Any "Gardeners" on the forum ? Novice requires HELP please

Coho-Blue

Coho-Blue

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Hi Guys

Are there any Gardeners on the forum OR someone with a knowledge of gardening that could help with acquiring a plant ?

Please bare with me for these few short paragraphs to explain ..

I have moved to a house that has a reasonable sized Garden and albeit that I`ve never planted a thing in my life I have decided to tidy the place and plant some "beginner" type plants that are easy to maintain , I`ve also put up some raised beds, planted some easy to maintain shrubs etc, and am now looking to see if I can find a specific Clematis , namely this one Clematis Taiga .. I`m aware that this is a newish Clematis that was introduced into the Chelsea flower show around 2017 .. I`ve struggled to source this here in Northern Ireland

After getting to grips with this over the last few months I`ve taken a fair bit of interest and have recently planted some flowers ( Pansies , Viola Blue etc ) that will hopefully add a splash colour for the approaching Autumn and Winter .. I`ve come to realise that its not a matter of sticking any old plant in the soil and it will grow , I need to plan ahead for certain plants depending on the time of year .. My aim is to have some sort of colour all year round via Shrubs,Flowers and Clematis , just recently I potted a Clematis Freckles to hopefully grown on and introduce into the garden for winter flowering , Iv`e already planted out 2 others ie Clematis Dr Ruppel + Clematis Elsa Spath which are starting to grown nicely and am training them to intertwine along my fencing for a twin coloured approach that should look nice come spring time .. My intention is to put the Clematis Taiga (If I can source one) into a large ceramic Pot in the same fashion as displayed in the link above .... This is going to be an ongoing project ..

Thank you in advance for any help/advice .

Coho - Blue
 
I have had a look around and this company appear to ship to NI....perhaps phone and ask ?

www.taylorsclematis.co.uk

Clematis 'Taiga'

Buy Clematis 'Taiga' from Sarah Raven: A spectacular, showy clematis which looks like a passion flower, but is hardier and easier to grow.
www.taylorsclematis.co.uk www.taylorsclematis.co.uk
 
Nothing to do with clematis (I had 3 in my garden - 1 succumbed to frost almost immediately, 1 succumbed after a couple of years and the 3rd grows like a weed! I replaced one that died with a (hopefully) hardier variety and have it in a large tub so I can move it) but if you're planting a 'new to you' garden please try to include as many insect attracting plants as you can. Our pollinators and butterflies need all the help they can get. Plants that are wild or one step removed from wild are good - things like salvia, nepeta (protect the roots from cats!), sedums, astrantia major, malva, oregano, cranesbill, scabious, heuchera.......... the list is long. They're very attractive in their own right, are mostly easy to grow and have a long flowering season, and don't deadhead the ones that set seed. The birds will eat some seed and the rest may give you new plants.
Apparently the most important bee pollinators are the solitary and bumble bees as they collect pollen as a byproduct on their hair and it just rubs off on the next plant they visit, whereas colony bees like honey bees collect it in pouches so it doesn't rub off. The bumble bees seem to love my clematiis tangutica My Angel. They sometime hang under the barely open buds pawing at them to try to open them.
Don't ask me anything about gardening though. I have black fingers, not green. My garden was planted by someone else, all I've done is replace a few things. My soil is heavy clay and I think there's some remains from an old airfield just below the surface. Things still seem to grow!
 
Thank you @Box Brownie , however I have already "tried to use this company" .. I received a somewhat bemusing email from them that went something like this -

""Thank you for your interest in this Clematis But haven`t you been keeping up with the situation regarding posting plants to Northern Ireland, especially since Brexit ,its been all over the news here"" :eek: :eek:

My response was ,, "Errrr I`m not aware of any situation in regards to postage issues to Northern Ireland for plants, I received a Clematis that was posted to Northern Ireland from a company called Hayloft ,no mention of postal restrictions" .

Having said that the plant did arrive in a terrible terrible state, after repotting it as per instructions I`m still hopeful that it will live ... And therein lies the problem , trying to source that particular plant ...


Coho- Blue
 
Coho-Blue said:
Thank you @Box Brownie , however I have already "tried to use this company" .. I received a somewhat bemusing email from them that went something like this -

""Thank you for your interest in this Clematis But haven`t you been keeping up with the situation regarding posting plants to Northern Ireland, especially since Brexit ,its been all over the news here"" :eek: :eek:

My response was ,, "Errrr I`m not aware of any situation in regards to postage issues to Northern Ireland for plants, I received a Clematis that was posted to Northern Ireland from a company called Hayloft ,no mention of postal restrictions" .

Having said that the plant did arrive in a terrible terrible state, after repotting it as per instructions I`m still hopeful that it will live ... And therein lies the problem , trying to source that particular plant ...


Coho- Blue
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I don‘t think that reply was about “postage” issues, more likely biosecurity issues with EU regulations ;).
 
Coho-Blue said:
Thank you @Box Brownie , however I have already "tried to use this company" .. I received a somewhat bemusing email from them that went something like this -

""Thank you for your interest in this Clematis But haven`t you been keeping up with the situation regarding posting plants to Northern Ireland, especially since Brexit ,its been all over the news here"" :eek: :eek:

My response was ,, "Errrr I`m not aware of any situation in regards to postage issues to Northern Ireland for plants, I received a Clematis that was posted to Northern Ireland from a company called Hayloft ,no mention of postal restrictions" .

Having said that the plant did arrive in a terrible terrible state, after repotting it as per instructions I`m still hopeful that it will live ... And therein lies the problem , trying to source that particular plant ...


Coho- Blue
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Hmmm!

How about 'across the border'?


Wexford and Johnstown at top of the listings
 
Unfortunately the Brexit divident aka NI Protocol forbids any plants and horticultural products going onto the island, ie into the EU Customs Union. Some stuff gets through because the checks that GB committed to put in place, haven't been so far.
 
Thank you @Jannyfox - Yes I`ve taken into consideration that a garden can benefit from plants that attract bees/insects and other pollinators so I also made 2 decent sized planters of which I have planted 2 Argyranthemum Frutescens (Paris Daisy) 1 per Planter that should grown tall with plenty of foilage and these are also surrounded by other flowers ...

time will tell if I have managed to get it going..


Coho- Blue
 
lindsay said:
Unfortunately the Brexit divident aka NI Protocol forbids any plants and horticultural products going onto the island, ie into the EU Customs Union. Some stuff gets through because the checks that GB committed to put in place, haven't been so far.
Click to expand...

Ahhhhhhh I see , that explains it - thanks for the heads up Lindsay ..Soooooo

Does that mean that it would be illegal for me to purchase one a Forum member and have them post it to me should they happen to have a spare one , not that it would ever happen , just thought I`d ask the question ..


Coho-Blue
 
Tigger.ufo said:
My biggest advice would be not to plant it in a pot though, they will do far better in the ground.

The problem is detailed in the link below. I am guessing that smaller nurseries are not willing to suffer the expense. Can you source from Eire?

Import and export of plants after 1 January 2021 | Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs

Questions and answers about the import and export of plants after the 1 January 2021.
www.daera-ni.gov.uk www.daera-ni.gov.uk
Click to expand...

Looks like I`m gong to have to try and source one from the South of Ireland - Its so difficult trying to find suppliers in the south that have a web site .

Yes I looked into these types of Climbers @Tigger.ufo ... In general they do much better planted in the ground however according to all the info out there this particular variety ie Clematis Taiga is well suited in a Large pot that can be moved around the garden provided it is a Ceramic type pot and not made of wood or plastic etc , I`ve no idea why that is ...


Coho-Blue
 
Coho-Blue said:
Ahhhhhhh I see , that explains it - thanks for the heads up Lindsay ..Soooooo

Does that mean that it would be illegal for me to purchase one a Forum member and have them post it to me should they happen to have a spare one , not that it would ever happen , just thought I`d ask the question ..


Coho-Blue
Click to expand...
I can't advise absolutely, but I'd say it could be done but may require a customs declaration on the package (not sure about that), and it may or may not be stopped by the postal authorities.
 
I don't think it is solely a brexit problem, except that now things coming in from the EU have to have the same checks as things from outside the EU.
However NI still uses the EU Plant Passport, so that means the checks will apply to plants from the rest of the UK, but not to plants from the EU.

On colour, don't forget the (inexpensive) basics. Nothing says spring like daffodils, nasturtiums will give lovely bright colours from April-May right up to October, we have a rose that only stops flowering for 2-3 months of the year.
Best to look around your area, see what likes the area and is easy to grow and be sure of getting some colour. Favourites and choices can come later.

"Wild" flowers are great and usually flower for quite long, and attract bees.
 
A soil analysis would be useful to see what will grow well in your garden
 
kennethwfd said:
A soil analysis would be useful to see what will grow well in your garden
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Usually we would use a soil analysis to see what was lacking for a particular crop. ie what fertiliser to use and a what rate to apply it.

Not really as useful to see what would grow well, as the soil is only one of many factors that determine what grows well in a particular spot.

In addition, the plants themselves usually give very clear signs if they are short of something.

Reading the OP's first post, it seems things are growing OK, just a question of deciding what and when. which I don't see an analysis helping with much.

Probably better just to apply some 7-7-7 :)
 
I hope that you have read up on Clematis, as they should be planted deeper than in the pots you get them in. This because of Clematis wilt that will kill them off, but planted deeper they will grow back again. Hope that this will help you.

Trevor
 
Soil analysis may prevent people from buying things that are completely inappropriate such as rhododendrons and camellias when they are planting into alkaline soils. It’s why nearly every gardening book suggests that you get to know your soil before buying plants.

there is an app called My Soil that may give you a rough idea of what youve got without recourse to buying PH testing kits.
 
I can't help on the Clematis but if you have room a couple of shrubs that will give colour later in the year are

Fatsia japonica ( https://candide.com/GB/plants/fc9589d3ef15d6a222fea3958b740f1a ) As the link shows it is a large plant but flowers in the autumn/winter. Here in south east England ours usually flowers in November/December. The flowers have no scent but are very attractive to insects

Another is Mahonia japonica ( https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/10734/mahonia-japonica/details ). It also flowers in the autumn/winter, the flowers attract insects and a fragrant.

Both are common plants that just about all garden centres/plant nurseries will have.

Dave
 
Haydn Clarke said:
Soil analysis may prevent people from buying things that are completely inappropriate such as rhododendrons and camellias when they are planting into alkaline soils. It’s why nearly every gardening book suggests that you get to know your soil before buying plants.

there is an app called My Soil that may give you a rough idea of what youve got without recourse to buying PH testing kits.
Click to expand...


Agreed, but there is a huge difference between a soil analysis and a PH test.

As for a rough idea, look around the area and see what grows well !
That way you will get to know your local soil, micro-climate etc etc

No "science" or expense required :)
 
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