IRISH GARDENING. 



IK' 



MontlTs Work. 



Mower (i.ir^icn .iiui Plcasiiic (;rt)unds. 



Hs \V. IMii K. 111.- «.;.ii lions. l{iv.i.in-,t>.wii. (. .il>iMtoi-l\ . 

 Co. Piibliii. 



THIS i> ^'iMiiT.illy :i Imisv but by no nuaiis a i;iMiial 

 month; tlio wimls arc yoiuTHlly so dry and harsh 

 that all vcK'otation fcc\ iIumu, but they aroespe- 

 lially '.c-vori-on our li.ilf-lianly shrubs ami In-os ; Muiiid. 

 m.my whii-h have withstood tho frost ;'nd snows of llu- 

 winli-rsuci-innb to the bitin*,' bl.ists of March. Thi-reforo 

 bo as oareful to protect tender subjects now as in 

 Janu.iry. The precuilion is all the more needful in 

 seasons in which there has been little or no hard weather 

 previous to M.iich. as plants are i;^enerally softer and 

 inclined to commence early ijrowth. When prolectini^ 

 plants we must be careful not to induce them to make 

 e.irly jfrowth, or the remedy will prove as bad as the 

 disease. The lonyer tender plants can be kepi in a 

 dormant state the less likely they are to be injured by 

 sprini,'-lrosts. Where plants have been covered, care 

 should be taken not to suddenly expose them by remov 

 inj,' the coverini;- at once. The garden and pleasure 

 ijrounds will commence to look gay in this month, we 

 sh.ill have many bulbs and shrubs in flower, and the 

 more beauty in the garden the better it must be kept, 

 lor untidiness is never so unbearable as when seen 

 alongside flowering plants or siirubs. Therefore keep 

 grass lawns and walks tidy, and ii will greatly enhance 

 the flowers. This is a good time to remove weeds from 

 lawns; the best way to accomplish this is hand-picking 

 and taking out the roots. Cut over the lawns and 

 tennis courts before the grass gets too long for the 

 machine. 



Herbaceous borders should be stirred occasional!}- 

 with the hoe or rake, and also beds wherein are bulbs 

 and spring flowering plants. 



Primroses and polyanthus will be very gay just now, 

 and where plants are grown from seed they should be 

 gone over and the best selected and labelled, and wiien 

 done flowering those good ones may be divitkti and 

 grown on and the inferior lot discarded. 



Hyacinths will require careful staking oy they will In- 

 broken by wind of hail showers. 



Crocuses will be in full bloom ; there is nowhere they 

 look so well as on the verge of a wood or shrubbery. 



.Narcissus, cyclamen, crown imperials, ixias, scillas, 

 itc, all hasten forward to prove the matchless supre- 

 macy of bulbs as the most beautiful of spring flowers. 



In flowering shrubs we have a brave display in 

 daphnes, jasmine, ribes, almonds, heaths, berberies, 

 ceanothus, veitchii, Magnolia conspicua, iVc. 



Roses will now require pruning, but do not be in a 

 hurry to get it done, they may be pushing their buds 

 very much owing to the mild winter, but the fact that 

 the top buds are growing will help to keep the bottom 

 buds dormant, and it is on those we must rely for bloom 

 during the coming season. 



In pruning roses it must be borne in mind, as a 

 general rule, that the weakest growers require the most 

 severe pruning, our object being to lessen the number 



.'I liuds ,ind give .1 we.ik root system a chance of grow- 

 ing .1 few strong shoots. I*'very bit of old wood, loose 

 b.irk, iVc, should be removeil, as it is amongst those 

 I hilt caterpillars, aphides. iVc, hi .ed. Where bushes 

 ,ire badly infected with such jnsis ihey should be 

 sprayed with a caustic wash. 



Hybrid Perpetuals should be pruned about the miilille 

 i>ftlie month. whiU- the Te. is should be left until the end. 

 When priming, aim to h.ive a symmetric.il open bush; lit 

 no braiuhes cross or rub each other ; cut to an oulsiile 

 bud ; ilo .ivv.iy with :is niiuli oKl wood .is pi>ssible, and 

 in case oi strong giowers to K-ssen the number of 

 shoots rat her I ban their length. Remove gi oss im ripened 

 shoots, they will not produci- good flowers. ,\ y;oo^\ 

 knowledge of the difl'erent varieties is essential if the 

 very best results are to be gained. Some will only show 

 the perfect bloom on weak shoots, such as Le France ; 

 some will canker and die if pruned too hard. While 

 others, and those are the strong growers, will make too 

 much wood and have but poor blooms if pruned too hard. 

 In fact their is no concrete rule we can ^o by ; every 

 grower must be largely guided by circumstances of 

 soil, varieties, and the puiposes he wishes his blooms 

 for. 



Gladioli should be planted this month if the soil is of 

 a cold, retentive nature. Some silver sand around the 

 corm will assist it. 



H.\R1)V Anm Ai.s. — In addition to those nameil la-.t 

 month, the (cillovving should be sown, either in hot oi- 

 cold frames :— Stocks, asters. Phlox Drummondii, neillia 

 poppy, lupin, larkspur, marigolds, begonia, &c. 



Winter-sown annuals, weather permitting, should be 

 transferred to their flowering quarters. 



Proceed with the preparation of plants for summer 

 bidding, where possible ; pot plants singly and grow 

 on in heat. 



Make sowings of sweet jie.i outside and prepare 

 stakes for them. 



The .Alpine garden will be quite gay now ; finish any 

 planting, and trap snails and slugs, they are especially 

 fond of the asters, campanulas, and pinks. 



The Fruit Gartden. 



PRUNING. — The weather recently has been very 

 favourable for all garden and orchard work, and 

 up-to-date fruit growers will have finished the prun- 

 ing of their trees ere this. Newly-planted apple trees 

 are often left over till late in the season before pruning 

 is attempted, but such work should not be further 

 delayed. In pruning such trees it is well to use the 

 knife boldly, and good foundation growth will be the 

 result. Prune weak-growing varieties more severely 

 than strong growers ; for example, Lane's Prince 

 -Albert requires more severe pruning than Bramley 

 Seedlings. Again, in pruning newly-planted trees it 

 must be remembered that a large number of the fibrous 

 roots are destroyed in the removal of the trees from the 

 nursery, and there are not sufficient roots to support 

 cells of all the branches ; hence the need of restricting 

 the shoots by pruning and thereby balance growth. 



