I’m thoroughly sick of my winter garden. I’ve decided that Woodend winters aren’t too cold. They’re cold for too long. And my garden clearly feels the same.
There’s very little doing. There’s the minuscule joys, of course, like the snowdrops (minuscule in source, rather than magnitude – very few individual things in the garden make me happier than the snowdrops). But there’s nothing at all interesting or engaging to be seen when you stand back and take it all in. Next month the Euphorbia rigida – of which there’s lots – will set the whole garden fizzing with acid lime. Bring it on.
What I’m doing now, and why now…
This week I’ll dash around (in the occasional sunny break) and cut down all the clematis that require it. Most cutting back around here is left as late as possible to minimise the duration of the consequent bareness, but clematis tend to kick into growth ridiculously early – much earlier than most deciduous things. And when you’re dealing with those species and hybrids that flower on new ‘wood’ (or stems) made in the current year (so for me, that includes Clematis x durandii, the supremely elegant C. ‘Rooguchi’ (pic above), C. ‘Polish Spirit’ (along with all the C. viticella forms) and the wonderfully abundant, late summer flowering C. maximowicziana) the trouble is that if you leave it too late, you feel like you’ll be cutting off so much new growth that you lose conviction and end up going at it too gingerly. In order to launch into this job with the required ruthlessness, I have to do it early, while there’s little or no regrowth in evidence.
Yep. Just went and checked them, and there’s buds bursting along stems that need to be cut off. I mustn’t leave it a moment longer.
How about you? When do you cut yours back? (Sign in to comment below. And if you don’t know whether your clematis is one that should be cut back hard in winter, or cut gently after flowering, google it. That information is widely available)
Have a great week
Michael
BTW, we have two tours on a calendar right now. Sicily and Sardinia in May next year is very nearly sold out. And New Zealand in November this year will need to close soon. So if you’re thinking of joining us on either, it’s time for action!
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