GARDENS IN TAUPO

Taupo Times, Volume II, Issue 100, 18 December 1953, Page 8

GARDENS IN TAUPO

SOME PLANTING JOBS

(By

Flora).

From now on to about May or June your supply of vegetables should already be provided for But what is to follow often finds tbe gardener unprepared. This is our last chance for getting in those rows of winter vegetables, carrots, beet-root, swedes and silver beet. And, if you have not already done so, brussels sprouts, cabbage and broccoli. The last three, if you prefer, may be bought as seedlings, and planted if space is limited, in th.e ground that wili soon be vacant where the early peas and spinach grew. Normally the weather will be hot and dry during the earlier growing days of these plants, so get as much compost into the soil as possible, thereby obtaining a moisture holding medium. The planting of leeks, too, should be completed as soon as possible, as they require a long growing season. They are somewhat hungry souls so find the richest spot for them. The correct procedure with the leek is to grow it in specially prepared trenches, but satisfaetory results are obtained by just making holes with a sharp stick, six to eight inches deep and six inches apart. Into each hqle drop a heaped tea-spoon of blood and bone. Place the leek plant in the hole and fill with water, but no soil. Enough to cover the roots will be washed down, and with later cultivation the holes will gradually fill Sweet-corn also requires a soil not too impoverished, for it has a lot of growth to make in a not very long period to mature before autumn frosts set in. Being a tall grower it is better planted in blocks rather than in rows.

The periodic spraying of fruit trees should not be forgotten but this job is not confined to the orchard alone. Potatoes and tomatoes will benefit, and another crop often overlooked is the onion. Often, about mid-December, a yellowing of the tips or a drooping of fche leaves may be noticed, and if closely looked over the leaves will probably show greyish mouldy patches. This is the start of onion mildew. It may be checked with a spraying of Cuprox, li ounces to two gailons of water. The flower garden should not be overlooked. There is still time to plant out seedlings of the following annuals:— Phlox Drummondi, asters, zinnias, nemesia, salpiglossis, schizanthus and Bonfire salvias. You may now sow seed of biennials such as wallflower, Canterbury bells and sweet williams. A biennial, by he way, is a plant which grows from seed, making considerable growth one season, and flowering, seeding and dying the next. Seed of the following perennials also may now be put in: lupin, aquilegia, delphinium and polyanthus* t