IN THE GARDEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 October 1938, Page 5

IN THE GARDEN

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR. VEGETABLES AND FLOWERS. WORK FOR THE WEEK VEGETABLE GARDEN. If aphis appears on Broad Beans pinch out growth tips. Give stems a vigorous shaking at midday, when the weather is fine, to set pods. Sow Dwarf Beans. Small sowings should be made unless the garden is warm and sheltered, as cold winds are fatal. Sow Vegetable Marrow. Protect the seedlings till the weather gets more certain. Spinach, Radish, Lettuce, Turnips can be sown. These are good crops to sow between more permanent ones. Thin out seedling crops as soon as ready. Do not let them get too large before the thinning is done. Seeds of Pumpkin and Cucumber can be sown once the frosts are settled. Protection is necessary if a cold spell loccurs. Plant out a few tomatoes. They will need shelter if nights are cold or winds are high. Potatoes can be planted. Those up should be sprayed. Plants show“curly leaf” or having foliage mottled or streaked with yellow, should.be lifted and destroyed. Both are signs of cirus disease. FRUIT GARDEN. Plums and Peaches that have finished flowering should be sprayed. Use lime sulphur 1-30. Weeds in in Strawberry beds should be ihand picked from around the plants. Give an application of blood and bone and mulch plants. If there is any sign of disease spray plants with lime sulphur, 1-120. Vines that have started should be dusted with flowers of sulphur. Cut of seed heads on Rhubarb. Do not allow the seeds to develop. FLOWER GARDEN. Sow hardy annuals in the open border. Mignonette, night-scented Stock, Clarkia, Annual Gypsophila should be sown in open ground. Where Aster wilt is bad sow >the seed where the plants are to grow. Sow three or four seeds at each place; when seedlings are up thin to one. Prepare ground for planting Chrysanthemums. Dahlias can be planted, but for autumn display December is soon enough. Dahlia cuttings root easily now. A box with a piece of two of glass and a few pots with sandy soil are all that is necessary. Chrysanthemum cuttings also root readily now. Cuttings of Herbaceous Phlox and Michaelmas Daisies rooted now make the best plants. Lift and replant the Violet bed. Old plants give most blooms, but young plants give the best flowers. Many kinds of bedding plants can be put out now. Tender and autumn-flowering kinds are better planted next month.

CULTURE OF THE PANSY. The culture of the pansy is quite a simple matter and it has long been a favourite. in the flower garden. ‘Poets havg,sung- its praises since the days of Snaßespeare, Spencer and Milton, while -it's popularity among the humble cultivators has earned for it all sorts of queer appellations such as three faces under a hood, love in idleness, cuddle-me-to-you, herb trinity, etc. Heartsease, perhaps, is the most common of all, but more generally today people give them their correct name. Our first consideration in the matter of pansy culture is the purpose for which the plant is to be applied. It can, as is well known, be best used as an edging to herbaceous and other borders, or it may be used for carpeting, and again as a mixed plant among herbaceous subjects. The neater violas, however, are to be preferred for edgings, since they are perpetual flowering if attended to in the matter of clipping off the dead flowers, but this cannot be said of the pansy, as towards the end of summer this plant invariably becomes leggy and untidy looking. For this reason the pansy is best in masses in the herbaceous border or in a bed to themselves. As to soil and site, the pansy is not at all fastidious. A light, well drained loam, nicely enriched with rotted manure is quite suitable, and the position may be either in full sun or semi shade. Pansy culture on peat loams is not so successful as on those of a more alkaline nature, a fact which should be borne in mind by gardeners having soils inclined to acidity, in which case mortar rubble or any other form of lime should be freely dug in prior to planting. Pansies are great lovers of moisture and where the exhibition type are grown and large flowers are wanted they must be provided with plenty of it, and with liquid manure twice weekly. There are now lovely shadings among the pansies and their upturned faces provide a wonderful picture of sheer beauty. WOODLICE PEST. Woodlice, where are related to crabs and lobsters, are often called monkey peas, slaters and sow bugs. They breathe by means of little gills attached to the base of the legs, and some can curl themselves upinto a ball. They damage seedlings, and eat young shoots I of maidenhair ferns, and are often

MAIN CARROT CROP.

DIVIDING CATMINT.

harmful in frames, among box plants and in mushroom pits. They love moisture, hiding away amongst any rubbish. They are mainly nocturnal, hiding in crevices all day. The young are very similar to the adults. Trap by placing flower pots half filled with moss and fresh horse dung on their sides. They collect there and so are easily caught. Remove all rubbish from, in and around frames. When frames are cleared pour plenty of boiling soap and water into the crevises.

MAKE SOWING NOW. A main crop sowing of carrots should be made during October on ground which has not been freshly manured, as fresh manure is a frequent cause of forked or misshapen roots. Intermediate kinds are reliable to sow in quantity. It is as well to sow carrots in succession, a small quantity at a time, in addition to the main crop. Young succulent roots are then always available until quite late in the autumn. These young roots make a very tender dish if pulled when about the thickness of the finger, and it is surprising the number which may be obtained from a few short rows.

EARLY SPRING THE BEST TIME. Early spring is the best time to lift and divide that most popular of all edging plants, the mauve catmint. In some gardens it seldom does well from autumn plantings, and frequently dies out in winter, whereas the spring plantings are invariably successful. Large plants may be lifted and divided now, Care should be taken to secure as much fibrous root as possible, and, after trimming back the long woody roots, to separate the growths into small clusters with roots attached. In planting, take out a shallow trench with a spade and set the divisions against the vertical side about one foot apart. Press a little soil about each with the hands, after which the trench can be filled in, trodden firm and levelled off.

LABELS FOR TREES.

A USEFUL GUIDE. When new trees are planted it is important that they should be labelled, as it is quite an easy matter to forget the name, anu the paper labels sent with them soon decay. To know the names of the different varieties in the garden makes it much more interesting than to simply know it is a red rose or an early or late apple. Permanent labels should be affixed to the trees as soon as they arrive from the nursery. Wooden labels, freshly painted, and the name written on with an ordinary black lead pencil whilst the paint is wet, will last for a long time, and is probably the cheapest and best form of label in use today. They should not be too large. They can either be made to stick into the ground or attached to the tree. If to be tied on, use a size 3in or 4in by 2in, somewhat after the shape of a small luggage label.