HOW? WHEN? 


Gardening ... the answer to a 
fundamental need 
Too Much Work? 
To those who have never known 
the pleasures of gardening and 
growing flowers, this glorious ac- 
tivity may seem like hard work. 
Yet those who predicted that 
people were lazy and would quit 
growing plants as soon as the 
wartime food emergency was over 
have been amazed at the enthusi- 
asm with which millions of Ameri- 
cans have kept right on growing 
things. That, of course, didn’t sur- 
prise those who have always gar- 
dened because they know that no 
other single occupation of man 
gives as much pleasure to so many 
people. Folks keep on gardening 
simply because it’s fun. 
Or perhaps ‘‘fun”’ is too small a 
word to use in describing the satis- 
faction that comes from garden- 
ing. Maybe the better way to de- 
scribe that satisfaction is to tell 
about the father who said, not so 
long ago, “Regardless of what the 
food situation may be, you can be 
sure I'll keep on gardening. It’s 
the only recreation I’ve found that 
the whole family can enjoy to- 
gether. We have two boys and two 
girls who never could agree on a 
common family activity. Now all 
of us work together in the garden 
and enjoy it. I’m certain that 
gardening has brought us closer 
together as a family.” 
Yet while gardening is an activity 
in which the entire family can 
take part, it is just as much one 
which needs no company to enjoy. 
There is no need to find a course 
or playing field, or to travel miles 
to engage in gardening. And mil- 
lions of Americans find that they 
don’t need a long uninterrupted 
week end to do a good job of 
growing things: they manage to fit 
in their gardening between other 
tasks and pleasures. 
A Fundamental Need 
Perhaps the downright satisfaction 
and pleasure we get out of garden- 
ing is evidence that we all need 
some contact with the soil: that 
such a contact satisfies some fun- 
damental want in man. 
At the same time, there is no 
reason why we should work any 
harder than is necessary. Garden- 
ing can be hard, or it can be easy. 
Here is a trick that will help 
lighten the work for you: 
Mulching vs. Cultivation 
Sometimes half-truths are as good 
as whole ones. The furor created 
by the book, “‘Ploughman’s Folly,” 
which advocated a trash mulch at 
the surface made sense as far as 
the mulch was concerned. By 
plowing or digging in the conven- 
tional way and then mulching, the 
home gardener can take advantage 
of good soil preparation, plus the 
very real saving in labor that 
comes from using a mulch. 
With the right mulch, there is no 
need to weed, no need to stir the 
soil, and once that mulch is ap- 
plied, the need for watering (at 
least in*normal seasons) is all but 
over. This should save hours of 
valuable time. 
How to Mulch 
A mulch is merely a covering of 
some material which won’t sup- 
port weed growth, and which is 
porous enough to trap air. This 
porous quality is important be- 
cause it keeps down the loss of 
moisture from the soil and also 
keeps the heat of the sun from 
penetrating deeply and hurting 
root growth. 
A perfect mulch is well-rotted, old 
manure. Never use fresh manure 
for a mulch because it will fer- 
ment and rot, and some of the 
gases released in this process can 
damage plants. But when well- 
rotted, manure not only keeps 
down weeds and saves moisture, 
but can be worked into the soil 
after the growing season is over. 
If grass clippings are allowed to 
lie on the lawn for a day or two 
to cure, they can be applied in thin 
layers, and gradually built up to 
form a thick mulch. If not dried, 
they may ferment and _ cause 
trouble. 
Peat moss, if moist when applied, 
and if kept moistened, makes a 
perfect mulch. But since it may 
suck water away from the plants 
unless already moist, it must never 
be applied bone dry, nor should it 
be allowed to dry out. It is clean, 
weed-free and a good insulator. 
Buckwheat hulls, rice hulls, ground 
corn cobs and clean straw are 
other materials that are satisfac- 
tory. 
When to Mulch 
Most gardeners wait too long to 
mulch. The soil should be moist, 
but not wringing wet. If spring 
rains have made the ground soggy, 
wait until you can cultivate with- 
out packing, and then apply. If 
the ground is dry, soak the soil 
thoroughly before mulching. 
Mulching and Watering 
Always keep in mind that a mulch 
does not_add any water to the soil, 
nor does it prevent the loss of 
water through the leaves of the 
plant. If rains heavy enough to 
penetrate the mulch do not fall, 
then you will have to water. This 
can be done by removing the noz- 
zle from the hose and allowing it 
to flow out on top of the mulch. 
If the mulch is thick enough, there 
should be no washing of the soil. 
Clean straw used as a mulch under 
tomatoes will keep the fruit clean, 
and in addition will save the labor 
of staking. 
AGERATUM, 
Midget Blue 


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