frost should be cut back and the dead wood trimmed off. Peaches and nectarines will want watching and spraying to prevent leaf curl. Either Bordeaux powder or lime and sulphur will be effective. There are many new sprays suggested by the seedsmen, hut, as yet, nothing can be compared with these old remedies. Gloxinia and begonia bulbs are now sprouting and can be potted into rich soil with plenty of drainage. Cyclamen and primulas are now in full flower and should not be allowed to get dry at any period of their growth. For showy decoration for late spring flowering, the following annuals may now be bedded out: —Cineraria, stock, cailiopsis, antirrhinums, nemesia, viola, pansy, poppy, Iceland and Clarkia. For edging and borders, lobelia, violas, mignonette and candytuft are hard to beat.