After the wind blows (From York Press)

After the wind blows

10:40am Saturday 28th January 2012 in Gardening By Gina Parkinson

GINA PARKINSON surveys the damage caused by whipping gusts of wind, and gives advice on how to prune clematis.

THIS winter couldn’t be more different to last year. We had a lifetime’s worth of snow then and I have been glad not to see much of the white stuff yet this year.

It has, however, been windy. We have endured days of wild gusts and the damage to our garden will have to be sorted out before the spring. So it was a relief last Monday that the wind dropped and the sun shone. The ground was frosted in parts, but it was mild enough to step outside and tidy up.

Late last winter, our rose arches collapsed with snow and wind damage. I spent a weekend putting up new ones and tying in vicious thorny stems. Unfortunately, the roses have proved too heavy for the replacement arches; they were cheap and have bent and snapped under the weight.

Although the roses have been temporarily rescued, it is the time for a rethink. Do we replace the arches one by one, there are four and we will have to save up to buy decent ones; or do we support the climbers in another way?

They were put in by another owner and maybe now I am confident enough to start changing things.

The roses are beautiful and it would be a shame to get rid of them. Bringing down their height and allowing them to ramble along a lower support would open up a longer view of the garden from the house.

Then there is a temporary fence we erected after clearing a thicket of shrubs and small trees. We felt exposed so the fence was put along the boundary with our neighbour while the plants thickened again and we were able to start planting the planned hedge.

Unfortunately, the fence has not withstood the force of the whipping wind. Some plants for the hedge are already in the garden waiting to be moved, so for the moment the fence will have to come down: a failed experiment but a lesson learned.

Weekend catch-up

CLEMATIS are beginning to sprout, especially ones grown in a warm and sheltered site. So now it the time to start cutting the late-flowering ones back.

These begin to flower in July on growth that will be made this year. They can be taken hard back to just above the lowest bud on each of the stems, which will keep a fresh crop of new stems coming through and stop the plant becoming woody.

Large flowered hybrids which begin to flower in June and have a second, smaller-flowered flush in August or September. This group, which includes popular varieties like Nelly Moser, Niobe and the President, can also be pruned between now and March. They flower on wood made the previous year, so should have all the dead and weak growth removed, then the remaining stems cut back by around a third to just above a strong bud or shoot.

Any clematis that flowers in May or earlier, such as like the montanas and alpinas, need to be left until they have finished blooming before pruning. Once they begin to fade in June, weak and dead stems can be taken out, along with unwanted ones if the plant has outgrown its space.

These are large plants with tremendously long stems that need plenty of space. The new growth that appears this summer will ripen and bear flowers next year.

Gardening TV and radio

Sunday

9am, BBC Radio Leeds, Tim Crowther and Joe Maiden.

2pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Eric Robson chairs a postbag edition of the show in which the team answer listeners’ questions.

Friday

3pm, BBC R4, Gardeners’ Question Time. Chris Beardshaw, Bob Flowerdew, Christine Walkden and chairman Eric Robson hold their horticultural discussion in London at the Royal College of Physicians.

Saturday, February 4

7am, BBC Radio York, Julia Booth. Presenter Julia and plant expert Nigel Harrison hold their weekly plant surgery.