February 29, 1908. 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
143 
The Flower Garden. 
’runing and Nailing- Hardy Climbers, 
In many instances the greater portion of 
his work will be done already : but there 
.re many persons, I know, who do put off 
lifferent kinds of work as long as possible; 
nd where the pruning and nailing of hardy 
limbers has still to be attended to, I advise 
hat the work be carried out without delay, 
©cause there will be a vast amount of other 
/ork to attend to later on. 
Deciduous climbers are very deceptive in 
ppearance during the winter months. Their 
■afiess branches do not seem to be too 
luch crowded, but when they are clothed 
dth beautiful leaves the latter often siSfer 
rrough overcrowding. It is easier to ar- 
ange and manipulate the branches at the 
resent time than later, when the young 
roots are growing freely. 
Fig. 1 shows how the pruning or thinning- 
ut should be done. First remove any extra 
:rong, sappy shoots, unless such are re- 
uired for filling up vacant spaces, then 
rt other shoots which cross main branches, 
s shown by the dark lines in the sketch. 
!eep the centre of the tree open and neatly 
tsten all the remaining branches to the 
all or trellis, without using too many ties, 
ails or shreds. 
Voung climbers, newly planted, should be 
> fastened to the wall that the shoots will 
row and fill the vacant space from the 
>ttom upwards. Too many young plants 
re mismanaged in the matter of training, 
am afraid. 
anuring Shrubs. 
Leaves and other matter soon accumulate 
. shrubberies, and if left undisturbed they 
•nder the border untidy in appearance ; but 
here it is possible to do so without dis- 
rbing or injuring the -roots of the shrubs, 
■g in the leaves at the same time that you 
it on the manure. The latter should be at 
ast half-rotted when used at this season. 
igging Flower Beds, 
Every vacant flower border should be dug 
rthwith and manured. It generally hap- 
-ns that flower beds situated near large 
ses or shrubs attract the roots of the latter, 
l e yearly manuring enriching the soil, but 
the roots of the trees are allowed to re- 
lin in the soil in the beds throughout the 
mmer they will rob the summer bedding 
ants of much needful nourishment. I have 
d difficulties of this kind to deal with, 
d always cleared out of sight every bit of 
56 or shrub root in spring, going down 
eply so as to make sure of securing all 
OtSi. 
/. This sketch shows how to -prune deciduous 
climbers. 
2. Prune outdoor Vines without delay. 
>mal Geraniums for Bedding. 
The potting of these plants must now be 
Glided to It is much better to place them 
dgly in 3^ in. pots than to again put them 
boxes. From the pots they turn out 
autifully when the beddingout season 
nes. Do not pull the rooted cutting out 
the soil in the boxes, but turn out the 
1 ^ well, and so carefully disentangle 
i roots-. 5 
A. good compost should be used, loam two 
rts, leaf-soil one part, rotted manure one 
rt, with some coarse sand. Press the soil 
■ >und the roots with the fingers and place 
' P°ttcd plants on shelves in the green- 
use or in a warm frame. 
3. Horseradish should be planted, in rows. 
The Fruit Garden. 
Pruning Outdoor Vines. 
Do not put off any longer the pruning of 
outdoor Vines. The sap will commence to 
rise perceptibly during the month of April, 
and when the pruning is unduly delayed the 
Vines will bleed very much, and, of course, 
this weakens them. Where Vines have been 
pruned in January, the end of the cut lateral 
will close naturally before the sap rises, 
but you must not rely upon this happening 
in the case of Vines which are pruned late. 
Directly the work is finished paint the cut 
endsi with styptic, or ordinary knotting, 
which may be procured from an oil and 
colour shop. It is impossible to stop the 
bleeding after the sap begins to drop out. 
Prune the rods as shown at A and B in 
Fig. 2, using a sharp knife'for the purpose. 
Morello Cherry Trees on Low Walls. 
As a rule we grow the Morello Cherry on 
a wall with a north aspect, though the trees 
do well in other situations. But where they 
are trained to low walls it is not necessary 
to fasten all the young shoots to them. In¬ 
stead of doing so, allow them to hang loosely 
from the main branches,, the latter, of 
course, being made quite secure to the walls. 
So treated, a very fine crop of fruit will be 
secured if some of the young shoots are 
thinned out to prevent overcrowding. 
Fruit Buds. 
Keep a sharp watch upon the fruit trees, 
to prevent bullfinches and other birds de¬ 
stroying the buds. Gooseberries and Pears 
generally suffer most and are the first to be 
attacked. If two pieces of glass are sus¬ 
pended by strings so that they move about 
and touch each other the birds will be scared 
away for a time. 
The Kitchen Garden. 
Planting Horseradish. 
This useful plant is too often put in some 
out-of-the-way corner in the garden and left 
to grow as best it can. It is a very hardy 
plant, and will survive rough treatment, but 
in such circumstances the roots are much in¬ 
ferior to these grown in an open quarter in 
deeply^-trenched, well-manured ground. Se¬ 
lect the crowns, which should be about 4 ins. 
long, and plant them forthwith in rows 
18 ins. apart and 1 ft. from crown to crown. 
Fig. 3 shows the crowns at A, the manure 
being incorporated with the soil at B. Do 
not trample upon the soil after the Horse¬ 
radish is planted. 
Cucumbers. 
A few seeds may now be sown if you have 
a hotbed available. The seeds quickly ger¬ 
minate in a gentle heat, but it is necessary 
to keep the young plants quite warm, else 
they will turn yellow and not prove very 
profitable. Avoid exposure to cold winds 
also. 
Digging. 
Continue to dig and trench all vacant 
ground, the soil now works better, and you 
will reap the advantage of deep digging or 
trenching later on. 
Broad Beans and Peas. 
On a fine day hoe the soil between the 
rows of early Beans and draw up soil to the 
early rows of Peas. 
Seeds to Sow. 
Broad Beans, Peas, Cabbages, Turnips and 
Leeks. 
Foxglove. 
