THE HERBACEOUS BORDER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 7 October 1938, Page 2

THE HERBACEOUS BORDER

A COMMON ERROR. One of the commonest faults in herbaceous borders is to leave plants to make all the growth they will, with the result that far too often one plant half smothers its next door neighbour, and the multitude of stems that even a single clump produces causes such a dense and tangled mass of growth that no part of the plant is able to develop its proper character and display what should be its natural charm. Roots which were only put into the ground this spring cannot be making an extraordinary amount of growth. Nevertheless, that is not to say they should carry every item they are producing, because the root system as yet is not fully developed. 1$ is, therefore, quite advisable that a certain amount of thinning out of weak, puny shoots for the benefit of a lesser number of stronger ones shall be adopted, even in the case of newly-planted items in the border. But the greater need is for attention to those which have had a full year’s round in their present quarters, and are, therefore, in just the right conditions to make a maximum show, if given proper opportunity. The best plan is to begin by cutting away the slenderest branches, but get them right out, not leaving short stumps, which will either break out into numerous still weaker shoots, or in certain cases of fleshy-stemmed plants which will wither and perhaps rot.

AH those things which are known to grow strong and tall should have a sufficiency of stakes provided to enable the main shoots to be tied out in a direction slightly leaning away from the centre of the clump, the idea being to give each part a proportionate amount of room and leave the centre of the plant as open as possible. Often two or three stems can be looped to one stake, but they must not be drawn so close that they are again brought into proximity with each other. There are many plants which do not attain great height but, nevertheless, require some support, otherwise, instead of growing upright, they will flop on the ground for a while and then turn their stems in an upward direction. This means that not only does a plant, occupy treble the space it is entitled to, but in the centre there are ugly vacancies, and, if it is desired to make use of the flowers for cutting, it will be found that the bent stems render it impossible to arrange them in vases to- pleasing effect. All this should be avoided by starting the staking before the plants begin to depart from the upright. In their case, it is not advisable to try tying the stems separately, but to surround them with a support that will just suffice to hold each in position. Four corner stakes, with twine or raffia stretched around and across diagonally from stake to stake, will usually effect the desired purpose, and later on, when growth has increased, a second restraining strand can be drawn around, securing it to the stakes at say, six inches above.

All this business will mean a great deal of treading among the plants, and, whatever the character of the soil it is inadvisable to leave it foot-marked all over. Even for appearance sake it is necessary to obliterate the tread marks, but, if the soil is the least bit inclined to be heavy and adhesive, the more important point is that footprints left unattended to will cause caking of the surface, preventing free access of air to the soil, and rendering percolation of water difficult. Rake, scratch, or loosen the whole area by means of one of the many kinds of surface cultivators, as soon as the staking work is finished.

When this task is to be performed, it affords an excellent opportunity to give a first, but very light, dressing of a good fertiliser.