I’ll plant climbers – you know it makes scents

ONEof my favourite memories of last year’s long, hot summer was sitting in my friend Jane’s garden inhaling the scent of the lovely climber, Trachelospermum jasminoides as it tumbled over the garden wall.

Summer seems a long way off at the moment but, as part of my campaign to pack my garden with scented plants, I’ve just bought two trachelospermums of my own. Trachelospermum is an evergreen twiner that can ramble for almost 30ft, but it is easy to keep in check with a trim in early spring. When it is cut back it grows into a denser plant, which means more fragrant flowers. The only problem is that Jane lives in Surrey, close to the River Thames, 400 miles south of my own garden and trachelospermum is a touch on the tender side.

It can take temperatures that dip below freezing for a short period, but it doesn’t do so well when it is grown on damp, heavy soil – which is what I have.

So it’s a dilemma – should I risk my climbers and plant them out anyway or pop them into a couple of containers where they won’t be able to ramble in such an appealing fashion but they will survive the winter? I’m still trying to decide and in the meantime I’ve earmarked the prostrate cotoneaster, which is currently taking up too much space in the front garden, as an alternative if I decide to go down the pampering route. Sorting out the patio border is my main priority and I’ve been digging up anything that isn’t earning its keep and replacing it with shrubs that will give me colour and scent all year round.

Among the new additions is a winter flowering honeysuckle which has scented creamy-white flowers while around it are skimmias, Christmas box and a mix of evergreen and deciduous azaleas along with a couple of well-behaved rhododendrons that have an attractive, mounding habit but which will not outgrow the space.

There’s still a large thicket or Crocosmia to be removed. From a few corms, planted by the previous owner, this has spread across a whole swathe of the garden and I’m sure I’ll still be digging it out several years from now.

Once the shrubs are all in position I’m going to plant dozens of small narcissi between them and I’ll add lilies for scent and colour. I’m also going to grow a clematis through the honeysuckle, one of the shrubby varieties and not the climbing sort, to dress up its branches during the summer. I still have to find a space for the Wintersweet, Chimonanthus praecox. This is another scented favourite and, although the plant I have is small at the moment, it could reach four metres when mature so I’ve got to place it where it won’t outgrow its space. Once it reaches a reasonable height, I’ll drape another clematis over it.