IRISH GARDENING 



79 



The Month's Work. 



The Flower Garden. 



By J. H. 



Cumming, Royal Dublin Society. 

 Balls bridge. 



General Remarks. — By the middle of the month 

 plant out East Lothian Stocks, Early Flowering 

 Chrysanthemums. Antirrhinums, Larkspurs, 

 Scabious, Dianthuses, and such things, reserving 

 for a fortnight later tender things, such as 

 Begonias, which suffer easily by cold winds. See 

 that all plants are hardened off sufficiently 

 before placing them in summer quarters and do 

 not stint them with water at the roots, so as to 

 lift with good balls. 



Annuals. — Many beautiful hardy Annuals are 

 sown where they are to flower, but how many 

 neglect the thinning out process! Few have the 

 courage to thin out the plants to, say, three 

 inches apart, and yet by so doing they would 

 reap a better reward by seeing stronger and more 

 free-flowering plants. Of late years I have sown 

 in cold frames Godetias. Eschscholtzias, Clarkias, 

 Larkspurs, &c, and when larce enough pricked 

 them off singly, and finally planted out in beds 

 at the end of May. By so doing one gets strong, 

 healthy plants which bloom till the very end of 

 the season. Where large beds are to be filled 

 with Annuals, try a ground work of one colour 

 and some tall growing subject as dot plants 

 placed five or six feet apart and that rise to a 

 similar height. There is scope in this for original 

 ideas, and we want to get off the beaten track. 

 If the groundwork is dark, make the dot plants 

 to appear bright and gay. Let me here put in 

 a word too for single Asters, a mass of them in 

 colours is really a fine sight. 



Sweet Peas are everybody's favourites, and 

 some think they cannot be grown except in some- 

 thing like celery trenches. Yes they can. Quite 

 respectable vases can be picked from plants in 

 butter tubs. Paint them green and bore a few 

 large holes in the bottom. Cover the holes with 

 pot shreds, and over the bottom of each tub 

 place some old manure and soil. A handful of 

 bonemeal mixed with the rest of the soil will be 

 so much the better. Three plants are sufficient in 

 each tub, and these, supported with stakes, will 

 furnish a surprising number of blooms. 



Wallflowers are just at their best, and one 

 is loth to puli them out till the end of May, when 

 they must give place to other things. About the 

 20th I like to sow seed for next year's display. 

 They are often sown too late, and one frequently 

 hears people saying they are not worth growing. 

 Sow half an inch deep in the open. When ready 

 to handle set the seedlings six inches apart. In 

 this way a dense mass of roots is formed, and the 

 plants are so strong and sturdy that they suffer 

 little check when set out in the beds, borders, 

 or window boxes in the autumn. 



Herbaceous Borders will now require looking 

 over. Where the Phloxes. Michaelmas Daisies, 

 Heleniums, Chrysanthemums, and similar plants 

 in the borders are making quite a thicket of 

 growths, do not hesitate to pull out all but six 

 or eight. One can personally experience an 

 object lesson in this by leaving one clump alone 

 and thinning out the rest. Use the Dutch hoe 

 whenever the weather permits. After the spade 

 and the plough, there is surely no tool half so 

 valuable in all the realm of husbandry. Time 

 spent [with the hoe in May will save much 

 laborious work in the later months of the year. 



Rock Gardening. — The recent Spring Flower 

 Show at Ballsbridge revealed the growing 

 fascination this style of gardening has for the 

 people. Where collections of Alpines were 

 staged crowds were eager spectators. The 

 present is a fine time for furnishing a rock garden. 

 Planting may now be carried out with safety. 

 Watering must be attended to, and with this 

 slugs may also make their appearance, and must 

 be guarded against. Where it is desirable to 

 increase the stock a frame placed in a shady 

 corner can be used for cuttings of Saxifragas. 

 Alpine, Phloxes, Aubrietia. and Veronicas of sorts. 



Chrysanthemums. — Growers for big blooms 

 are not so numerous as formerly. The early 

 flowering or outdoor kinds root freely at this time 

 of year, and good cuttings taken now will make 

 nice plants by the end of May. A little light, 

 sandy soil in a cool frame, and the cuttings 

 shaded from the sun, is all that is needed to work 

 up a stock of young plants. In view of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society of Ireland Exhibition next 

 October, growers are yet in time to prepare for 

 the handsome prizes offered. For competition, 

 outdoor Japanese varieties only are worth 

 growing, the other sections of Anemone and 

 Quille, though very beautiful, being too small. 



Violets. — To have these good next winter 

 preparations must begin now. A border running 

 east and west is a good position, as in hot, dry 

 situations the plants are liable to attacks of red. 

 spider. Violets like a rich heavy soil. Plenty of 

 well made cow dung dug into the soil will ensure 

 this. One method of propagation is to divide the 

 old plants and reset the best crowns. Cuttings 

 previously put into a close frame and struck are 

 undoubtedly the best. Plant firmly and attend 

 to watering for a few weeks till well established. 

 A dusting of soot occasionally will act as a 

 stimulant, and also help to keep the plants free 

 from their chief enemy — red spider. 



The Fruit Garden. 



By I). McIntosh, Gardener to Alderman Bewle.y. 



Danuni, Rathgar. 

 Early Vines. — In houses where the grapes are 

 ripe tire heat must be discontinued, and the 

 ventilators kept wide open until nearly sunset, 

 when the top ones must be sufficiently reduced 

 to prevent rain beating in during the night. If 

 there are no rats or mice about the immediate 

 outside surroundings, the front ventilators also 

 should be left open. The side laterals on the 

 vines should be allowed to make several leaves 

 when their points should be taken out. This extra 

 growth prevents the back buds from breaking. 



Mid-Season Vines. — Thinning of the bunches 

 should be attended to as soon as they become 

 lit for the operation. First cut out with the 

 scissors all small and deformed berries, and 

 secondly, with discretion, all other berries that 

 will not be required, so that when the bunch is 

 completed every berry will have sufficient space 

 to develop without being squeezed tightly 

 together against its neighbours. At this stage 

 the borders need careful attention as to watering 

 and feeding. Give enough at one application 

 to thoroughly saturate the roots. On warm 

 days frequently damp down the borders and 

 paths, and especially those spaces which are 

 quickest to become dry. If this be done, it 

 will have the effect of keeping down red spider 

 as well as being beneficial to the Vines. Maintain 

 a night and day temperature of 65° and 75° 

 respectively, rising to 90° by sun heat. 



