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We are now approaching the time when it will be much easier, as well as less expensive to run the greenhouse. Cold winds will be less in evidence and surely, very low outdoor temperatures will be a thing of the past until another fall.

However, the very best results will not usually be obtained by those who throw the ventilators wide open in the early morning and leave all to fate until nightfall. Such procedure would probably be in order in a greenhouse which has been in use only for wintering interesting but rather tender plants from countries such as Chili, South Africa and Australasia.

Tender young seedlings, newly inserted cuttings and tropical plants generally must not be exposed to drafts nor even to a very airy atmosphere. Where such exists, it would be evident that the surface soil, where the seedlings are growing, would dry up quickly and seedlings can only be expected to possess little more than surface roots.

Cuttings that have yet no roots at all would soon lose all the sap in their leaves were they subjected to a dry and airy environment. Then, most tropical plants are happiest in dank and humid surroundings and wide open ventilators would not be conducive to these conditions.

It is not difficult to appreciate how best to take care of the ventilation, provided someone is around to increase or reduce it as the demand arises. But for some, it will require not only an understanding of the plants’ needs, but an ability to foresee and provide for their requirements in the course of a day’s absence. That may best be done by copious water supplies in the morning, shading of the glass and in the case of cuttings and tender seedlings, a screen of paper or cheesecloth on likely bright days. This may be most useful in maintaining what could be described as “a dead air” or a calm, around the cuttings, thus slowing down evaporation.

On top of all this, it would be a valuable asset to be a good weather prophet, though this is rare, even when one is provided with some such device as a good barometer! Thus, the ventilation, under such circumstances must always be of a moderate nature.

It is obvious that such methods could only be of the hit or miss typo and where such a state must be. it can best be overcome by a wise selection of plants - plants that are not particularly miffy or very sensitive to fluctuations of temperature. A house that can be maintained at 50-55 degrees at night will be the most suitable when a wide range of the easier species is attempted.

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Gardening garden, Gardening, home improvement, tropical plants

Cherry varieties to choose. There is a wealth of variety in flowering cherries. The names of some thousands are recorded in Japanese botanical records, but those commonly grown here fall into four groups. First to bloom, at about the same time as forsythia, are the varieties of Prunus subhirtella, the Higan cherries. Very common through the suburbs of cities is the weeping cherry, Shidare Higan, popular as a specimen lawn tree. It is usually grafted on a bare stem 5 or 6 feet high. When young, the trees are likely to be of an uninteresting mushroom shape, but they become more irregular and picturesque as they mature. It a pity that the natural type, which grows into a tall, rather narrow, weeping tree, is not more generally available.

Little planted except in parks is the lovely Higan, Prunus subhirtella, which grows into a small, bushy tree. it bears a profusion of single pink flowers like those of the weeping cherry. Another variety, Jugatsu, Prunus subhirtella autumnalis, has the same bush habit as the Higan, with single or semi-double flowers. In addition to its regular spring bloom, this tree nearly always flowers again in October and November, often abundantly enough to make a fine display.

Coming after the Higans in time of bloom is the Yoshino cherry, Prunus yedoensis. It is Yoshino that is planted near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. A. quick growing, wide-spreading tree, it ultimately reaches a height of 30 feet or more. It blooms before leafing out, the pale pink or almost white, single, slightly fragrant blossoms covering the gray branches. In the whole plant kingdom there are few trees to equal the beauty of this one in full flower.

Last to bloom come the varieties of Prunus serrulata and Prunus sargenti. Sargent’s cherry is the hardiest of the Orientals, a splendid tree that grows to 60 feet in its native China. The single pink flowers are borne in profusion. The young foliage is bronzy and in autumn the leaves turn an attractive shade of red. This tree is somewhat less tolerant of warm climates than the other species. Among the names of varieties of Prunus serrulata found- in catalogs are Fugenzo, Kwanzan, Taki-Nioi, Shirotae, Shiro-Fugen, Naden and Amano-Gawa.

Fugenzo and Kwanzan are two of the best double pinks. They are spreading, bushy trees and strong growers. The flowers are a clear deep pink; the young leaves, light bronze. A smaller tree, seldom exceeding 12 or 15 feet, with single white, delightfully fragrant flowers is Taki-Nioi. The young foliage of this, too, is reddish brown. Shirotae is an earlier white and has semi-double flowers. Amano-Gawa is the one cherry that can always be bought true to name, for its clustered, upright habit is unmistakable even in the nursery. It is particularly valuable where space is limited or for accent in the large garden. It reaches a height of 25 feet with a width of only a few feet. The flowers are semi-double, deep pink in the bud, pale when they open; the young leaves are reddish brown.

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Gardening cherry varieties, garden, Gardening, home improvement

For a small flower or veggie garden you will hardly need any kind of special gardening materials whatsoever. It’s a waste of time and money to purchase a variety of supplies that you hardly get to use. Amid classic tools we can count hole diggers, spades, rakes and shovels. However, the complication of tools increases for more special gardening conditions. The use of automatic technology and power supplies has led to the introduction of all sorts of equipment and gadgets.

Thus, you’ll find excavators, casters, pressure washers, air conditioning and misting solutions, cordless electric tools, pitch forks, lawn mowers, garden gauges, garden carts and so much more. They are available in various categories produced by numerous companies and distributed at more or less affordable prices. Gardening products need to be obtained according to the immediate and long-term requirements while furthermore staying within the restrictions of a spending budget. Local retailers and web dealers can furnish a high assortment of products that you could order or choose from catalogs.

It’s important to go shopping not by brand but by merchandise category when you need a certain gardening equipment. Once again circumstances are relevant for the selection. Gardening products should stay useful and simple, if you go for products which is to fancy, you chance having to pay too much cash. Experts talk about the need to purchase only the items required, and continually improve the gardening tools as your experience in this profession grows. Amateurs will usually possess fewer tools than experts, and it is obvious why.

A special type of gardening tools is focused upon landscaping. From furniture to hammocks, gazebos, rockers and porch swings, there is everything available for a gardening enthusiast. Chimes, balls and water statues may also boost the environment of the garden, but they are fairly costly. The substantial availability of decorative styles in accessories correspond to the modern trend of making your garden as welcoming and as attractive as possible.

Thus from landscaping to occupational gardening, equipment varies greatly. It’s up to the user to carefully choose the products that are the best option for the typical gardening jobs. Moreover, costs need to remain low while keeping the quality high. May you get pleasure from gardening just as much as you have till today.

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Gardening business, entertainment, family, Gardening, hobbies, home improvement, landscaping, Lawn Care, learning, outdoors

For tall background plants we tried cleome Giant Pink Queen, an improved hybrid in a better color than the old-fashioned spider-flower. Graceful salmon pink flowers with long spidery stamens continue to open at the top of the 3. to 4-foot stalks.

Beneath the blooms seed pods form on long slim stems. Easy to grow and exotic in effect, cleome can be used to advantage in spectacular arrangements. Helen Campbell is a new pure white cleome introduced this year. Seed should be sown thinly outdoors when the soil has warmed up and seedlings thinned to stand 2 feet or more apart.

The Golden Flower of the Incas is the romantic name for Tithonia speciosa, a huge shrubby plant unlike any we had grown before. The name tithonia was given it in honor of a mythological character, Tithonus. The original habitat of this annual was Mexico and Central America, where it is also known as Mexican sunflower. Most of the garden varieties are hybrids and improvements on the species, with earlier bloom and a more reasonable height.

Richly colored and very easy to grow, tithonia frequently reseeds itself and comes up the following year. Torch tithonia, a promising novelty and one of the All-America selections of the best annuals for 1951, is certain to appeal because of its compact, bushy growth. It grows a little over 4 feet in height, with a spread of 2 feet. This novelty also blooms earlier than the older types, with flowers of a fiery scarlet.

Why not grow at least one novelty annual in your garden this year? The suspense of waiting to see the results is half the fun.

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Gardening garden, Gardening, home improvement

Strawberries may be planted at various times. Home gardeners often plant in August, but this is not the best time. Commercial growers, who must obtain high yields, usually plant in early spring, as soon as the soil is workable. Early planting is very important, as the plants then get off to a good start under favorable moisture conditions during the cool weather of early spring and produce early runners, which are more productive than those growing in late summer and fall.

Late fall planting also has something in its favor. For several years I have compared late fall (October 20 to November 10) planting with spring planting, and in most cases the fall-planted beds have outyielded the spring-set beds. Plants set out in the fall get off to an earlier start and produce more early runners that bear the heavier crop a year later.

Fall-set plants must be mulched the first winter. In the spring the mulch is raked off and the planting managed the same as one set in the spring. The blossoms should be picked off and the bed allowed to fruit the following spring.

There are many good varieties of strawberries. Generally speaking, the high-quality sorts do not produce the highest yields, but they do produce enough to be satisfactory for the home garden. Dessert quality and reliability are most important in a home garden variety.

Strawberry plants should be purchased from a specialist, preferably one nearby. Although plants shipped early from growers usually arrive safely, plants ordered late and shipped long distances during a hot spell may overheat, with disastrous results.

If the plants arrive before the ground is ready for planting, the bundle should be opened and the plants heeled-in in a moist, shady place in the garden. Each bundle of plants should be opened and the roots spread out so they are in contact with the soil.

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Gardening garden, Gardening, home improvement, plant care

Do you know what the pH of your soil is? Checking a soil’s pH has become so much easier today with new tools.

Above all, don’t guess at pH. Use an electric bridge device if possible. We tend to assume that all peat, oak leaf mold, etc., is acid. This is not true. The brown runoff from newly fallen oak leaves is acid, but once the soluble tannin has been leached away, the residue is alkaline. The same is true of certain peats. German, Swedish, and Canadian peats are usually acid, but domestic brands may be highly alkaline. Always check your peat for pH before using it. Use a soil test kit, or have the peat tested in a soil laboratory.

Note the comment on tannic acid. There are good and bad soil acids. Tannic acid is good, but aluminum acidity, from the commonly-used aluminum sulfate is bad. The stuff is often recommended because it is used commonly to acidify the soil in greenhouse plants. It works, but at the expense of roots, which are eventually killed by aluminum acidity. This is not important in finishing a hydrangea pot plant for Easter sales, but is fatal to rhododendrons after a year or two.

For acidifying, use sulfur, ammonium sulfate, ferrous ammonium sulfate (see above) or potassium sulfate. Very light doses of magnesium sulfate (Epsom salts) will supply the small amount of magnesium needed for good growth. However, don’t overdo this. Speaking of magnesium, its role in plant nutrition is only recently coming to light. Apparently chlorophyll is actually a magnesium chelate which keeps other elements in photosynthesis moving properly.

We never see calcium deficiencies in the Midwest. Our waters supply lime, often too much. Test the pH of the water as it comes out of the hose, and reduce the alkalinity as necessary.

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Gardening garden, Gardening, home improvement, plant care

The Augustine elm is well adapted to street tree planting. Its compact, deep root system lets it flourish and support itself in a limited area. At Winnetka, Illinois, several trees which were planted in a four-foot square of soil chiseled out of solid concrete have made satisfactory growth during the last five years.

Its root system is also desirable because in general trees with compact, deep roots do not cause much sidewalk lifting and cracking. American elm and other trees with wide spreading, shallow roots are noted for the damage they do to concrete.

In addition to its desirable root system, the fairly compact top and ascending branches make the tree suitable for street planting. Overhead interference is not great. The tree can be planted in median strips as well as between sidewalks and street. In Cicero, Illinois, a two and one-half mile median strip was planted with these elms. In several years they produced lots of interesting shadows and provide a distinct separation between the lanes of traffic.

Its compact shape also makes the tree ideal between fairways on golf courses. In large areas group plantings of the tree are more attractive than individual plants. However, on a large site where there is a lot of grass as a foreground and tall trees as a background, an individual specimen commands a lot of attention.

Group planting does not rule out the use of the Augustine ascending elm on the home grounds. The tree blends nicely with other large trees and in small areas can be used as an individual to fill a need that any tree might serve. On large lawns where several trees can be used, an effective arrangement is to plant a tree at both sides of the rear of the property and one along the property line on either side of the house and slightly to the rear of the house. This gives a triangular arrangement which enables the trees to tie the backyard setting together.

The definite V crotch that most Augustine ascending elms have presents a problem of durability. Generally trees with horizontal branches are best able to resist wind and ice damage. However, this elm withstands all weather conditions despite its V crotch. Its strength may lie in the fact of its upright limb structure.

Any well-drained soil that supports deciduous trees will also maintain Augustine elms. Planting is the same as for any tree. Dig a large hole, spread the root system in the hole and firm soil around the roots. After the hole is filled, mulch the area with peat or ground cobs. Prune to eliminate irregular branches and establish a balance between the top and roots. Last of all, wrap the tree, and water every other week during the first summer, if necessary.

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Gardening garden, Gardening, home improvement

There is a real advantage in using a mulch of straw or similar material to preserve moisture in soils that are inclined to dry out. The mulch should be several inches thick and spread when the vines are about 6 inches tall.

Supporting the vines. When sweet pea plants are 3 inches high, it is a good idea to set twigs around them to which the young tendrils may cling. Growth is sometimes checked if the vines are allowed free play in the wind. At the 6-inch stage, it is time to put up permanent supports. These may he made of wire, brush, strings or the newer trellis netting, and should be set on the side away from prevailing winds so that the vines will blow against them.

Wire netting with about a four-inch mesh affords one of the hest means of support. It is fastened between two stout stakes set, at each end of the row and braced against the pull of the netting. Tree boughs with plenty of twigs and thrust firmly in Ilse ground along the rows will also serve, as will strong strings stretched between the row-end stakes. Clumps of sweet peas are supported by a circle of wire or by stakes and strings arranged in the same way.

Pest control. The few insects and diseases attacking sweet peas may be controlled with a little care. The only really serious pest is the green aphid. At the first sign of this insect - puckering and discoloration of the foliage - vines should he thoroughly dusted with nicotine. A day or so later the leaves are washed off with a sprinkling of water, and the dusting is repeated if the aphids persist.

In damp weather sweet pea vines are sometimes affected by mildew. Sulfur dust, lightly applied on a morning when there is no wind, will usually take care of this disease.

In some localities home gardeners have trouble raising sweet peas because of a rot that attacks the plants at ground level. According to plant pathologists, such a condition may be caused by one of several fungi.

Some gardeners have been successful in combating root rot in garden peas by digging gypsum into the soil. The same method should benefit sweet peas. Gypsum is lime sulphate and its breakdown in the soil releases an acid which may act as a control.

Care of cut flowers. To enjoy sweet peas for a long season, it is necessary to pick the floWers before they wither on the vines. They should be gathered by carefully severing each stem close to the spot where it jidus the main vine. There is also a proper way to handle sweet peas to preserve their freshness. They should be held, or tied together, near the ends of the stems since pressure closer to the blossoms may cause the flowers to wilt from what amounts to strangulation.

Sweet peas are lovely in the garden, but they are equally prized for home decoration. The long stems, beautiful shades and tints, and large, well formed flowers of the Cuthbertson type make them particularly delightful for arranging in bowls and vases indoors.

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Gardening garden, Gardening, home improvement, sweet peas

Success in grape growing depends greatly on pruning. Best time for this is the early months of the year. A warm day in January or February when the ground is clear of snow is ideal, but the job should be accomplished before the middle of March when the sap rises.

Pruning is perhaps the most important skill the vineyardist must master. He must realize that fruit is borne only on wood of the present season which arises from wood of the previous season. This means that last year’s new wood is the only source of buds which grow into shoots bearing probably one to four clusters of grapes each.

The problem becomes (first) one of cutting back a limited number of good canes to a few buds which will produce as many new bearing shoots as the vine can support, and (second) cutting off entirely all remaining (even good) canes which would over-tax the vigor of the vine. With experience the grape-grower learns to tell from the looks of the cane, the size and growth of the vine in the previous year, and the variety’s characteristics for bearing, which and how many buds to leave.

He must constantly plan ahead for new wood low on the vines, so that the vines do not have to spend too much of their energy maintaining a great amount of unproductive wood. This necessary balance between fruiting canes this year and new wood for next year’s crop is difficult both to explain and to achieve, but usually the tendency of the beginner is not to prune severely enough.

More trimming and shaping comes after the grapes have bloomed and set the bunches. Each fruiting cane tries to grow on out into a long leafy cane beyond the three or four clusters which have formed. To make the plant use its strength for the fruit, these should be snapped off at about the second joint beyond the grapes. New shoots will try to grow at these points and often at the joint opposite the grape cluster, but these should be kept broken off as summer progresses. Keep just enough foliage to support the plant properly by making food and to shade the fruit. Usually the bunches of grapes should be thinned by about one-third so that they will ripen faster and more evenly.

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Gardening garden, Gardening, home improvement

Winter is a good time to add sawdust to your compost pile. Add a little complete fertilizer to hasten decomposition. Mix well with the leaves and other material. Any kind of sawdust will do. Shredded twigs from line clearance crews may be used for this or for top dressing garden paths.

A glass covered box over your Christmas rose will protect the flowers from the weather and give you boutonnieres that are wonderful conversation pieces. Incidentally put plenty of peat in the soil when planting. Once they are planted, leave them alone. I can hardly wait to see how many of the hundred and some Lenten roses I planted under the Norway maple are going to bloom. They usually start the last week of February. They are two-year-old that I grew from seed. Some had ten or 12 leaves. This year’s crop did not grow nearly as well because it was so wet.

For Garden Color

The old chimney pot I bought last fall for a base of my homemade sundial looks quite antique at the end of the brick walk that goes to the back of the garden. It needs a plant or two of box or evergreen barberry to set it off properly in winter. Last fall the pastel colors of some selected plants of coleus around it really made a lovely picture. After all, that is part of the fun of gardening, trying to make interesting patches of color here and there around the garden to tempt you to photograph them. I admit I am always scheming to get such effects. Since I am a little impatient, it is sometimes necessary to move plants in full leaf or even in bloom to get the effect immediately.

In starting to plan next summer’s plants, regardless of the method of moving, should be braced against wind. The alignment of many trees is disturbed and the root system loosened in the soil by winds. This can easily endanger the plant’s chances of survival.

Rose planting is best if begun the last of this month and carried over into February. If your rose order arrives, of course, it it better to go ahead and plant the bushes. if the garden, I find I’ll need to add to the summer effects.

Coneflowers or rudbeckies are made to order for hot summer climates since they are all of native origin. ven the wild black-eyed Susan is worth using. And in the seed catalogs you will find one or more annual and biennial coneflowers including daisies.

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Gardening garden, Gardening, home improvement, plant care