The Shape of Spring to Come

New Zealand Listener, Volume 36, Issue 924, 26 April 1957, Page 4

The Shape of Spring to Come

Being further hints for the Plain Gardener, this time on how to avoid making the same mistakes as he made last autumn

AUTUMN for some gardeners is a lovely ,season, a time for lyricism over crisp, cool air, falling leaves and bird songs. It is nothing to these enthusiasts to be up at first light pottering in the garden, breathing so heartily in and out that their flowers and vegetables are almost obscured by steam. This is not for the Plain Man, however, whose mornings ‘Bre usually geared to the quickest and least painful transition from bed to breakfast, from kitchen to warm office. It is only when he comes home that he takes in the garden a stroll mercifully shortened by the dusk. For as those keen gardeners The Lotos Eaters realised "there is confusion worse than death’-and what is worse confusion than the plain man’s garden at season’s end? Look at that herbaceous borderdense enough to support a regiment of peeping Toms; those boxes, stakes, clippings and stones with their riotous populations of slugs, slaters, snails and earwigs. From every leaf of the runner beans the looping caterpillars loop, and the corn-ear worm (anyold cobber, so to speak) flourishes on those last cobs you meant to eat but forgot. After a long look at tMis depressing picture, the Plain Gardener’s first thought is where to start, usually followed by a strong desire to just sit down and contemplate again. This, of course, it not because he has given up hope, but because he sees the need for a plan. And what better approach than this? After five week nights of just looking at the garden and planning, a weekend of scientific and determined work by the plain man will convince even the daily potterer that he knows what he wants. And what does he want? Interested as a matter of course in a subject so keenly debated as garden planning and work, The Listener found a few experts recently, and in gardeners’ jargon "dug up the drill" on what could-and even perhaps should-be done at this time of year. If .you are starting off and don’t know what to plant, visit-surrepti-tiously, if necessary-any prize garden in the vicinity, or throw yourself in your ignorance on the local nurseryman or seedsman. The advantage of the first course is that you will get an idea what the finished product looks likethough not necessarily in your untutored hands. If you take the second course the need to make decisions is shifted from you to the specialist, and so long as you have the cash you can follow your fancy in the plants that do best in your district. Even before this, however, it’s a good idea to look around and see where you would grow things-to find, in fact, the places to fit the plants. Suppress that anarchic impulse that lands you home Naying, "Look at this beautiful little A

koelreuteria paniculata-now where can we put it?" The answer may be the dustbin. Most gardeners agree that there should be in every garden some ornamental trees as well as shrubs. Their height gives an effect of spaciousness. Don’t let this idea run away with you, though, for large trees in some gardens give the same effect as brussels sprouts in a window-box. Remember also when you plant them that they grow up. Otherwise that kawaka may have to be trimmed to the shape of a tuning fork after a few years to allow for the power lines. When choosing trees don’t forget that some keep their leaves in autumn while others lose them. Those that lose them are best placed near the house, where they will give shade in summer but won’t block out the sun in winter. The evergreens, regardless of their name, often have coloured leaves, and a couple of these brighten up the place in winter. Choose a permanent home for your trees-they like it that way. This "see how it looks here-I’ll shift it if you don’t like it" attitude can develop into an arboreal tragedy with the tree giving up the unequal struggle and the garden looking forever like a ploughed field. If you want to plant shrubs a combination of exotics and natives makes a good border. As in the geographical equivalent, the foreigners provide the splashes of colour while the natives set them off with their more subtle differences. This is because few native shrubs excel in showy flowers but get their

effect rather from their variety .of foliage. For the same reason some kinds of native shrubs make good hedges-they relieve the monotony of green that’s so _ often found. But since nurserymen don’t always carry large stocks of the more uncommon natives you shouldn’t waste time if you have any big plans in mind. On a new section you may be inclined to follow ‘the weeds and go wild. Every day is Arbor Day, and you soon reach a point where you have to be a pretty good hurdler to get to the clothes line, and children at the crawling age are found only by peering, worm’s eye view fashion, through the shrubbery. Once again, a plan on paper of what you hope ultimately. to do is the answer. This should guide you in the types of trees and shrubs you will need to buy. It’s not much use telling you exactly what

you should buy, for local conditions must always be reckoned with. And it’s a question not only of what will grow in your district but of what is available when you want it. Local botanical gardens and __ horticultural societies and some of the books in your local library should help you here. Once the trees and shrubs are ordered preparations can begin-that is, if the garden isn’t ankle-deep in mud. First dig and dig and dig. This is particularly necessary if you’re going to plant a hedge. Uneven cultivation will mean uneven growth and a hedge that looks like the battlements of a castle. Once the digging is finished, work some organic matter into the soil-compost, good animal manure, blood and bone or general fertiliser. When the plants arrive their roots will probably be wrapped in scrim. Leave this on until you're ready to plant, otherwise the soil on the roots will drop off and the roots dry out. Now dig a hole of reasonable size so that the plant will be set in at the same depth as in the nursery. You can tell this by the soil mark on the stem. If you’re in a windy area and don’t want ‘your shrubs or what have you to develop a lean or blow away, now is the time to put a stake in, too-while the hole is open. Then tread the soil back firmly as you fill the hole and the job is almost finished. If you’re planting a hedge, especially on a new section in an exposed position, you must give some protection against the wind-that is, if you want it to grow quickly and upright, or at all. Sacking can be used, or brushwood interlaced in strands of wire.

When everything is planted, level the soil off and give the plants a good pick-me-up in the form of a light dressing of blood and bone. Then sprinkle sawdust over the bare areas to keep down the weeds. This shouldn’t be sawdust from treated timber-that is, timber treated with wood preservativebecause it won’t rot and certainly won’t preserve your plants. Escallonia, lonicera, olearia and other evergreen hedges should have been trimmed last month. This is a bit"late with advice, you might say, but here we want not merely to say you've missed the bus, but to warn you against running after it. For if the job hasn’t been done it’s best to leave it till after the winter. Cutting evergreen plants in the winter-or even earlier when there are cold winds and frost-is like putting your gravel-rash in the ice-box. Wounds don’t like cold, and every snip, snip of the shears makes wounds galore. So if you’re wise go easy on the knife from now on and preserve the health of your hedge. This doesn’t apply, of course, to deciduous plants which lose interest in life when the weather turns cold and stay indifferent till they get that spring feeling in the sap. Like Pancho Villa at midnight, now is the time to be panting over the border. Most herbaceous and. many bedding plants finish flowering in May, and when the flowers disappear you'll find the scruffy residue a bit depressing. As top growth is also finished in most cases for the winter, you can be almost as tidy as you like about it. Cut back strongly. Do have just a little restraint,

though. An inch or two of stem will at least tell you where not to dig. Plants that. don’t please you where they are now, but would look dandy somewhere else, can be moved almost any time in winter, but it’s a good idea to do something about them during the general cleaning up. At the same time clumps of plants that have satisfied territorial ambitions can be broken up and the bits replanted. For this replanting the outside juicy shoots are best, rather than the woody growth near the centre. Once everything is cleaned up, the clear patches of the bed should be cultivated and manured. Digging deeply with the spade every year would only cause havoc in an established flower garden-in that way it’s different from the vegetable plotso the ground should be well broken to a good depth before plants that are more or less permanent are first put in. At this time of year lime is used pretty freely in the vegetable garden. It’s not necessary to be so open-handed among the flowers. Some plants-rhodo-dendrons, azaleas and camellias, for in-stance-loathe the stuff. But when a certain amount of mixed fertiliser or animal manure is used, this should be balanced with a.small application of lime. An ounce a year to the square yard should be ample, and even if a yeat is missed it shouldn’t be fatal. This fertiliser should be worked into the permanent beds by "pointing." This was a new term to us and momentarily we saw ourselves standing frozen like a game dog and feeling a bit silly. But pointing apparently means shallow digging with the point of the spade or fork. This, needless to say, shouldn’t be done when the ground jis wet and sticky-only when it’s reasonably dry. It is better to dig during the change from dry to wet than the other way round, for reasons which shouldn’t be hard to find. Roses are not the best choice for the haphazard gardener. If you're in that

class but plan to startle your neighbours of the dawn patrol by becoming a. constant cultivator, waterer and sprayer yourself, then now is the time to do it. There are many varieties of roses available, and as a change from those most often grown-the hybrid teas -the newer floribunda roses, which are cluster flower varieties, will give plenty of blooms right through the seasonthough the flowers will be slightly smaller than the ones you’ve been used to. Before the plants arrive the ground must be well prepared. This is even more important than th trees and shrubs. There will be no sdil on the Tose roots when they arrive, so initial care is vital. It is fast getting past the time for planting most spring flowering bulbs, except for tulips. If not done before it should be done immediately-any further delay and you’ve had it for this season. Hardy annuals to provide the artistic members of the family with cut flowers during November and December should get their start in life now. Seed should be sown before the end of April in its permanent placethe place, that is, where you hope the flowers will eventually bloom. This should be somewhere warm and _sheltered, if that’s not asking too much of your district. The northern aspect of a fence in many areas is often quite good enough. Clarkias, cornflowers, nigella, larkspurs are examples of hardy annuals. — Flowers are no doubt very nice, but in cold weather the Plain Gardener’s fancy is more deeply seated than his optics. As some anatomist remarked while standing on his head, the way to his heart lies through the stomach. This is true also of the vegetable garden. To be hearty it must be fed, and now,.we gather, is the time to feed it. First, however, you must get it, as you might say, to open its mouth, This, alas, again means digging. All crops whose harvest has finished-pumpkins, beans, marrows, tomatoes, and so on-

ean be cleared away for composting before you make a start, or you may prefer to dig them into the lower soil along with any. other. organic material, that’s available. This, however, isn’t the thing to do if the crops have "pests in them or are otherwise diseased -these are better burned than buried. If possible the ground should be well dug. There’s no need in your new found enthusiasm to disappear to hat-level in your plot, but at least once in three years you should trench the landdig it, that is, two spades deep. For easier digging, especially in stony ground, some experts recommend sharpening the spade. This can be overdone so that more living matter goes into the soil than you can afford. Now the ground is

dug, what comes next? According to taste — not that they're meant to be eaten, of courseyou can now sow on the land not needed a cover, or green manure crop of lupins, oats, barley or mustard for later digging in. This crop will take up the plant foods in the soil and hold them in suspense until they’re needed. In this way you guard against losing themyou’d be surprised at what the winter rains can wash out of the soil. Growing cover crops, like putting "cabbage" in the bank, is good economy and it has the same added incentive of a profit on the deal. This profit is substantial when the cover crop is leguminous, for legumes-peas, lupins, vetches ‘also takes nitrogen from the air. This is a good time of year to apply lime on land that’s going to lie fallow through the winter, or which won’t be used for a time. Two to four ounces to a square yard is enough in most soils, but in districts where the rainfall is heavy and lime is continually lost

from the soil double this quantity may be needed. Where a green crop is sown, a dressing of lime some time before it is to be dug in will help it to rot, as the bacteria which break it up don’t thrive in acid conditions. Some sowing and planting is generally still necessary in late April and May, especially if miscalculations or phenomenal growth threaten to bring your supposed winter vegetables to the table too soon. But more care must be taken now than with sowing and planting in warm months. Those who think soggy soil ideal for planting are probably just seeking a bit late in the day that glorious mud-pie feeling most of us got over when we were very young.

One method of deciding whether your soil is fit for sowing is to take a swift canter acfoss the garden. If you bog down or fall over because your bootsoles are concave with sticky "soil, it’s too wet. Broad beans and spinach are the two main sowings you should make now. The name of the former is not always apt, for some varieties of broad beans are as long as they are broad. These are often preferred for their heavy cropping, but some people think them not so tasty as the more squat variety. Spinach is best grown in well-drained ground, and a raised bed about three inches high and wide enough for you, to get at the middle without falling flat on your face is ideal. It was once believed that prickly seeded spinach was superior to the round seeded variety in length and yield, but the back-troom boys have proved that there are long and short standing varieties in both round and prickly types. It should also be remembered that, especially in poor conditions, there is more feed to go around if the plants are thinned while young. The survivors than have a real chance to prove their long standing qualities. Any other planting and sowing done now depends on just what’s possible in your district. If you’ve never found out or have just arrived on the scene, you could just as well put in the "possibles" to find out what happens. If nothing comes up-well, it’s all experience, And though that will make pretty thin eating in the spring, the experts say it’s the stuff to accumulate if you really want to graduate some day from the forlorn band of Plain Gardeners.