British Summer time may have arrived, but spring still  has some way to travel particularly  in Northern Gardens. Holehird , near Lake Windermere, is a spectacular garden set on the Hillside with views of Windermere  and well worth a visit when in the Lake District. It is also home to the Lakeland horticultural society and maintains the national collection of Astilbe, Meconopsis, and Polystichum. Even in late March when much of the ground is still bare,  it was an interesting visit, wonderfully quiet and peaceful.   The hillsides are planted with shrubs and trees many starting to unfurl their leaves; at this time of year the heathers are in colour and the hillsides full of daffodils. There is also a sheltered walled garden which has herbaceous planting just starting into growth. In one of the long borders spikey shoots are evident as Hostas are pushing through the soil.

I would love to visit again in a few weeks time when the  shrubs, Rhododendrons, Azealea and Camilla will be in full bloom and even this early the Pieris Japonica,  image centre, looked very attractive. This is a great garden to visit at any time of the year, very well maintained and all the plants are clearly labelled which is so helpful when spotting a variety which you would like to plant at home in your own garden. 

I spent part of yesterday  transplanting a Clematis, the one in the image Clematis Jackmanii rubra a midsummer group 2 Clematis which produces masses of flowers. I love Clematis and apart from pruning they are not hard work. Even working out when and  how to prune Clematis is not so difficult or time consuming once you work out what type of Clematis it is. 

The reason I was transplanting it was my fault, I  had planted it in a really good spot but in haste used a wicker obelisk for support because that's all I had to hand. As a result of the torrential wet winter it had rotted, and the Clematis was left clinging to a few miserly supports. Wicker obelisks and supports look really good but they are not so good for permanent planting. Wicker type supports and obelisks are good for growing up annuals such as sweet peas, and are also best stored in doors somewhere dry over the winter.

I purchased a tall metal obelisk which is nice enough, not necessarily a thing of beauty, but the really attractive obelisks were running out, some, at £1000+ and I am the sunday gardener not the rich gardener and so the under £30.00 varitey will be tested out instead. 

Using oboliks in the garden to grow climbers is a really good way to get hight and colour into parts of the garden where there are no existing structures. The image below  is an established Clematis with a honeysuckle in a border and it has completely covered the obelisk,  the flowers cascade into the border looking really attractive for a along flowering season June September. Clematis fargesioides and lonicera make a great cream, pale yellow and white combination for border planting.

The video below shows how to plant a Clematis and the importance of planting  the Clematis slightly below the soil surface.

The advantage of planting a Clemtis mixed into a border along side other plants is the chances are, naturally or by virtue of how you plant around the obelisk, you can have another plant shade the roots of the Clematis which are the ideal growing conditions for Clematis, (and honeysuckle) roots in shade and heads in sun.

link to video 

 I am a bit of a fair weather gardener and I don't grow much over the winter, but this year in Autumn I germinated some sweet peas and planted garlic both under glass in the greenhouse. The sweet peas germinated quickly and have grown well, presumably because of the mild winter, and have been pinched back 3 times producing a good number of side shoots. The image left was taken at the end of Feb and you can see further new growth on the tips of the plants;  they are now in March growing so much I will have to plant them out shortly as they are becoming too tall for the root trainers and flopping over. As sweet peas are a half hardy annual, although then can be planted out now, and in this case will  have to be, they will need frost protection. This means protecting with a fleece or cloche if there is to be a frost.

The garlic sulked in the pot in the greenhouse for so long I thought it was succumbing to winter mould and then the shoots went up and it has seemed very happy in the greenhouse. I have just moved the container  outside to harden off and acclimatise  to the outside temperatures  prior to planting out later in the month. Anything grown under glass, which will include much of the veg plants, and bedding will need to be hardened off, before planting outside permanently. This can be done by moving the plants outside on mild days and gradually getting the plant used to the outside, but still bring under glass if frost threatens. Check carefully before planting out as most bedding, and many veg plants, are not hardy and can only be planted out once the risk of frost has passed which is  in May, and when in May depends where you garden and the weather at the time.

From the garlic I am  hoping the longer growing season produces fatter bulbs and a better crop. The sweet peas I am hoping will bloom earlier and, as I have just sown some more sweet peas yesterday, the spring sown should bloom later giving a long period of sweet pea flowers. I plant sweet peas on mass up an obelsik near a path so  the mass of colours and scent are head hight as passing. I also plant them around the garden and near the veg plot so I can enjoy the scent and colour when in the veg plot. Sweet peas look good on their own and also with Honeysuckle and Clematis.

This growing season I am going to try a selection of annual wildflower mixes , and I hope abandon bedding plants in favour of wildflowers and annuals. Making a mini wildflower meadow is easier than you may think, especially if you use a wildflower mat, which is expensive but very easy. I used a mat in the image illustrated top right, and a seed mix in the bottom image and this year I am trying several different mixes.

I  hope to resist to pull of bedding plants and to plant around the garden patches, and mini meadows, where  I have previously put bedding using different varieties of annual wildflower mixes. I think the images show that the mini meadows look really attractive, once sown and germinated there is no maintenance at all. 

The hard work is done first to get the area weed free and ready, but  once done the mini meadow it looks after itself flowering for months. Follow this link for a simple guide on how to create your own mini meadow, which looks good and keeps the pollinators and bees happy. There are also many perennials and shrubs which are favourites of the bees and butterflies check out on wildlife friendly.