The real bonus was to see so much was now in flower. Early clematis were getting into their stride, including an herbaceous clematis which whilst not yet in flower, has three foot long shoots which needed tying-in. Azaleas were bursting into colourful bloom. The roses, ah the roses. All my favourites were straining at the leash, ready to capture all the attention.
The first important job that just had to be tackled and quick was the tying-in of all those flailing clematis shoots. This is one of my least favourite occupations, it’s time consuming and tedious, particularly when trying to untangle a mass of twisted shoots. Inevitably, some shoots get broken, but the struggle is well worth it in the end. Spreading out all these errant growths pays real dividends at flowering time.
Next on the agenda was pruning. Now this is a gardening skill that until quite recently, I hadn’t quite mastered properly. The skill lies in making it appear that no pruning has taken place of course.
I would describe the qualities of someone skilled in the art of pruning to be those of ruthlessness, coupled with an eye for seeing the essentials of the matter. Previously and not that long ago, my idea of pruning was to snip here and snip there hardly making any impression at all. In short, I hated the very idea of pruning anything. Well, gardening in such a small space as I do, I was soon to run into trouble with this technique.
I am now proud to announce that I am now master of my garden and the plants that live in it and not the other way around. I have amazed myself with my sheer brutality where pruning is concerned. Whereas before I loathed the idea of losing flowers today, when in fact I could have had more tomorrow if only I had been brave enough.
Getting to the heart of the matter is definitely the key. It is just not good enough to prune the tips of shoots on overgrown shrubs. The only possible result of that, as I have discovered is an unsightly forest of new shoots where you least want them. So, any unwanted branches are removed at their base, this includes crossing branches, duplicated branches, weak shoots etc.
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