Evening star., 1953-02-01
Week in the Garden

Week in the Garden
Warm temperatures reduce
the hardness of the peach buds
and they are likely to be killed
should a real spell of winter
weather follow. Precocious bulbs
that are pushing their heads
through the ground will not suf-
fer injury. The foliage may be
Scared. It is the killing frost
that comes in April after the
buds are formed that damages
the bloom.
Seed sowing time is with us.
In fact, it is getting late if you
plan to SOW perennialS for bloom
this year. Growing vegetable
plants begins with the cabbage,
broccoli, etc, and takes from 4
to 6 weeks from seed. Seed sown
now should produce transplant
ing sized plants by March 20, the
normal time for setting them in
the garden.
When buying trees it is always
desirable to ascertain the ulti-
mate or mature height. The fol-
lowing have mature height of
Is to 20 feet: Shadbush (Ama-
lanchier canadensis), gray birch
(Betula populifolia), American
hornbeam (Carpinus carolini-
ana). dogwood (Cornus florida) g,
Cockspur thorn (Crataegus crus-
galli), Washington thorn (Cra-
taegus phaenopyrum), Carolina
silverbell (Halesia carolina), Ko-
bus magnolia magnolia kobus) I,
saucer magnolia magnolia SOU
langeana), sweet-bay magnolia
magnolia virginiana), japanese
f1owerering crab (Malus f1ori-
bunda), Halls crab (Malus hall
lanai. Scheidecker's crab (Malus
schiedeckerD. ironwood Ostrya
virginiana), japanese Towering
cherry Prunus Serrulata) 4,
mountain stewartia (Stewartia
ovata) and Siebold viburnum
(Viburnum sieboldD.
The pruning Of grapes and
blueberries may be done at any
time now. It should be finished
before the sap begins to flow.
Paint the wounds left by prun-
ing on all shade and fruit trees,
that is, cuts of a quarter inch
or more, to be completely safe;
one-half inch OIL more is the
usual recommendation. Use a
tree dressing or an asbestos ce-
ment. Check previous cuts to
make certain the tree dressing is
still effective and making a tight
seal.
In selecting vegetable varieties
for the garden keep in mind that
some are better suited to freeZ-
Ing than are others. The annual
list issued by the Extension
Service, University of Maryland,
has those suited for freezing as
we'll as for general use.
Pick the bagworm cocoons
from the evergreens and wher-
ever they are hanging. Burn
them. Each of the cocoons left
by the female bagworm may con-
tain as many as 200 eggs. Each
one removed and burned now
will save picking a hundred or
more later on.
Wild garlic in the lawn may
be controlled by spraying with
2, 4-D. Apply it on a mild day.
However, if there are only a few
clumps in the lawn, it may be
easier to swab the tops with
fuel oil.
Lime is applied to the soil for
two reasons: /. To supply cal
cium to the plants. The second
and more important reason is
to adjust the soil acidity so that
the plants can get the neces-
sary food. An acid soil locks up
the Phosphate, making it un-
available to the plant. A sweet
soil has the iron locked up in an
insoluble form. The soil should
be tested before lining and then
only enough lime added to bring
the level of acidity to require
ments. Ten pounds of ground
limestone per 100 square feet will
change the PHI reading one de-
gree. making it less acid. Flowers
of sulphur t2A pounds) per 100
square feet will make it one de-
gree more acid. A change OF
one degree on the PHI scale is all
that should be attempted in one
season.