


BUCKHORN 
PLANTAIN 
OANCDELION. 
CRABGRASS 
BROAD-LEAVED 
PLANTAIN 
: “tbe 
CHICKWEED 
So that you may more easily know them by name, here are the 
pests that cause most of your lawn troubles. For easy ways to 
combat them, refer to the Weed Killer section on a later page. 
Composting 
No matter how much you may spend 
on fertilizers, it will pay you to save 
your garden wastes to make compost. 
The compost heap is a ‘must’ for the 
permanent garden because it helps to 
return to the soil what planis remove 
from it. 
Select a spot that isn’t too conspic- 
uous and spread out your garden 
wastes over this area to a depth of six 
inches. Use weeds, old vegetable plants, 
trimmings from shrubbery, tops of bulbs, 
lawn clippings and the trimmings from 
lawn edging. 
Between each six inch layer sprinkle 
a little lime and a liberal amount of. a 
good general mixed fertilizer. 
Excellent bacterial and chemical prepa- 
rations are also valuable to hasten the 
process. Composting is a_ bacterial- 
organic process, and if the bacteria are 
to break down organic matter properly, 
they must be fed. That's the reason for 
the fertilizer, since bacteria are actually 
miniature plants that require this type 
of feeding. 
Next, cover the lime and fertilizer with 
three or four inches of good garden soil. 
Keep repeating this layer-cake process 
—vegetable wastes, lime and fertilizer 
and soil, until the pile is two feet high. 
Wet down if rain doesn’t fall, but don't 
saturate so as to drive out all air. 
Within four to six months the whole 
mass should be broken down into a 
man-made “manure” that will go a long 
way towards making yours a_ perfect 
garden. Use this liberally over the en- 
tire garden area in spring, or as a mulch 
between the plants. 
You don’t need to waste the area given 
over to a compost heap because all the 
vine crops—melons, cucumbers and 
squash—grow to perfection on the rich 
food they find in the compost. Plant 
several seeds in shallow depressions 
in the top of the heap. 
A sure way 
to defeat the rabbit pest 
To shut out pests like rabbits, gophers 
and pheasants, a good fence will pay 
in the permanent garden where it would 
have been too costly for a temporary 
plot. An attractive fence can be made 
by stretching two-foot high close mesh 
and planting hedge shrubs on both 
sides. The wire will turn all pests that 
walk, and flying pheasants rarely fly 
over this type of hedge if it is closely 
planted. If a wire fence must be used 
because of space limitations, plan on 
covering it with some woody vine. Do 
not grow tender vines like sweet peas 
on a wire fence because the hot sun 
will heat up the wire enough to stunt 
the growth of pea vine tendrils. 
Double digging 
The gardener who takes pride in doing 
a first class job should consider trench- 
ing or double digging his soil in the 
way the old-time European gardeners 
did. To double dig, remove a trench of 
soil just the width and the depth of a 
spade, and wheel this soil to the end of 
the garden where you plan to finish. 
Next, add a layer four or five inches 
deep of compost or manure to the bot- 
tom of the trench and dig it in. Then 
dig the soil from the next row and 
throw it on top of the soil you have 
just dug over. Repeat this process across 
the entire garden and you should have 
a loose, well-drained soil with a rich 
sub-soil, While this sounds unneces- 
sarily complicated, actually it is quite 
simple and is worth the effort it costs. 
It is particularly valuable for root crops, 
and where heavy clay soils need to be 
broken up. 
To lime or not to lime 
Liming will help break up heavy clay 
and will sweeten acid soil. But don’t 
use lime unless it is needed, since too 
much lime destroys humus. Use only 
when needed. We can supply a simple 
test kit that shows if lime is needed, 
and if so, how much, Litmus paper is 
not enough: it only shows a plus or 
minus reading. 
Cover crops 
for the vegetable garden 
Save and improve your soil and plant 
food supply by growing cover crops. 
After a row of vegetables has been har- 
vested (if you aren't planting a succes- 
sion crop in this spot) sow some quick- 
growing plant that will take up any ex- 
cess fertilizers and store them in its 
tissues. Plow under that plant just be- 
fore the next crop goes in, and decay 
will release that plant food just in time 
to do the most good. Also, the rotting 
vegetable matter produces humus, with- 
out which good crops cannot be grown. 
Ask us for advice on cover crops for 
the garden. 
Garden windbreaks 
Many gardeners who have experienced 
failure with their summer plantings 
should consider planting a windbreak 
to slow down the force of the hot, dry 
winds that suck moisture from the soil 
and burn up tender seedlings. A sum- 
mer windbreak should be located to 
cut off the prevailing summer breezes, 
usually to the south or southwest of the 
garden. Because garden plots are small 
and because garden plants are low- 
growing, a hedge five to six feet tall 
should be enough, This will not cut 
off breezes from the house. A hedge of 
privet or similar hedging should be 
adequate. f 
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