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62 _ DECKS AWASH
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Home gardening
b) " Ross Traverse
Q. Should I cover strawberries with a mulch for
winter protection ? If so, what sort of
material is best?
A. Strawberries will benefit most if covered bv
a coarse material to prevent thawing and
freezing in winter . The best material is
straw ; however, this is not readily available
in Newfoundland. Youcould use wild marsh
hay which is weed free , or sawdust or shavings,
but shavings are very light and have a
tendency to blow away . Evergreen boughs
are also all right, but ifyou have a large area,
it's a lot of work to get the boughs. Mulch
should not be put on too early; it's probably
a gooda idea to wait until the ground freezes
because the idea is to try to keep the ground
frozen all winter. As soon as the ground
thaws out in the spring , remove the mulch.
Q. I planted some late cabbage from seed
directly in the garden but the heads didn't
turn in and alii got was leafy growth. How
can I get good, hard solid heads of winterkeeping
cabbage?
A.Cabbage is best started from trans plants.
Sow the seeds inside 6-8 weeks before you
plant in the garden. This gives the cabbage
a longer growing season which is needed for
late storage varieties. To get large heads,
cabbage should be side dressed with a high
nitrogen fertilizer, at least twice dur ing the
growing season . You may use am monium
nitrate or an organic source like fish emulsion
fertilizer , or fish offal. Late cabbage
needs space so set the plants 18 in. to 1 ft.
apart and don't forget to apply agricultural
limestone .
Q. I have some geraniums in the garde n which
I would like to keep for next season. Howdo
I go about it?
A. There are two ways : one is to keep the
mother plant, and the other is simply to take
clippings from the mother plant and root
them inside and grow small plants. Probably
the easiest way is to maintain the mother
plants taken up from the garden. Put them
in a good potting soil in a pot, cut them back
to within 8-10ins. from the surface and water
them just enough to keep .them damp. The
trick is not to over-water them and to keep
them cool (IOOC. ) to just maintain them and
Ross Traverse
not get lush growth .
In February or March , to encourage growth,
move them into a warmer brightly lit area .
Then, from these plan ts tak e cuttings and
root them . The best way is to take off about
a 4-6in. shoot and put it in a mixture of peat
and sand or use vermiculite or perlite . Cover
the container with a little plastic tent to mainta
in the humidity and keep it in a warm
place. Within 6-8 weeks some roots should
develop and the plants can then be put into
pots. Once the plants start growing, they
should be fed with a diluted solution of liquid
fertilizer of one tablespoon of 20-20-20 per
ga llon of water.
Q. I have some fir trees growingwild in the back
yard. Could I prune them to mak e them nice
and bushy for Christmas trees ?
BAY BUllS
TRADING CO. LTD.
Agents and Distribut ors
51 OLD PENNYWELL ROAD
ST . JOHN'S. NEWFOUNDLAND
576-4058
334-2929