Mastering your climbers

When there’s no more ground to cover, the plant-mad gardener goes up.

But climbers definitely shouldn’t be an afterthought.

They soften boundaries, give quick height and can create a substantial impression without taking up a lot of precious space.

The main reasons for pruning climbers are to thicken them up or thin them out, and to encourage fresh growth.

How to prune climbing roses was covered in our March edition; other climbers require different care.

Many are highly prone to getting ‘leggy’ - the lower growth gets bare and woody, with leaves and flowers limited to the young growth up top. Others can end up as dense, unmanageable tangles, swallowing up the garden around them.

If your climbing plant is in need of rejuvenation do not be scared of some hard pruning.

Select out some woody stems and cut back to a couple of feet from the ground, cutting just above joints (there might be a leaf or sideshoot, but more likely there will just be a knobble). All being well this will stimulate fresh leafy growth from the cutting point, and possibly from the ground too.

Cutting a stem where each of the three red markers is should much improve this honeysuckle

If your climber has become a thicket be prepared to have to spend some time freeing out your clippings. The easiest approach is to make the cuts then come back a week later when the cut growth has started to die off making it easier to trace what needs pulling free from what you are keeping.

Take the opportunity to fan out stems to spread across a wide an area as possible, as plants will naturally head straight up to the sunshine rather than outwards.

With young plants, gardeners can be too focused on achieving height without thinking about coverage. Cut one shoot above a joint and you will usually get two shoots coming up in its place. So don’t wait till the plant has reached the top of the fence or you will end up with a spindly top-heavy plant.

Remember too that climbers are fast growing, so when you cut, go at least two foot lower than you want them to be this summer as they will soon race back up.

All Clematis get their annual prunes in spring. The early flowerers such as montanas can be done after flowering in late April or May, if they need thickening or rejuvenating.

Early summer varieties can get a trim late February to early April, whilst the later varieties can get a harder cut as they have more time to regrow.

If they need any thinning or trimming, tackle honeysuckles in March and early April. This is also the time of year for trimming Trachelospermum, if necessary. Passion flowers can get cut back to healthy growth now, but be wary of frosts.

Jasmine, Solanum (potato vine) and Parthenocissus (Boston ivy/Virginia creeper) are among the climbers to prune in autumn.

All climbers are hungry plants so combine your cuts with feeds of manure, compost or mulch.