IN THE GARDEN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 30 July 1941, Page 8

IN THE GARDEN

HINTS FOR THE AMATEUR

Fruit, Flowers and Vegetables WORK FOR THE WEEK VEGETABLE GARDEN. Collect all the hard garden rubbish and burn it, placing the ashes under cover for future use; are useful when sowing seeds. Lock over the stock of seed potatoes and place them in ( trays to, sprout. Directly top growth is visible in the parsnips, lift' them and store in sand, for this vegetable is useless once it starts to grow again. Continue planting autumn-sown onions. Plant out cabbage, cauliflower and lettuce. In warm districts sow early carrots, turnips, beetroot, radish, lettuce and spinach, but if the soil is cold and wet it is wise to defer sowing till later. I _ I Protect all young seedling crops from slugs'and snails by one of the many proprietary preparations. FLOWER GARDEN. The pruning of roses will need attention by the end of the month; afterwards give a good dressing of manure and forkjt in. Plant out pansies, Iceland poppies, nem.esia and stocks. Dahlia stools intended for propagation should be placed in position in the greenhouse to throw up cuttings. Herbaceous plants which have not been disturbed will benefit by a handful of bonemeal 'sprinkled round each clump. Make every effort to clean up the beds and borders when the soil is dry enough; small weeds can be disposed of by lightly skimming with a fork. Keep the soil loose along the base of sweet peas and give a dressing of wood ashes and sand, mixed. FRUIT GARDEN. Fruit trees in the garden subject‘ t to a heavy drain when the soil beneath is occupied by vegetables; do not forget this when manuring. Black currants that fail to produce a crop should be cut to the ground. Citrus trees that have borne good crops will need generous applications of manure. The pruning of citrus trees should be attended to when the crops have been removed. Neat, clean cuts are required when pruning all trees, but more especially with stone fruits, ’to reduce the risk of “gumming."