Plant an herbaceous clematis

It’ll scramble through your borders and mix with everything else!

Have you ever thought about growing a border clematis, free to nestle prettily between the rest of your herbaceous plants or scramble happily over the ground? You needn’t just grow clematis up walls, trellis or obelisks on their own – choose certain species and they can mix nicely with everything else.

Being planted here (right) is a brand new introduction for 2017 by Thorncroft Clematis (www.thorncroftclematis.co.uk), called C. integrifolia ‘Lathkill Dale’, a bushy plant with open, outward-facing, pale blue blooms – a real delight. Also, did you know our very own Carol Klein has a new variety being launched by Taylors Clematis later in July? Her namesake C. integrifolia ‘Carol Klein’ is a glorious, non-clinging, mid-pink border plant. Visit www.taylorsclematis.co.uk and have a look!

As for planting, ensure the area around the clematis is enriched with rotted manure or compost and a handful of bonemeal in the planting area, then dig a hole deeper than the size of the pot. Tease the roots well and plant your clematis 7½cm (3in) deeper than the top of the container’s compost. Backfill and add in some slow release food tablets, such as Osmocote, for good measure. Water really well and if you’re growing it in an area that gets baking hot, mulch around the roots with bark, or similar, to keep it cool.