Planting Vines for North Trellis
2006.08.09
I spent most of today driving around the upper Willamette Valley visiting some nurseries. My first stop was Fir Point Farms, which had a small plant selection but also a store full of fresh produce, most of which they grow themselves. I bought a few groundcover plants to try. Looking on their website now, I realize that I missed the petting farm. Aw man, I’ll have to go back.
My next stop was Ferguson’s Fragrant Nursery. Obviously they specialize in plants with fragrant blooms, but they have lots of other stuff too. Besides all the plants set out in rows for sale, they have some beautiful display gardens to walk through.
It was here that I purchased a couple vines to try on the north trellis. I talked to the women at the nursery about my scenario, and asked for their recommendations. I ended up choosing a Clematis called ‘Liberation’, and a China Blue Vine (Holboelia coriacea).
My last stop was Farmington Gardens, where I had purchased all the plants for the corner planting bed. I picked up a couple more Bunchberry plants, since I liked the two I planted last fall, and they seem to be doing ok. I also bought a few more groundcover plants.
I got home a little before 5:00 pm, and worked on planting the vines.
I dug down a couple inches to remove the harder clay and rocks (and weeds) in the little area where I would be planting the vines. I soon wished that I had taken care of this step yesterday before installing the trellis. I dug down deeper in the middle to accommodate the root balls of the vines.
I installed some landscaping fabric, and then mixed up compost, sand, and a little native clay for a planting medium. I added in some slow-release organic fertilizer as well.
Several sources on the web said that when planting Clematis, you should cut down the stems to just above the first set of leaves. While it seems a shame to hack off all the growth that has climbed up the little stake they put in the pot, doing this encourages the plant to branch out more at the base, making it more stable and ultimately cover more of whatever you want it to climb.
So I gave the plant a pretty severe haircut, stuck it in the ground, and used some paper-covered wire ties to hold the stems up to the trellis. From what I read on the web, it sounds like the first couple years it doesn’t do much above ground, but then the third year it really takes off. Yeah, that’s pretty much a blanket statement for any plant.
I couldn’t find any detailed instructions on planting the China Blue Vine, so I figured I didn’t need to prune it so hard. I left most of the foliage intact, except where I had to cut it to get the vines untangled from each other. I planted it about a foot away from the Clematis, and used wire ties to train it up onto the trellis.
You can see from the photos below, from about 7:00 pm, that it does get sun from late afternoon to evening. Not the best sun for plants, as it tends to burn, but maybe they’ll do alright. In particular, the lady at the nursery said the China Blue Vine should be able to handle these conditions. I figure the Clematis is just a backup / bonus.
North Trellis