CLIMBING FOR GLORY
Bring a boring fence or drab wall to life with scent and colour
WELCOME to autumn. Isn’t it lovely to enjoy the late perennials flowering their heads off? Our summer pots still look gorgeous, but I have an embarrassing confession to make. My walls and fences are a bitter disappointment. Despite being densely planted, they just don’t pack a seasonal punch. There’s too much nondescript foliage, too little colour and barely anything in flower.
In other seasons, those same vertical spaces look fine. From spring onwards there are clematis, climbing roses, honeysuckles and so much more.
Even winter is relieved by Japanese quince and fragrant Coronilla. But in autumn, the walls are not up to snuff.
That matters because climbers can transform a garden. They raise the eye, boost colour and soften hard edges. You can bring dull brickwork or boring fences to life with well-chosen plants.
In a tiny garden, vertical surfaces may be all you have for big, bold planting. And, if furnished with excellent climbers, they’ll look lovely all year.
BE RUTHLESS
THIS is an excellent time for planting hardy shrubs and climbers from garden centres, nurseries or online. Most will take a year to mature. But if you plant now, you should be rewarded with a preview next autumn. To make room, you may need to remove established plants that don’t contribute enough. You have to be ruthless.
Under-achievers are easy to spot. For me, honeysuckle with a brief flowering period and no fragrance won’t do. So out goes flashy weekend wonder Lonicera x tellmanniana. But fragrant L. Halliana flowers July to November, so it stays.
Wisterias flower briefly, too, but unlike scruffy honeysuckle, they have off- season beauty. The attractive foliage turns pale gold in autumn. And mature trunks and branches look artistically gnarled and sculptural in winter.
Herbaceous summer climbers can weave through wisterias, too. I’ve used big blue morning glories and orange-flowered Thunbergia alata for that.
They’re both tender, but orange or crimson-pink Eccremocarpus scaber often over-winters and flowers for ages. I’ve even seen it cheering up a boring conifer.
Reliably perennial, Tropaeolum speciosum can decorate a yew hedge with garlands of scarlet flowers. Among late-blooming woody climbers, Campsis ‘Madame Galen’ is superb for a sunny wall. Orange-red, trumpet flowers glow among lush foliage, often into October.
AUTUMN GLORY
FOR colour in bulk, plant climbers that belong to the grapevine family. You can liven up a big tree by training the stately Vitis coignetiae into its crown. Festoons of huge leaves in amber, beetroot and scarlet will hang from the long stems like fiery flags for Halloween.
For walls, self-clinging Boston ivy Parthenocissus tricuspidata and Virginia creeper P. quinquefolia are widely grown. They’re gorgeous in autumn but a prettier plant, P. henryana, has young foliage marbled in pewter and pink. These colours deepen to crimson-purple and then scarlet.
Parthenocissus are self-clinging — not with damaging roots, like ivy but with tendrils and miniature suction pads. All three will block gutters or creep under eaves unless controlled.
A better- behaved vine is porcelain berry, Parthenocissus brevipedunculata. You wouldn’t look twice at its modest leaves or insignificant flowers.
There’s a creamy marbled form, Variegata, but the plain green variety fruits more freely — and that’s what matters.
The autumn berries are baby blue, each darkly spotted like the exquisite egg of a song thrush.
AFTER the recent rain, soil conditions are perfect for some autumn planting. Lift and divide early-flowering perennials such as brunneras, Solomon’s seal, oriental poppies and lupins (pictured right) as soon as you can.
Dig up mature plants, shake off surplus soil and split them into smaller chunks.
If the roots are dense, use two forks to lever the clumps apart. With tough individuals, it may be necessary to slice the roots with an old knife. I even used an axe once, but that’s a bit extreme! Remember that the best vigour comes from the youngest parts of the plant. Those are around the edges of the clump, so when you dig up a big plant, save your divisions from the outsides.
It’s best to throw the aging centres away or better still, put them in the compost bin.
There’s nothing to gain by re- planting large divisions. Results will be better with small splits, each having a few visible shoots and healthy roots.
Water your new young divisions after re-planting. And for varieties which die down below the soil each winter, mark where you have placed them with canes or labels.