Evening star., 1950-06-18
This Week in the Garden

1t Is not too early to begin prep,
arations for the fall vegetable gar
den. Washington usually has an
excellent fall growing season. last
ing. well into October If not No
vember. The list might include
some Of the following: Chinese
cabbage, kale. broccoli. peas. turn
ips. mustard greens. celery. Brus-
sells sprouts. kohlrabi. lettuce.
spinach, winter radishes, winter
beets. etc. Timing is quite impor-
tant to successful culture. Some
kinds may be purchased as plants
for setting out. others must be
grown from seed.
Dahlias and gladioli may still
be planted for fall bloom. Chry-
santhemum plants may be pur-
chased and planted for cutfiowers
or border displays. Many COM
mercial growers still have stocks
Of ANIMALS. such as zinnias, pc
tunias, marigolds and phlox drum
mondi, which may be planted and
win provide color and cutfiowers
from midsummer on until frost.
It is rather late to grow them
from seed.
Heavy feeding Of pear trees
seems to invite the destructive
fire blight disease" Pear trees
growing in sod land have less
tender succulent growth and are
less subject to severe injury than
those kept well cultivated. OF
course, some varieties, such as the
Bartlett. are highly susceptible
while others, such as the Seckel
and the Kieffer, are immune to
flre-blight. There is no cure for
the disease, the customary prac-
tice is to prune out any dead twigs
(blackened) cutting an inch or so
below the infected wood.
Lawnmowers should have the
cutter bar raised so as to cut the
grass not less than one inch in
height. preferably an inch and a
half or more. This helps the blue
grass to Withstand better the sum-
mer temperatures and helps to
keep the crabgrass in check. A
second 'fertilizing of the lawn is
considered by many an aid to
keeping the bluegrass growing
vigorously. Undoubtedly 1t does
give the bluegrass q stimulus. but
high temperatures are the cause
Of temporary dormancy.
Now is the time to get the weeds
out Of the flower beds. the soil
cultivated and fertilized and q
mulch spread to keep the plants
growing during the heat of the
summer without too much effort
on the part Of the gardener.
Coarse compost, peatmoss, ground
corncobs, buckwheat hulls, ver-
miculite, sawdust, grass clippings,
are all useful for this purpose.
If the plan foliage should show
signs Of yellowing after the mulch
Is applied it may be desirable to
water with q nitrogen fertilizer to
keep the bacteria from robbing
the soil. Small applications are
safer than heavy feeding and
should be applied at regular in
tervals. Thick layers Of grass
clippings may heat" during decay
and for this reason it Is advisable
to apply successive thin" layers
until the desired depth of mulch
is secured.
The list of so most popular va
rieties of daylilies recently re-
leased by the Hemerocallis So
ciety is a badly needed critical
review Of the existing named
varieties. Almost any seeding is
attractive and useful but when
the catalogues list varieties by the
score. If not by hundreds, the
home gardener, seeking few good
varieties, is hopelessly confused.
Through an error in last Sun
days article about using sawdust
for mulching and for soil condi-
tioning. the column headings were
transposed. The correct mixtures
recommended are:
For For
General Ericaceoue
Partially rOtted
Ammonium
sulphate 30 pounds 25 pounds
Cottonseed meal so pounds 100 pounds
Ground limestone so pounds none
Superphosphate 80 pounds 80 pounds