A little bit of tying

In view of the heavy winds, gardens have taken a fair old beating over recent days. Some herbaceous plants are still hanging on to their brittle stems (such as phlox) and all they need at this time of year is a simple clean break at the base with your hands and they will cleanly snap-off; much easier and quicker than having to cut each stem in the autumn with your secateurs.

Climbing roses will need their main stems (which form the framework) tied to wires sooner rather than later. If, like me, you have a rose that you want to train up a chestnut pole, these stems also need securing. Remove the dead, damaged and diseased wood first (the 3 d's) and then any crossing branches and spindly growth. Finally, laterals need to be cut back to about 4 inches. Once you've done all this you can then start tying-in.

The best way to achieve this is to secure your twine to the pole and then tie in each main stem.  Do this by taking the twine around the outside of the stem, take it underneath, then return over the top and progress to the next stem.

Once all have stems have been tied-in you should have something looking like this. The twine isn't fixed too tightly but just enough to prevent stems from waving around in the wind. 

Keep off!

The weather is still presenting some challenges and although there is much to do in the borders there is no point compacting the soil and subsequently ruining the structure - so stay off is my advice. So once again, it's working from paths wherever possible.

At one of my gardens, one plant that is in need of some attention is Cotoneaster horizontalis. Over the years it has gradually encroached it's way onto the path / driveway and becoming rather messy.

The difficulty is trying to ensure the layers of herringbone patterned stems are maintained whilst pruning to keep it within bounds.

Some main branches were completely removed and selective stems cut back to appropriate places. In the end it looked much better and, without the loss of its distinctive habit.

If a plant has totally over stayed its welcome, it may be necessary to cut it right back to ground level and start the framework, once again, from scratch. 

The mild weather has continued to advance plant growth and their flowers. Here we have a pulmonaria (common nicknames such as Soldiers & Sailors, Lungwort, Jerusalem Cowslip and Adam and Eve to name but a few...take your pick!) providing a pleasing splash of blue to this moist, part-shady area of the garden. 

A challenging time

In view of these continued rainy days, pruning is still pretty much at the top of my agenda and one plant (fuchsia), in one front garden, had the secateurs forced upon it. A little earlier then I would normally intervene but the weather, it has to be said, is pretty mild.

Lots of weak growth from last year is completely removed and then, and only then, are the strongest stems kept and pruned back, quite hard, to just above a node.  I wanted to prevent all the plant from flowering at the same height so I've taken careful steps to layer the pruning to maximise the spread of the display. 

When completed, I added some bonemeal and applied a mulch.

Sadly not all plants, or trees come to think of it, get this careful treatment.  It looks as if this tree surgeon has been a bit too heavy handed with the chainsaw.  An understatement to say the least...and what a bloody disgrace and eyesore!

A ray of sunshine

In addition to the increase flower in the gardens from bulbs / plants such as snowdrops, hellebores and hamamelis, it's lovely to see some colour from some indoor plants.  Here, Plumbago 'Dark Blue' is starting to flower in my conservatory. More buds are waiting in the wings!

Off to the barbers

More rain last week which once again, forced me to reconsider my wish list of jobs. As a result, the planting of bare rooted roses has had to wait for another day. Buds are already breaking so decision time very shortly.

With the ground still wet to be cultivating I diverted my attention to some pampass grass (Cortaderia selloana) which runs at the very edge of this boundary. Each year it looks great (particularly in late autumn as shown here) along this exposed garden. However, this is an ideal time to cut them right back to a tight hummock to prevent them becoming an over-sized and messy brute. 

On this occasion, a good hedge trimmer is an ideal tool which makes easy work of cutting through the razor sharp leaves. Wearing long sleeves as protection is paramount if you want to prevent your arms from getting slashed to bits. 

Gradually making my way down the row and time for a quick coffee.

Apart from some finer tidying of each hummock, a good job done until my next visit.  A pleased barber!

What a difference a snip makes

Despite the unsettled weather there are still lots of jobs that I've been able to do.  In addition to the ongoing pruning of certain shrubs and cutting back those perennials that have finished their winter seed head display, cutting back your ferns is another useful task worth undertaking.

Many people leave their ferns year-on-year without cutting back the fronds, resulting in a messy specimen.

By simply removing the fronds, right to the woolly fists, it enlivens the plant and new growth will emerge in next to no time - uninterrupted from the previous years growth. 

In just a few simple snips the fern is finished!

Once complete, the surrounding area has been enriched with some organic matter (lightly forked in). This space creates an opportunity to introduce some snowdrops (in the green); the 2 plants would then work in tandem.  When the fern is dormant the snowdrops strut their stuff and when the snowdrops finish their display the fern is beginning to takeover the show and fills up the area whilst its partner is dormant. Simple eh!

The snowdrops will arrive around mid February, so I'm looking forward to introducing them; not only around the fern but to most deciduous shrubs that need some added colour around their base at this time of year.  

Here, I already have a small group at the base of my Hydrangea petiolaris.  This particular one is Galanthus 'S Arnott' which Fergus kindly gave when I was at Dixter. It's slow to bulk up but it's an absolute gem.

If you want something a little different to partner a deciduous shrub, you could use Arum italicum 'Marmoratum'.

A glorious day

You would have thought it was a spring day.  Sunshine and warmth is certainly tricking the plants into early growth but as we all know, mother nature can have a nasty sting in her tail; I only hope we don't get a sustained cold spell.

In a sheltered area of this garden, Melianthus major is already 2 foot high and looks as luscious as it can be with new growth surging ahead. Although it's only half hardy, on the south coast of the UK we seem to be able to get away with keeping it outside with a little protection. Having said that, this plant hasn't had any protective layer this year and I'm amazed how well it's done.

A plant that is synonymous with winter flower and scent is the Chimonanthus praecox.  Common name: wintersweet.  It needs space to grow and doesn't take too kindly to human intervention so be very cautious when using those secateurs.  Go in too heavy and you may wonder why your plant isn't flowering.

I was hoping to get some roses planted which have been heeled in for the last 5 - 6 weeks but although the rain has eased a little over the past few days, the ground continues to be saturated. This particular garden has a very high water table and at times you may be as well making mud pies.  In this instance, I'm hoping patience really does pay off.