THE WEEK’S WORK AT A GLANCE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 358, 19 May 1928, Page 26

THE WEEK’S WORK AT A GLANCE

THE VEGETABLE GARDEN ' This important branch of the garden can easily be made a profitable hobby by a little concentration and work. Why buy vegetables when you can grow them? One (id. packet of onion seed will yield 400 plants. 400 plants will produce an average crop of 1001 b, buying price, say 2d a lb. Why you save ltis 8d! Now gardeners, why not work these problems out on paper and grow only the crops that will save you money with which to buy seeds and plants for the flower garden. Make one part pay for the other. The most important crop for this month is onions. Do not wait to buy the plants, but sow a packet of seed thinly in drills and transplant when large enough to handle. Brown Spanish is the famous keeping onion and straw Spanish a larger variety but not such a good keeper. Prepare the bed for transplanting the seedlings in your spare time. Dig in rotted manure and potash, trenching the ground to a depth of 18 inches. Early potatoes are now available and may be spread out to shoot in a sunny spot. Prepare the ground so that no time may be lost in planting when the seed is sprouted Sow the seeds of carrots, parsnips, beet, radish, swede and turnips. All these should be sown in drills and thinned out as they grow. Short horn carrots are the quickest to mature if one has no other variety coming on. The turnip shaped beet is easiest cooked and does not require a great depth of soil. Greens for salads should play a more important part of our diet. Sow now, lettuce, prickly spinach, silver beet, cabbage and cauliflower. Spring onions can be set from now onward at intervals of , say three weeks, thus having a continuous supply. Mustard and cress are a delicious dish when served properly, but alas, many gardeners do not realise what they are missing, for only one out of 25 grows this crop. Leeks may be moulded up as they grow and celery should be watered with liquid manure. June is the best month to plant rhubarb roots. Prepare the ; holes for setting them in. Asparagus roots may be set next month and the beds should be in readiness for their coming. Sow broad beans at once. Plant the seeds three inches apart and 2 feet between the rows. THE FLOWER GARDEN Spring is coming. This can easily be seen by the dainty little violets and early bulbous flowers showing in the florists’ windows. Have you made any preparations for this coming season? If not, commence right now for, as Kipling says: “The glory of the garden occupieth all who come.” Cut back those rose bushes thinning out the weedy growth, shorten the main stems and remove the dead wood. By doing this now there will be less diebacks during the winter and earlier growth in the spring. Early bulbs are now showing colour and should be kept free from weeds. Anemones and ranunculus may receive weak liquid manure to help along the flowers. Hoe between the rows to keep the soil free and open. Finish patching up those lawns before the ground becomes too cold, otherwise leave until the spring months. Water backward ! lawns with sulphate of ammonia, 2 oz. to 1 gallon of water. The following plants are available for setting. Early stocks, cinerarias, poppy, antirrhinum, pansy, violas, primula, penstemon, Canterbury bells, anemones and ranunculus. Sow the following seeds in the open borders for quick dis plays: Alyssum, dwarf nasturtium, linaria, Virginia stock, mignonette, and leptosyne. Early cyclamen plants may be bedded out or grown in pots for winter flowering. Summer sweet peas may bo sown at any time to follow the early ; varieties now in. Plant lilium bulbs, callas, cannas, iris, helenium, gerberas, geums Michaelmas daisy, golden rod and all the herbaceous perennials. Old clumps may be lifted and divided, the ground manured and the plants reset. Hedge plants and shrubs may be planted during June and July and thoughtful gardeners will be preparing to receive the plants they may intend to order.