HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR

Wairarapa Times-Age, 23 June 1939, Page 3

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR

FRUIT, FLOWERS AND VEGETABLES

WORK FOR THE WEEK

FLOWER GARDEN. Hoe anemone and bulb beds when the soil is not too wet. Prepare beds to plant roses. Cut off tops of chrysanthemums and dahlias a foot from the ground. Out down delphiniums and protect crown with a covering of sand or shell. Lift, divide and replant gerberas, perennial phlox and Michaelmas daisies. Put in cuttings of calceolarias, pentstemons and ageratums. Prepare stakes and labels ready for the coming season. Top-dress, manure and weed lawns.Climbers and creepers on walls should be overhauled and the main stems made secure for another year. Lime is important in the flower garden. Sweet williams and all the dianthus family appreciate a sprinkling of lime every year. Hard frosts lift newly-inserted cuttings and plants. Tread back firmly on both sides of the row after frosts. Top-dress rhododendron and azalea beds with equal parts peat or leafmound and well-decayed manure. Plant newlhedges when the site has been well prepared by digging deeply.

VEGETABLE GARDEN. Examine onions, potatoes and pumpkins in store; remove any showing signs of decay. Hoe any standing crops and thin out spinach. Clear off spent crops and dig the ground. Sow lettuce, spinach, turnips. Prepare the ground for new asparagus beds. Plant cabbage and cauliflower; sow another pinch of seeds. Earth up leeks and give liquid manure. Not much .cultivation will be possible this month while the soil is cold and wet. Wet spells will cause leaves of spinach to decay; all these damaged leaves should be picked off. Plant out autumn-sown onions; give the bed a dusting of old soot that has been exposed to the air for some time. Beds for onions, shallots and early peas can have six ounces of basic slag per square yard when preparing the soil. Unless the ground is needed, parsnips are best left in the soil and dug as required. Make new plantations of rhubarb and lift roots for forcing if required.

FRUIT GARDEN. Planting of new trees and the transplanting of old ones should be undertaken. Any root pruning that requires to be done should be proceeded with. Pruning and spraying is work that the sooner it is started and finished the better. During bad weather get tools and accessories into .working order. Plum trees on some stocks are liable to produce a lot of suckers; these should be removed >at their point of origin. After the gooseberries are pruned, give a heavy dressing of animal manures, as these fruits are gross feeders. Keep the strawberry bed well hoed when the soil is dry enough, but . do not hoe too close to the plants. Make a practice when pruning of painting over any large wounds; this prevents the entry of disease organisms. If the soil is too wet when new trees arrive, “heel in” until conditions are more favourable. Do not plant in wet ground.