Evening star., 1950-05-14
This Week
in the
Garden
By Wilbur H. Younsmon
Seeden Editor

cesdsn Editor
Chickweed is a prolific winter
annual now reaching maturity
setting a crop of seed. If allowed
to seed the gardener can rest as
sured that next winters crop OF
chickweed will be large. Pulling
is important to keep chickweed
under control. Chemical weed
killers are most effective in late
fall and winter when the plants
are small. At this season only
the stronger chemicals work and
they cannot be used in beds where
there are perennials and bulbs. In
the lawn, preliminary reports in
dicate potassium cyanate is ef-
fective even, at this late date.
Poison ivy is beginning to leaf
out. 2, 4-D is hardly as effective
as are ANIMATE and 2. 4, ST. The
latter is now combined with 2,
4-D in several commercial brands
of weed killers and where they are
available 1t will be unnecessary to
buy the 2, 4, ST (brush killer)
for that poison ivy infested area.
Digging is seldom effective, since
every piece of poison ivy root left
in the ground will form a new
plant. Now is the season to go
after it and wipe it out with
chemicals.
The first dog ticks have been
reported. Spraying foliage with
DDT or chlordane will effectively
control ticks for one or two
weeks, depending upon the amount
of rain.
1t is time to put in such tender
crops as lima beans. peppers and
eggplant. A second planting of
beans, if the first one went in
during April. will help to insure
continuous harvests. A last spring
planting of beets and carrots may
now be made although some gard
eners find that their conditions
favor paintings as late as the last
week in May.
Chard should be thinned to to
IL inches apart. depending upon
the method of harvesting. If the
outside leaves are cut as needed
the wider spacing is preferable.
Where a part of the row is clipped
the closer planting works better.
Tender ornamentalS such as
the tuberous-rooted begonias and
tuberoses may be planted in the
garden. The begonias make ex-
cellent plants for a shady, moist
situation if protected from strong
winds. The tuberoses thrive ir
full sun in rich soil. Most all
kinds of bedding plants may be
put into the garden at this sea-
son. However, many gardeners
will want to hold back some to be
planted in the daffodil beds as the
foliage of the daffodils dies down
Gardeners who grow peas
should place brush or string tc
keep the vines off the ground. II
allowed to sprawl, the pods often
times rot when in contact with
the soil Training the vines on
brush facilitates cultiration and
picking.
Abundant rain fell in the late
summer when the dogwood flower
buds were formed for this springs
unusually fine bloom. Theysare SO
hardy that the mild winter prob
ably had very little influence.
WiSteria bloom is missing in
many gardens this spring, espe-
cially in the more protected areas
In more exposed situations, where
bud growth was not advanced,
the 24-degrees freeze of April IA
did little or no damage. The
April IA snap is believed to have
destroyed the first buds, although
there have been light freezes since
which may have caught some buds
in tender stage of growth. For
many plants, too much protection
can be as harmful as not enough.
With protection. plants spring in
to growth too early and are in
jured by late spring freezes, while
those with no protection and
which are~slow to wake up often
escape injury.
It is not too late to fertilize
iris. A 5-10-5 or 4-12-4 mixture
will aid growth materially, al
though the iris fancier probably
will recommend a fertilizer higher
in potassium Fertilize the iris
bed at the rate of 3 or 4 pounds
per 100 square feet. Mix the fer
tilizer into the soil with a very
shallow cultivation so as not to
injure the shallow growing roots.
The snowy Oriental poppies will
soon be in bloom. 1t is always
interesting to note the new colors
and forms. Watch for them and
select few for the perennial
border. They thrive in a sunny
well-drained soil. are relatively
free from insects and diseases
They will not, however, persist
in a poorly drained soil.
The wild woods phlox (Phlox
divaricata) is a worthwhile native
that should be planted in the
shady garden. It is of easy cul-
ture and when happy will spread.
The light blue flowers are borne
on 10 to II inch stems.
The weeds and grass which are