Vines and weeds

It's still November and gardeners are squeezing their yards for any signs of beauty.

I was at a Dim Sum party recently with a group of gardeners and we toured the host's garden before we sat down to roll bamboo leaves. We hopped around the garden admiring sticks, stones and stalks until we landed under the arch of an arbor covered with a clematis. The clematis itself was covered with seedheads. They looked like cosmic-like little sea urchins rolled in tufts of cotton. The frothy display made a big bang in the otherwise understated November landscape.

It was ironic then, that I got an email from new gardeners Lori and Brian, owners of a new clematis and fretting about whether to "prune it now or later."

First of all consider that pruning any clematis now will remove the garden of some winter interest. Second, most things, clematis included don't cherish pruning at this time of the year.

It's possible to be paralyzed at the thought of pruning clematis. Whole books have been written on the subject and that is because there are three distinct classes and they have different pruning needs.

In Lori and Brian's case we know that the clematis is a blue variety with 3-inch flowers. My, my, that does make it difficult. Most new gardeners though, fall in love with the jackmanii types and pruning on this is done in late winter or early spring before the buds break.

Raymond Evison, world famous breeder of clematis wrote a comforting book on the care of clematis. In Making the Most of Clematis he suggests pruning out the old top growth of the jackmanii types down to about 30 to 75cm above soil level. Hard pruning will encourage new stems to break beneath the soil level helping to maintain a vigorous plant.

Not all clematis produce shapely seedheads though. If you want those furry sputniks, look for clematis alpina and macropetala types.

Right now is when gardeners are looking at the state of their window boxes and containers, as the summer plants gasp their way into oblivion.

Linda van der Beek wants to know how to get her potted Alberta Spruce through the winter. These pyramidal evergreens look handsome on porches and stairs, hers is in a 12 inch by 9-inch pot. First of all I would say bump up the pot size. The bigger the pot the better chance for survival, there is no magic size to assure winter survival, it is always an experiment. Critical to survival is making sure the plant has enough water. Evergreens continue to take in and give off water all winter so keep watering up until freeze up and then watch for warm winter days when the top few inches of soil might accept a bit more water.

Hopefully your spruce will be in a sheltered location, away from drying winter winds. Remember that plants in containers are growing in stressful conditions. So be prepared to say goodbye to it one year when it's just had enough of pot society. My Alberta spruce lasted about three years, you may have better luck. Don't forget to give it a well-deserved spray of water during the summer months; this will help combat spider mites.

Lucky that Linda has that Alberta spruce to take her mind off her goutweed issue. Goutweed, (also called snow-on-the-mountain and bishop's weed) still sadly sold as a groundcover, is taking over her garden. Goutweed, Aegopodium spreads with supersonic speed, and sorry to say there is no one perfect answer to controlling its spread.

Those witty gardeners at the GardenWeb (forums.gardenweb.com) torture each other with goutweed stories. One mathematician calculated it would take two-and-a-half days weeding each week for three years to eradicate a large patch of goutweed.

Hand pulling every scrap of it is one option and chemical control is another. If you want to investigate chemicals go to an informed source at a garden centre or search the internet for the proper, safe way to use them.

So there you have it, two thirds of the way through November and there is still plenty to fret about and celebrate in the garden.