GARDENING

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 40, 27 March 1984, Page 12

GARDENING

Vegetable Garden Work is now mostly harvesting but it is still necessary to control bugs and diseases with sprays. Pay attention to waiting time with sprays. Once ground is cleared of crops and perhaps not to be used until the spring, spread lawn clippings and wood ash (from untreated timber) followed by an occasional fork over to deter weeds and break up the clippings. Like broad beans? Try putting in a short row over the next six weeks and you

should have a nice crop in the spring. Flower Garden Roses will now be in their last flowering. As the flowers fade cut the stems well back. Further spraying will be necessary to combat black spot and aphids. Check staking and tying of plants against March and April's strong winds. Clear annuals as soon as they finish flowering otherwise they provide a home for pests and weeds. Are your carnations and dianthus withering up from

the base? They will probably be affected by fusarium wilt which is particularly prevalent in damp conditions. Try striking fresh cuttings and plant in a drier and sunnier position. Chrysanthemums are now at their peak but be sure to cut plants well back after flowering. New Sections Next garden notes will be devoted entirely to new sections and renovating old gardens, column space being at a premium. The last garden notes discussed the factors requiring first priority. Once they have been settled then we can look at shelter and privacy. Good quick growing hedges to be planted in winter or early spring for this area are: Photinia (Red Robin) which gives you a large green leaf Ayith red new growth; Ligustrum Ovalifolium Aureum (Golden Privet) very bright green and gold foliage; Lonicera Nitida with very small round, dark green leaves. Two unusual hedg^^ worth considering would Camellia Sasanqua o^^ Pyracantha (Fire Horn) which has medium to dark green leaves with white flowers followed by red or orange berries depending on the variety. Gets its common name from bright berries and very thorny stems. For a tall shelter hedge there is Phebalium (Satinwood). It is quite hardy but must have the right conditions to do well in this area ... they like a light welldrained soil, slightly acid. So a free-draining bank is ideal but it is sometimes difficult to get established. If you would like to shift shrubs or conifers which are not yet too large, say up to 2m (6ft) high, now is the time to 'wrench' them. You need a very sharp spade^^ this operation, which conSBF of. cutting the roots cleanly to a spade depth or more ( 12^ feet or 30-60cm) right around the plant now. Then the transplanting takes place in Winter (June-August).

T. L

. Francis

Raetihi Garden Club