GARDEN NOTES.

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20504, 21 May 1938, Page 20 (Supplement)

GARDEN NOTES.

Seasonable Work .

By ••Nlkau

VEGETABLES AND FRUIT Dig in the vine* of marrows, pumpkins, cucumbers, squash and melons, and store their fruits In a dry place. The marrows should be used first, as they become stringy after a few months. Turn In as much green manure as possible, because it not only enriches the soil but Improves the texlure. Mould up celery and leeks in and see that the trenches do not become sumps, taking the drainage from the neighbouring plots. It may be necessary t,j dig a dipping cross-trench to avoid such a danger. Sow turnip, onion, dwarf pea, broad bean, and parsley, but only if the soil Is fairly open, and if the position is sheltered* and sunny. Plant cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, silver beet, and various herbs, such as thyme, sage and chives. Loosen, but do not remove, the ties on budded trees and shrubs. ■Ebmy pnd currant. This is also a good time to put in cuttings of these bush fruits. Plant strawberry plants, but only if protection from birds be given the fruit. Plant various kinds of fruit trees. Lists of suitable varieties will be given later. A start can be made with the pruning of any fruit trees that have lost most of their leaves. FLOWERS Stir the soil around all kinds of bedding plants—anemone, ranunculus, bulbs, poppy, calendula, etc. Plant another lot of anemones, ranunouli, etc., to follow up those planted early. Those bedding plants whioh have started to establish themselves should be encouraged by a dusting of superphosphate around them. It Is better to use the super than a very quick manure such as nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia. A soft growth is not wanted, as It could not stand Waikato frosts. Clear up the beds and borders, and burn all dead or diseased plants. Save fallen leaves and green material that Is worth digging In. Take care to cut ft up a good deal with the spade (to assist decomposition), and also mix some soil with it. Have covers rtfl ler perennials such as bouvardias, lantanas, laslandras. tin gl nvllleis, f'upheas and crotalarias. is of lilies, and allow them the right aspect and the right soli. Clean up the rockery: cut back straggly sun roses, verbenas, aubrletias, eatm nU, Utbotpermums and rerastiums. | i before All ‘he flowers die. Also take the chance to root out and burn the poor varieties. H Ireland poppy, pansy, viola and other bedding plants while there Is still heat In the soil. Plant hedges, also ornamental trees and shrubs. Sow new lawns, using suitable varieties of grass such as Chewing's Fescue and Brown Top.

ALTERATIONS IN THE GARDEN Now that the planting season has eome. and heabaceous plants, shrubs •nd trees can be moved with less risk than at, other seasons, the opportunity of making changes In the garden layout should not he lost. New beds may bs eut In the lawn, or those already there may be filled In and sown with grass-seed. It sh<>uM he remembered that an unbroken «wrop of grass Is usuily more beautiful than a lawn Intersected by flower-beds or dotted with ihrubl. Incidentally the beds make many more edges to be trimmed; thus tbty aid t'-* the work and at the same time detract from the appearance of the lawn.

If the paths were laid out wrongly, new one* may be made. This. may mean taking up asphalt or concrete, but the task Is always possible. Unless a capable garden-planner Is engaged It Is advisable to lay down the first paths In sand, so that alterations ean be made later If nrressary.

A few plants resent shifting—notably paeony roses. Romneya Coulterl, passion vines and kaka’s beak (CHanthus punlreus but the great majority of plants in the beds and borders can be Liken up and transplanted. To reduce the time the plants are out of the ground, have the holes ready for them. Another point Is to keep as much soil as possible on the roots; an aid to this end Is to ljft the plant on to a strong sack and tie this round the ball of earth on the roots. For heavy plants use a harrow to transport them from one part of the garden to another. CULTIVATION OF LILIES 1 Tt would be late In the day to point out the beauty ©f lilies—this is surely a matter of common knowledge—but an account of their culture will not be out of place here. At the outset, it should be remarked that the term ** Illy ” in this account means Lllluin. and does not include the so-called arum ” lilies.” belladonna “ lilies,” spider ** lilies.” and many other plants often loosely spoken of as ** lilies." The soil for lilies must bo well drained. This is true even In the case of swenp Hues, as they grow on hummocks and not In the water of the swamp. Yet most lilies want a good deal of moisture for, part of the year, and most prefer a soil which Is rather on the acfd side—i.e., containing plenty of humus. A few which tolerate lime or even like lime are Lllfum candldum Madonna Lily'. L. Martagon. L. Henryj, L. Chalcedontcum (tjie Scarlet Turk’s Tap .L. fesfareum the Nankeen Lily! and L. Wallshlanum. A few* seem to grow In any garden soil that has fair drainage: examples of these easv-golng species are the Tiger Lily (L. tfgrfnum . L. sperjosum. L. regale the Regal Lily , and L. longlfloruin the XYhife Trumpet or Christmas Lily of the North Island'.

For most lilfe* It I* advisable to d ! g the soil to a dpptb of two feet and then to work In some sand and leaf mould. No strong or fresh manure should be used, but old compost will serve splendidly for most specie*. A point to notice at, this stage is to place a handful of sand under the bulb and some around and over it. The depth Is worth considering. This varies from half-an-Inch to about ten inches. Lilium gicanteum should have part of the bulb exposed, and L. candldum needs only an Inch of soil over the top of the bulb. L. regale. L. speciosum. L. auratum. L. Parry!. L. Henryfi. L. Hansonil. L. Brownil, L. longtflorum. sulphureum. L. tigrlnum and L. Willmottiae all need from six to eight Inches of covering. The following need three or four inches; L. testaceum, L pardalinum. L. croceum. and L. umbellatum. Most of the lily species not mentioned already can do with about six Inches of covering. If the soil is light the depth can be Increased slightly. The of light and shade Is a little more difficult. A good many species appreciate all the sunshin? they can get—such as L. longlflorum. L. tigrinuin. L. candidum. L. croceum, 1,, umbellatum, 1.. phflippinense. L. regale and 1.. sulprureum. A few need deep shade; such are L. gigauteum and rubellum. Many spei-ie*. however, like partial shade, where they get the sun for only a few hours a day. or where the base of the stems Is shaded by low-growing plants and the flower-heads reach out towards the sun. This suits L. auratum, L. Cbalredonlrurn. and L. sperisimi. It is often rerommeoderi that lilies should be planted arnonc rhododendron* and azaleas, so that the desired partial shade can be obtained for the bulbs and the base of the stem*. Too often this means the encroaching of the shrubs on the lilies, and the latter sufTer. A walk in the leading botanic gardens of New Zealand at midsummer will soon let us Jfcnover the

places where lilies are at their best. In Wellington, for example, the great clumps of regal and auratum lilies growing In the open borders win our willing admiration. These clumps have the sun for only half the day, but ; they do not have to compete with | shrubs or other plants. One could ! also mention the great lily beds in | Dunedin Botanlo Gardens, the many I clumps In the borders In the ChristI church public gardens, the splendid | lily border In Tlmaru Domain, and the wonderful clumps of L. auratum In Tauranga private gardens. Some of these clumps are growing In full sunshine In “Sunny Tauranga,” so that partial shade Is certainly not necessary for this species. The above notes are somewhat lengthy, but they are given because more and more people are turning their attention to growing lilies. A point overlooked Is that the bulbs soon shrivel unless special care is taken when they are kept out of the ground; accordingly they should be planted as soon as possible. Nearly all the species mentioned above can be grown successfully In ! ordinary Hamilton gardens. Amongst the simplest are speciosum, regale, longiflorum, tigrinum (single and double), umbellalum. thunbergianum, Henryil, and philippinense, and all of these are inexpensive. AUTUMN TINTS Already a few trees have become leafless, but most of the deciduous trees are still showing their autumn tints. Though most of us are fond of such trees, we are fared with the difficulty of finding room for them in our gardens, in such a case a distinction between the large and the small sprrjcs must be drawn. For streets, parks and large gardens the following must be considered: Various oaks rubra, coccinea and palustris—the , last is seen to advantage in River Road); liquidamber (a splendid street tree, as shown by Kitchener Street in Claudelands : tulip tree Liriodendron. a big free, whose leaves turn a pure yellow ; various poplars, willows, elins. limes, ashes, planes, chestnuts, Canadian and European maples, cherries, and a conifer named Taxodium distichum. Smaller Speoles Fortunately for the people who have only small sections there are many shrubs and small trees with autumn tints. One of the gems is Enkianthus Japonicus. and another is Azalea mollis. Each of these has beautiful flowers as well as autumn-tinted foliage. Then come various sumachs such as Rhus cotinus (smoke bush , R. succedanea (at its best this week . R. vernicifera and R. typhina. The first two species of Rhus should be planted in every large*garden. Besides the above there are Ribes flowering currant , Amelanchier, Japanese maples, maidenhair tree Ginkgo'. Guelder and other viburnums. Nandina. various barberries. dogwood, various hawthorns, Forsythfa. and creepers such as Atupelopsis and Yit.is Virginian creepers and grapevines;.