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Climbing clearance & maintenance for easier winter pruning
Clearing climbers now, allows easy pruning after Christmas – © Mom the Barbarian – Flickr
It’s absolutely chucking it down here in London, so instead of getting outside, I’m just going to write about the things I should be doing. This year I decided that with less time to get to the allotment, I was going to try and grow more veggies at home. One particular thing I wanted to do was to intertwine runner beans, sweet peas and clematis over the fence panels nearest the house, not only creating a great green wall covering, but providing a sweet smelling and harvest-able cacophony of delights. It worked an absolute treat, and I got vases of beautiful perfumed flowers as well as lots of grub for the kitchen. But, now that it’s all going over, it’s really time to get out and clear it away.
Though it’s not the right time to be pruning back clematis, with falling leaves making it easier to get access to boundary and border fencing, it’s as good a time as any to neaten everything up a little. Annual specimens, like my peas, can be pruned away from trellising and wire supports completely, and with clearer sight, it’s easier to ensure you don’t accidentally snip directly through those clematis stems you want for next year. Most climbers won’t be pruned until January/February, but you can make life a lot easier by doing a little groundwork now by:
1. Clearing annual climbers away
2. Chopping back ivy – you can do this throughout the year, but I prefer to do it during the autumn so I’m not freezing my butt off in late winter.
3. Securing fence panels, trellising and indeed the very support wires climbers are clinging to so that strong wintry winds don’t ‘prune‘ your plants for you.
4. Deadheading and removing diseased/dead material. Though you can do this as part of the early year prune, I prefer to get it out of the way now to prevent diseases setting in and moving their way back along stems.
Much of the main pruning work should be done after Christmas, but I’ve found there’s no harm getting a start now. After all, by the time it’s warm enough to think about going into the garden, I normally begin to prune only to realise that everything’s already started budding. I always tend to prune my climbing roses at this time of the year, rather in the spring, and do the same for plants such as virginia creepers. By clearing the way in the autumn and preparing my plants for the snip, you can reduce your winter work and spend more time with a hot toddy than trying to get your secateurs to work with numb fingers.
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