Gardening

Gerry Daly explores the popularity of the summer clematis and gives us some tips for this month in your garden.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Clematis - queen of climbers
Summer clematis is extremely popular - every garden centre carries lots of varieties. But clematis can prove disappointing too. The biggest challenge in growing clematis is to get the young plant properly established. More often than not, people who plant clematis have been charmed by the beauty of a mature specimen and have decided to have one, or more than one, for themselves. The principal mistake is made in thinking that it is just a matter of buying a plant, sticking it in the ground beside a wall or fence and sitting back to watch the show.

It pays dividends to first consider what the general needs of clematis are. Clematis species are generally found growing in scrubby woodland and rocky areas, scrambling over bushes, tall herbaceous plants and trees. The ground is fertile, well-drained and contains lots of humus from the rotting leaves of shrubs and trees. The clematis likes to root in the cool, rich soil and then clamber up to reach the sunshine.

Choose the site for a clematis carefully. The ground must be right-you can hit on the right spot by luck, but if you are paying good money for a plant it is best to make sure the conditions are suitable. This might mean digging a hole where you plan to put the clematis to see what the soil is like. If it is not right, keep looking. Dry soil at the base of a wall might be the source of future problems and should be avoided-resolutions to regularly water will not be kept. Clematis is more likely to be successful on a fence or other support than it will be on a concrete wall.

Organic material will improve poor, light soil but heavy ground, though made more open, may still be too wet for clematis. Clematis can be started in full sunshine or partial shade, but the flowering stems will need to reach the sunlight for best results. After choosing the site and preparing the soil if necessary, clematis can be planted, usually planting the crown more deeply than is generally done with other plants, giving a better chance of avoiding clematis wilt disease which affects the crown. Clematis wilt affects most of the large-flowered summer clematis, but not the spring clematis and the later-flowering Viticella types.

Watch for snail damage to the emerging stems. Slugs and snails love to eat clematis and may destroy young plants before the problem is noticed. Feeding can take place at or below soil level and up the developing stems. Once the stems turn woody, the snails find them too tough.

This Month in your Garden...

• make final sowings of quickmaturing vegetables
  
• plant out winter cabbages in damp soil, in moist weather
  
• summer-prune wisteria, cutting whippy growths back hard
  
• prune raspberries as soon as they finish fruiting
  
• take semi-hardwood cuttings of a wide range of shrubs
  
• prune weigela and philadelphus after flowering if necessary
  
• sow a late crop of carrots in the second half of the month
  
• after the leaves have withered, lift and grade tulip bulbs
  
• clip most kinds of hedge before the stems harden
  
• take clematis cuttings from soft shoots early in the month
• complete re-potting of indoor plants that need it now
  
• regularly water all potted plants and baskets as they need it
  
• following wet weather, continue to spray against rose blackspot
  
• sow spring cabbage seeds in late July
  
• summer-prune over-vigorous apple and pear trees
  
• make a late sowing of parsley for winter use
• summer-prune plum and cherry trees, shorten the whippy growths


• take hydrangea cuttings using strong soft shoots

Using Garden Tools

Wheeled barbecue
Every garden should have a barbecue, even if it is only used a few times each summer. One of the challenges of using a barbecue in our weather conditions is the effect of wind. The direction of the wind is very variable and it can change even when barbecuing. If the barbecue is fixed, it just might happen that the wind will be coming from exactly the wrong place and blow the smoke over the guests and into the house. A wheeled barbecue gets around this problem because it can be moved to the other side of the garden and the wind takes the smoke away. A portable barbecue can be taken out of the garden in winter.

Care for the environment:
Seed Heads

The seed heads of alliums are very pretty after the flowers have fallen and for several months right into winter. The reason people might take them off is to prevent the plant producing seeds and weakening the bulbs, but most kinds do not produce good seeds at any rate, so it is really not necessary and the seed heads have decorative value in themselves. Some are more ornamental than others, but they all contribute, so leave them be and save yourself the effort!