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I found this article by Brian Minter about using vines to solve garden problems. “Looking for a simple but fast cover-up to screen an old fence or wall, an unsightly building or a nosy neighbour? Why not try some interesting and attractive vines?” His review covers most of the common vines including Virginia Creeper, Hummingbird Vine, Silver Lace Vine, Wisteria and Honeysuckle.

In my previous garden there was large wisteria which provided a great show provided I remembered to prune it at the right time. It was planted next to a long beech hedge and keeping the two seperate was quite a job. When trimming the hedge I would find wisteria shoots up to twenty feet from the main bush.

So wanting to cover a rather unsightly shed in my present garden I planted a wisteria a few years ago, but so far it seems reluctant to extend its shoots where I want them to go. Instead it is producing a bunch of small branches at one end and, to make matters worse, only a few flowers.

I am having better luck with honeysuckles which along with clematis and jasmin are my favorite climbing plants. As Brian Minter says “Vines are great, easy to grow, colourful and effective in solving so many landscape problems”. Read more..

While vines can be very useful in the right place, you need to make sure that you do not choose one that is too aggressive and so becomes the problem rather than the solution. Joe Lampl writing in The Seattle Times talks about “Invasion of the garden thugs”.

“Aggressive thugs try to take over your landscape. Invasive thugs have larger goals. They escape from the garden into the natural environment and quickly squeeze out a lot of other plants in their path”.

He describes half a dozen common “thugs” including creeping buttercup which is the one that is causing me problems in my lawn and elsewhere. Read more..

And finally a quick tip on how to save on potting soil. I have tried this myself and it certainly makes sense. Read more..

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1. Climbing Plants – Clematis Early And Late

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Vertical gardening is not a new idea. Garden writers have for many years suggested that people with small courtyard gardens should make the most of the space by growing climbing plants up the walls and fences bounding their property. But new forms of vertical gardening are emerging. Some like the “green wall” covered with ferns are dramatic, but not really practical for the average home garden. Others can be both creative and highly practical serving both as a feature and useful to cover items that you wish to hide like unsightly sheds, air-conditioning units, utility poles, and fences. In her piece in the Philadephia Enquirer, Virginia A. Smith describes how “Vertical plants and props also earn their keep as architectural statements and problem-solvers. They offer what designers call “exclamation points” in otherwise flat landscapes”. Read more..

If you have suffered from the brown marmorated stink bug, help may be at hand. Research at at a laboratory in Newark is developing a possible biological control. A tiny parasitic wasp may be able to nip the stink bug explosion in the bud by preying on stink bug eggs. Read more..

I always enjoy reading about garden designers and I found these two articles about two very different characters. Lancelot Capability Brown the sixteenth century landscape designer revolutionised the landscapes of the great English estates. He removed flowerbeds surrounded by box hedging and what he considered fussy objects that restricted the view. He invented the ha-ha as a replacement for the wall so that you could have an uninterrupted view of the landscape. Read more..

Diarmuid Gavin, a 46 year old from Dublin hates neatly clipped lawns, clusters of pretty roses and a few bumpy rockeries thrown in for good measure. He has built a reputation on his experimental gardening style – and the forceful personality that’s seen him clash with colleagues in the ­gardening world. “To be honest, a lot of people in the business tend to get along better with their plants and flowers than they do with other people” he says. Read more..

And finally two giant veg stories. First 9-year-old Austin Davis from Charleston, W Virginia and his twenty-one pound cabbage and Panhandle man Sam Pittman with his 8-pound turnip. No picture for this one and it was too tough to eat!

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Clematis Montana

Clematis Alpina Constance

Clematis Sunset

Clematis Montana is known as a vigorous climber and this one in my garden has lived up to its name. This is now the third season since this was planted and it has now completely covered the tree stump. While montana can be a nuisance in the wrong place, where there is room for it to sprawl it makes a fine show.

The montana was the second clematis to bloom in my garden this year. It was preceded by clematis Alpina Constance which put on its display in April and is now over. Next I am looking forward to Ice Blue and Sunset which are growing together in a container. The Large white flowers of rather oddly named Ice Blue are complemented by the reddish purple of Sunset.

The oldest clematis I have was planted soon after I moved to this house some six years ago. Clematis Jackmanii Superba has puple flowers and blooms profusely on a north facing fence. Each year I prune it back to eighteen inches from the ground, but last autumn I decided to leave the main branches in place. Unfortunately when I checked earlier this spring I found that the main stem had been broken almost at ground level and it is only now slowly beginning to grow back. Slugs are a problem and nibble the emerging shoots, but clematis are tough and always recover after a slow start.

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