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Show Gab from the garden The latest books on a favorite hobby H. Folsom by Genevieve Tribune Garden Editor UTAH HAS SOME of the finest flower design .experts in the nation and this takes in the art of table senior setting. Recently, Nicole Price, an at Timpview High School in Provo, placed second in the 28th annual Lenox Creative Table Setting contest, a competition open to high school and college home economics students. She was honored at an award presentation at ZCMI in Provo. Her prize- winning setting was a formal dinner. You will be able to see Price MZsi some attractive table settings at the Utah Associated Garden Clubs annual show to be held Sept. 18 at the Garden Clubs Center, 1602 E. 21st South in Sugar House Park. A garden tour will be held the $ame day. the true green thumber . When not gardening, enjoys reading the latest books on his or her favorite hobby. There are many books from which to select ranging from general gardening to specialized subjects. One from the Garden Way Publishing Co., Charlotte, Vt. 05445, is Home Gardening Wisdom by Dick Raymond, which sells for $9.95. It is a vegetable by vegetable from seed to table gardening guide and cookbook. Raymond has become one of the countrys leading home gardening experts. The books tells how to select varieties and prepare the soil for that vegetables nutrient needs; bow to coax along the seedlings and transplant them to best advantage; when to mulch and fertilize; how to ward off disease and bugs; how to harvest at the peak of perfection. EVERGREENS: A GUIDE for Landscape, t Lawn and Garden by H. Peter Loewer Is published by Walker and Company, 720 Fifth Ave., New York. N.Y. 10019 and sells for $14.95. A renowned writer and botanical artist, H. Peter Loewer has put together a fine book on the ' subject of evergreens. Both needle-bearin- g and broadleafed plants over 300 are covered in this practical handbook, varieties with advice about how to choose, purchase, care for and landscape with evergreens. Ninety-fiv- e original line drawings present the shapes and needles of the main evergreen groups, and other drawings point up structural details, gardening techniques and landscaping suggestions. Plants are grouped by size, shape and appearance. Illustrations are by the author. A very handy garden diary by John Kingsley- - Lewis is published by Gabriel Books, Mankato, Minn. It has sections on selecting trees and shrubs for your climate, when to transplant, zones of plant hardiness maps and a list of plant hardiness. A section on vegetable gardening gives time for planting, average period map, vegetable and flower length of frost-fre- e hardiness, average dates of last killing frost in spring and first killing frost in autumn. VEGETABLE YIELD charts and preserving food by canning, freezing and drying are other interesting additions to the diary. It has spaces for writing about gardening activities such as dates on which vegetables and flowers make their first entry in the garden, when they are harvested and when they should be replanted. The years calendar, when completed, will provide a day by day guide for future years. Gardening, The Art of Killing Weeds and Bugs to Grow Flowers and Crops for Animals and Birds to Eat, a dictionary for weedpullers, slugcrushers and backyard botanists, is by Henry Beard and Roy McKie. Gives a clever definition of items pertaining to gardening such as flowers, vegetables etc. Many illustrations with humor. Published by Workman Publishing Co. Inc. 1 West 39th St, New York, N.Y. 10018. Survival Gardening by John A. Freeman, published by Johns Press, Box 3405 CRS, Rock Hill, S.C. 29731, sells for $6.96. It explains a method for making certain gardening decisions which can increase the nutrient yield from a garden. It shows how a 1000 square foot garden can give enough nutrition to live on. Chapters on what to grow, soil buildup, planting, plant care, diseases and pests and harvesting are included. There are many other new books on the market. It is impossible to review them all in this column. The books by Ortho, such as All About Tomatoes which sells for less than $5, are excellent. Sunset also publishes some fine books on different gardening subjects at small cost. Your local nurseryman will have some of these gardening books or visit your bookstore. Su) YouU learn from and enjoy some of the newest books on gardening. The plant doctor r - On mowing the lawn Arvil L. Stark by Dr. Tribune Garden Consultant IN OPEN SOIL an unclipped Kentucky bluegrass plant will grow naturally to a height of 12 to 24 inches. In an uncut lawn it seldom gets that tall because of the competition of adjacent plants, but even here it t nitrogen fertilizer is used under favorable growing conditions cutting every four or five days may be necessary. Bluegrass lawns receiving no nitrogen fertilizer will require less frequent mowing. Recently some grass researchers have come up with the notion that clippings left on the lawn do not contribute to the thatch problepi. Even if this controveral observation proves to be correct it is still a good idea to remove clippings from a thick turf. Left on they tend to thin the stand resulting in fewer blades of grass per square inch of surface. Dead clippings also create a brownish undertone to an otherwise green surface. Open, thin turf will benefit from fine clippings left on because they are rich in plant nutrients that are usually in short supply on a poor, weak turf. A heavy mat of clippings smothers the grass and should always be removed. will grow six or eight inches under favorable growing conditions. Mowing it off at lft inches is a drastic shock to the plants and lowering the cut to three-quarteof an inch is simply an indefensible transgression, and an invitation to the invasion of weeds. Studies have shown that the root system of a bluegrass lawn is deeper and more extensive on a turf cut high than when cut shorter. Taller grass also provides more competition for weeds and is an effective control for crabgrass and some other flat growers that flourish on short clipped turfs. The minimum height for Kentucky bluegrass lawns should be lft inches and two is better. Keep on of an inch if habit compels, scalping at in summary, you learned a thing but your lawn will not appreciate your indiscretion. , from reading this and wilHi&y leave the mowerjurt n enough that dippings are under t wheregrandpaset ft 'yvbenbewatWittfugthe graSi.' Try to v Some folks .arc Simply beyond education.-- you can't-,mp hrch to tapfljH PPA pptoafeix tell them anything: Uould you be onebf them?" once a week is a satisfactory Interval, where more rs three-quarte- rs tuf-ofte- ' Q. Do you think it is possible that some footer (not soft footer) would kill African violets? That is the only thing that I can think of. I just cannot grow them here in Tremonton. I have a regular greenhouse in the front room, every kind of flower from orchids, begonias, ferns, palms, etc., but ' cannot get a violet to live after about two or three I months from the store. I have watered them about once a week or when dry on top or on the bottom. I worked in Brigham for 15ft years and raised them on my desk, but not here. We have copper pipes would they be leaching copper? I am 62 years old and have been growing house plants all my life. Any suggestions ? D. W. Tremonton, Utah. ; v A. Dene Jorgensen, who is an expert grower, suggests that you repot your plants in sterilized African violet soil. She also recommended that they be kept slightly moist. In other words, you water when the soil in the top of the pot is dry to the touch. Add a little fertilizer to each watering. Mix teaspoon of African violet fertilizer to a gallon of i . water and use this to supply water to them. !i!l Temperatures should be about 70 degrees' F."in the daytime and 60 degrees F. at r4ght. Turn your plants frequently to help them grow evenly. ,v one-four- th J V v |