Climber | Clematis Ernest Markham 9cm

Arrival

Once your new plants have arrived, it's important to know what to do with them next to give them the best chance of thriving.

When they first arrive, your plants may be a little unsettled from the journey. However, if you give them a bit of water, they will soon start to recover!

Planting

Make sure you plant perennial plants in spring or autumn to give them a chance to establish themselves. If you buy perennials outside of these times it's ok, just plant straight away and give them a good water.

To plant your new perennials, clear the area of weeds and dig a hole slightly bigger than the pot or clump. Place the plant in the hole at the same depth as its current pot.

Refill the hole around the roots, water thoroughly and add more soil if needed after it has settled. Spread compost around your newly planted plants to help them retain their moisture and prevent weeds from germinating.

Feeding

The best time to feed your plants is in the spring and summer when they are actively growing. If your plants are in containers they will need regular feeding, where as plants in the ground will most likely have all the nutrients they need. Things to look out for are signs of nutrient deficiency, growth rate is slower than expected, or yield of fruit is lower than expected.

When feeding make sure you avoid touching the leaves as this can lead to scorching.

Watering

Water perennials deeply during their first growing season and make sure the soil is never too dry or too wet. During hot or dry spells, you may need to water more regularly to ensure the plant survives.

As a rough guide -

October - February - Plants are unlikely to need watering as the weather is usually damp

March - May - Recently planted perennials should be watered every 2 - 4 days, and established perennials can be watered once a week.

June - September - Recently planted perennials should be watered every 1 - 2 days, and established perennials can be watered once a week.

Adding mulch around your plants will help them to retain moisture for longer and keep weed growth down.

Pruning

Continuously pruning and dead heading perennials can keep your flowerbeds looking neat and tidy. In early spring, start by cutting all dead growth back to the ground and, as it grows, you can cut off the parts of the plant that are becoming too messy. During the summer, you should regularly cut spent flowers off to help promote new, healthy growth.

Dividing

It's easy for perennials to outgrow the space they're in and cause overcrowding. so dividing them up leaves space and provides new healthy plants for another part of your garden. Wait until early spring/summer to give the new plants time to establish their roots before winter sets in again. Dig the plant up, shake the soil off, divide the plant and then replant each one.

Arrival

Once your new plants have arrived, it's important to know what to do with them next to give them the best chance of thriving.

When they first arrive, your plants may be a little unsettled from the journey. However, if you give them a bit of water, they will soon start to recover!

Types of Climber

Tendrils & Pads - These climbers produce thin structures protruding from the main stem for attachment. Tendrils wrap around another structure, and pads stick to them.

Twiners - Using their stems as the method of attachment, twiners wrap themselves clockwise or anti clockwise around another structure for support.

Scramblers - Unlike other climbers, scramblers cannot support themselves and need to be tied to a structure for support.

Stem Roots - These climbers grow roots along the entire length of the stem to attach themselves to a supporting structure.

Planting & Training

When planting climbers it's a good idea to position them approximately 30cm away from your chosen supporting structure, this will allow the base of the climber to access easily access water when it rains.

Climbing plants do well both in containers and planted directly in the ground, with the main consideration being the structure provided for the plant. Best results can be achieved with a mixture of vertical and horisontal structures to accomodate the varying types of climbers.

Watering

Water climbers deeply during their first growing season and make sure the soil is never too dry or too wet. During hot or dry spells, you may need to water more regularly to ensure the plant survives. 

As a rough guide -

October - February - Plants are unlikely to need watering as the weather is usually damp

March - May - Recently planted climbers should be watered every 2 - 4 days, and established climbers can be watered once a week.

June - September - Recently planted climbers should be watered every 1 - 2 days, and established climbers can be watered once a week.

Adding mulch around your plants will help them to retain moisture for longer and keep weed growth down.

Pruning

Always prune climbers when first growth starts (between February and March). Before pruning, think about the shape you want the plant to take as it grows and use this as a guide. Remove any weak stems or stems growing in the wrong direction. 

You can cut dead or damaged stems back at any time to keep the plant growing well and to encourage new growth.

Arrival

Your new plants have arrived! It's important to know what to do with them next to give them the best chance of thriving.

When they first arrive, your plants may be a little unsettled from the journey. However, if you give them a bit of water, they will soon start to recover!

Location

Choose a spot for your new plant in your home that has plenty of sunlight but not in strong direct sunlight. A nice bright room is perfect.

It takes a house plant around one to two weeks to establish itself in a new environment so, once you've chosen your spot, it's best to leave it there until it's recovered from the journey. 

In addition, if you do move your plant in the future, you may find it looks a little wilted until it establishes itself in its new spot.

Watering

To keep your plants as happy as possible, rain water is best, or tap water that has been left for 24 hours for the Chlorine to evaporate. Try to wait until the water is at room temperature to make sure you don't shock the plant.

Most house plants only need watering every one to three weeks so monitoring them is important to know when they need water. Putting your finger in the soil to determine whether it's moist or dry is a good indicator of when your plants need watering. You will soon get to know your plant and it's habits. 

In the winter, house plants will need much less water than throughout the summer months when they enter their growing period.

Repotting

Your house plant will have arrived in a plastic pot so there's no need to re-plant it once you remove it from the box. 

If your plant becomes too big for the pot, wait for spring and choose a pot up to two sizes bigger and repot it. The plant will then need leaving in the same spot for a few weeks while it gets used to the new pot.

Remember to give it a good water after repotting.

Pots

As your plant is already potted, you can put it straight into an indoor decorative plant pot that's Ceramic, Metal or Plastic and has no holes. This will allow excess water to drain from the pot it arrived in and into the decorative outer pot without spilling.

Note, if you pot directly into a decorative pot then you will need to ensure it has holes for drainage, and a saucer underneath to catch excess water.

Soil

Soil types vary with house plants, however one rule of thumb is that whichever mix you need, it must be free draining to ensure the roots stay healthy and don't rot.

Desert plants such as Zamioculcas or Sansevieria prefer a more sandy mix such as a cactus potting mix, where as Jungle plants such as Philodendron or Alocasia prefer one that contains more bark and fibre.

The easiest thing is to make note of the current soil it's been grown in and buy one that contains similar ingredients at your local garden centre.

Arrival

Once your new plants have arrived, it's important to know what to do with them next to give them the best chance of thriving.

When they first arrive, your plants may be a little unsettled from the journey. However, if you give them a bit of water, they will soon start to recover!

Planting

Make sure you plant shrubs plants in spring or autumn to give them a chance to establish themselves. If you buy shrubs outside of these times it's ok, just plant straight away and give them a good water.

To plant your new shrubs, clear the area of weeds and dig a hole slightly bigger than the pot or clump. Place the plant in the hole at the same depth as its current pot. 

Refill the hole around the roots, water thoroughly and add more soil if needed after it has settled. Spread compost around your newly planted plants to help them retain their moisture and prevent weeds from germinating.

Feeding

The best time to feed your plants is in the spring and summer when they are actively growing. If your plants are in containers they will need regular feeding, where as plants in the ground will most likely have all the nutrients they need. Things to look out for are signs of nutrient deficiency, growth rate is slower than expected, or yield of fruit is lower than expected.

When feeding make sure you avoid touching the leaves as this can lead to scorching.

Watering

Water shrubs deeply during their first growing season and make sure the soil is never too dry or too wet. During hot or dry spells, you may need to water more regularly to ensure the plant survives. 

As a rough guide -

October - February - Plants are unlikely to need watering as the weather is usually damp

March - May - Recently planted shrubs should be watered every 2 - 4 days, and established shrubs can be watered once a week.

June - September - Recently planted shrubs should be watered every 1 - 2 days, and established shrubs can be watered once a week.

Adding mulch around your plants will help them to retain moisture for longer and keep weed growth down.

Pruning

Pruning shrubs helps to keep them in good condition and keep them in shape.

Deciduous Shrubs: Winter and early spring are the best times for pruning deciduous shrubs. To promote new healthy growth you should cut the previous years' growth back, making sure only a couple of new buds are showing. Prune any dead stems back until you can see fresh growth.

Evergreen Shrubs: Early spring before new growth begins is the best time to prune evergreen shrubs.

Flowering shrubs should be pruned after they have bloomed as this encourages the shrub to rebloom and produce more flowers. 

Always cut weak or diseased stems back to healthy wood.