by John Hills
No climber does more to lift the grey pall of February than Jasminum nudifforum. The yellow flowers on a north or west wall brave snow or arctic frost with equanimity Over a low wall, on a trellis, clipped as an ornament to the front lawn, few soils or situations reduce Winter Jasmine to despair. Each flowering shoot should be cut back in April to within 2 shoots of the base.
The White Jasmine, J. officinale, is more circumspect, preferring to flower in the somnolence of July, lingering on until September. The sweetly scented white flowers festooned the tool shed at home where the roots were buried in mortar rubble, but refuse utterly to survive on wet clay, to my eternal regret. Cuttings taken with a heel in August will root readily enough.
The common species, Hedera helix, has no equal as a self-clinging climber or for all-round adaptability. Fortunately, it shows no reluctance 
sport new varieties to such an extent that the choice is becoming bewildering in its diversity. Buttercup, as the name implies, is a good yellow form, which dare I whisper it, always has the same effect on me as flat lemonade. Congesta is slow growing with small grey-green leaves. It is a fine plant for a terraced corner or a large stone in the rock garden.
Polygonum baldschuanicum is a heaven-sent climber for those unfortunate gardeners with ugly buildings to cover, chain-link fences to hide, or air-raid shelters to disguise. My particular bete noir is a tarred shed.
Lonicera x americana is a vigorous climber which will spread 30 ft. The flowers appear earlier than those of the native woodbine in June to July, white at first, then yellow tinged with plum purple. L. henryi is another climber which needs room to spread and is almost worth the space for the beauty of the dark evergreen leaves. The red and yellow flowers are rather small and the blue-black berries soon disappear down some bird gourmet’s rapacious throat.
Pyracanthas make good wall shrubs. Clipped to a green buttress they take the square angularity from the modern concrete buildings which hold no pretence to architectural elegance.
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March 15 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »
by Kenneth Carlson
For the same reason it is best to leave this de-branching until the side shoots have reached a reasonable length, say some 4 to 6 in. long, before attempting to remove surplus growth. At this stage it will be fairly obvious which shoots are suitable for retention and which are not. The surplus growth should be removed with a very sharp knife, cutting through the growth as closely as possible to the junction with the main stem. In addition, though not completely essential, it is as well to dust a little flowers of sulphur or hydrated lime on the cuts to prevent any possibility of infection entering the open wound.
Some of the branches are secured direct to these additional canes, whilst the rest are retained by making a tie right round the outside of the canes. In the case of the giant cactus and clecoratives provide a supporting cane for every stem.
This is however a rather expensive method if a large number of plants are grown, and some growers simply wire the rows of stakes together with stout galvanised wire, stayed at each end to keep the rows taut. Some branches are looped back to the main stake, others are looped to the wire, and an odd cane or two provided for those branches which would be damaged if forced back in this fashion. It is important in any case to ensure that no branch is forced too far out of position as it is likely that this will cause it to be unseated from its socket.
The main thing to remember is that there is an immense variation in the time taken by individual varieties to produce blooms, and that it is best to find out before stopping time, when growing a new variety, whether it is naturally early or late blooming, and to stop accordingly, basing the calculation on the assumption that the majority of varieties will bloom approximately io to 12 weeks from the date of stopping. This is a very approximate guide, but it will give a sound basis to work upon until an accurate knowledge is built up from the variations from the normal displayed by different varieties. Exact timing will never be achieved but it will be possible to ensure that blooms of a particular variety will be available over a period covering the specified date.
Although this may seem a great deal of trouble, it is better to take such precautions than to have the heartbreaking sight of a strong healthy branch broken off later in the season, particularly on a plant well thinned out for giant blooms of exhibition quality. For the same reason it is essential to tie in the branches as these develop, and this is a task that must never be neglected.
If several canes are used it is simple; all that is needed is a circle of string round plants and canes to hold all in place. If only one stake is provided the developing growth should be carefully looped back to this, striving to provide support but at the same time keeping the plant open to allow the free circulation of air through the foliage and also to prevent bunching of flowers when these appear. Overcrowding can only lead to bruised and malformed florets. If the stakes have been wired together some of the branches could he secured to the supporting wires. Where a cane has been provided for each branch all that is needed is a simple loop of string round branch and stake at regular intervals.
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As the
dahlias in your
garden grows so does its need for water grow, and some attempt must be made to cater for the increasing demand.
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March 05 2009 | Gardening | No Comments »