Evening star., 1951-11-04
This Week
in the
Garden


of the Washington area has per-
mitted flower and vegetable gar
denS to grow and produce beyond
the usual date. On the other
hand. it has been upsetting to
many who had planned to do a
bit of shrub moving. or for those
who were waiting for frost to put
an end to an annual border SO
that they could go ahead with
bulb planting. In spite of the
delay, it is quite likely that the
bulbs will do just as well even
though planted late. This ap-
plies especially to the tulips. The
delay in planting daffodils will
tardy bloom next spring, but
that Is hardly to be considered q
loss since it will help to prolong
the Towering season.
Because killing frosts are late
it will help those gardeners who
for one reason or another, we
hope it was only the drought
were late in getting in such chores
as sowing grass seed, and plant
ing evergreens. However, as
pointed out before, grasses COM
monty used in the Washington
area are cool weather grasses and
a frost will not injure them. 1t
is only tie frequent freezing and
thawing that will heave the young
plants out of the ground. Late
planted evergreens may be helped
by heavy mulch. which will keep
the ground from freezing and by
keeping the soil we'll moistened,
but not saturated
We should be on the alert to
dig glad corms as soon as the tops
begin to brown. Some of the
late-planted ones will not turn
brown until frost stops growth.
Dig, remove the tops and dry as
soon as they stop growth-indi-
Gated by the browning of the
foliage.
Dahlias should have the tops
removed as soon as frosted. There
is no rush to dig after removing
the tops. They may be left for
several weeks, but at any rate they
should be left in the ground for
a few days. This is to give the
tubers time to mature which i'm
proves the storage qualities.
Mulch fall planted perennials
and pansies. The latter seem to
thrive best with wen-rotted
manure mulch. Pansies are gross
feeders and for best results should
be we'll fed. The perennials need
not be mulched until after the
ground is frozen. This is to pre-
vent winter freezes and thaws
from pushing the young plants out
Of the ground. The cold does not
hurt them. 1t is the breaking OF
the roots that does the damage.
Chrysanthemums are not az
adaptable to our winters as we
wish they were. It is not the colo
but the mild weather that does
the damage. Lift the clumpS ano
reset on a sandy ridge in some
out-of- the-way spot. The sand is
needed to give good drainage
Tender varieties need the protec-
tion Of cold frame if they are tt
be carried over winter. Do not
close the cold frame until 1t i:
close to freezing. Then open or
mild days or the warm tempera-
lures under the glass will keep the
plants in active growth.
Keep the newly seeded lawn:
clipped. Never let the grass gel
more than inches in height be.
fore cutting. Soft succulen1
growth is susceptible to leaf dis.
eases that can kill the plants
Moreover. the clipping encourage:
the young plants to seed out side.
shoots. This is known as stool.
ing" 1t helps to give a smooth
turf.
It's not too late to SOW the
seeds of hardy ANIMALS. Most oi
them can 60 into the ground now
although some. which we do moi
wish to have sprout before spring
may be planted much later-the
poppies, for example. .
Dormant deciduous trees ane
shrubs are on the market and may
be planted now. They come from
Northern nurseries where early
frosts have made them dormant
In planting them it is well te
prepare the soil carefully, adding
compost or peat moss to the sol
about the roots. Remove broken
branches and roots before placing
the plants in the holes. Mound
the soil up about the trunks to re-
strain them from waving about
in winter winds. Tall trees and
shrubs should be braced. Avoid
fertilizer in the planting holes.
Chickweed is common in many
lawns and gardens. Tt is easily
controlled by hoeing, but, OF
course. that does not take care
of the chickweed problem in the
lawn. In the lawn chickweed may
be killed with a 2, 4-D spray
with a solution Of sulphate OF
ammonia, etc. At this young ten
der age of growth almost any
material seems to kill it. Both
the Sulphate OF ammonia and the