Still learning and in need of help....

[Marthaclematis]

Hi, I'm three quarters through my first gardening year and I've really enjoyed it. I have been proud of my small flowering garden this year and am learning that there's always something happening - in fact it seems that now we're in autumn there is need for more work than there ever was in the summer (which just involved mowing the grass and watering my tubs). We have been away for nearly three weeks and was so dissapointed to come back to dried up tubs, long long grass and general untidyness everywhere. I have learned that next year I will get someone in to water and mow. Anyway, my new quandries are as follows.
What do I do with my honeysuckle? Its not yet one year old so have had no flowers - well, just one small clump at the end of the plant where I've trained it along the fence (very proud I am of that - all summer I was out there training it to the left when it wanted to go straight up and over). Do I need to prune it? And if so, when? its really come on great guns and from a twiggy thing in a pot its now grown five feet up and five feet across to the left. Like an upside down letter L.
Also my clematis, its grown four feet up and three feet across to the right (I'm hoping that she and the honeysuckle will meet in the middle one day) but my problem is I don't know which type it is - I first thought type 2 but as it flowered from July to September I'm now thinking type three (I have lost the name tag). Am I correct in thinking prune in late January, right low down near to the ground?
Also, my last for now question is MUST I take out my gladioli ? Most of them are in pots and the rest are in a sheltered south facing bed. I just know that they'll get damaged if I try to store them - I haven't got anywhere cool and dry (the shed gets hot inside because it gets the sun). I reckon they're better of staying where they are, my geraniums survived the winter and came back twice as big this year.

Thanks to you all, this is such an inspiring place. I'm sure I wouldn't have worked so hard or kept up with my garden if I hadn't found this forum.

[FionaH]

Hi
I am in my first year gardening too. A friend of mine is a real gardener, she does it for a living She suggested not pruning my jasmine or the clematis for the first year. Mind you my clematis hasnt grown any where near as much as yours!
My instinct would be to leave it another year so you can work oout what type it is. But bear in mind I know next to nack all!

I dont know if I would have stayed so enthusiastic without all the great stuff on here either. Its such a minefield when you first start out isnt it?

[BrideXIII]

wel I am new too, although not new to my honeysuckle which grows everywhere, takes over everything and has survived being shifted by builders putting up the back fence, now if this is its first year, then leave it, but after this year you can be quite harsh with it, and should be, it grows like mad, but gets 'leggy' at the bottom, so cutting it back encourages new growth at the bottom too. If you don't feel happy cutting it back hard, weave some of the long suckers they throw, back into the bush itself lower down.

I am savage with mine , in a month when all the green has gone, and i can see what i am doing with it, i cut it back HARD.

as for clematis, I can't really help there, this is the second time I have tried growing it, and i have two, one is doing really well, one isn't as good, both were planted this year, but I shan't be cutting it back at all until its reached where I want it to be ( at the top of the arch), then I will see how its doing, if its prolific, I shall give it a haircut, if not i shall just trim it's fringe, but I never really cut anything back in it's first year.

my budliah gets a savaging twice a year, cripes those beggers can grow.

[Alice]

Hello Martha, what you do with the honeysuckle is up to yourself. You can cut it to keep it the size and shape you want. It's just about indestructable so no need to fear.
The clematis is only a baby so if you're happy with it I would leave it alone for this year.
Gladioli bulbs don't like to be wet in the winter, so can lift them and dry them and replant in the spring or you can just put the pots in the garage or somewhere and let them dry out.
I had some that I left in the ground in a free draining spot and they were fine for years.
Happy gardening.

[terrier]

If you're not sure whether to prune or not in the first year, better to leave it. Depending what variety you've got, you may be pruning next years growth out. Alternatively, if you think it's getting leggy, just cut back some of the stems this year, that won't do any long term damage to the plant.
Glads form lots of tiny cormlets on the old corm(which will not flower again). All these babies will grow next year if you leave them in the ground and it will make your flower beds look like a lawn (or have you got them in pots?). Unless they are very expensive glad corms that you want to perpetuate, dig them up and throw them away. Much easier.

[nick the grief]

Right then,

Honeysuckle - I just hack mine back to within a foot of the ground every few years as it gets too big for where it is but in takes it a couple fo years to get to flower again so if you want flowers I wouldn't be so brutal Just remember that it is a woodland species so it tends to flower on the top growth

As everyone else has said, I wouldn't touch your clematis just yet as it's still establishing - treat it to a mulch though.

Gladioli - As Alice says they hate the combination of wet and cold - doesn't even need to be freezing and they will rot.

What I would do is give them a high potash feed to help bulk up and ripen then cut the leaves down to about 8". If you lift them carefully you will see that there are loads of small cormlets attached to the new corm and the old corm which can rot and take the lot out. and save the small cormlets and if you have named varieties keep them separate and dry them off then transfer to envelopes and keep in the door of the fridge.
Next year start them off in deep trays of compost on a layer of sand to help drainage and they will grow in size and the following year you can plant them out and have more of your favourites.

The bigger new corms, separate from the old one and throw that away then store them in something that will allow air to circulate - I use Mrs G's stockings but don't tell her and you can add some of the polystyrene chips to help insulate from the cold and if you have named varieties put in a label with the name on and then tie a not in it to separate them

If you ask Alice nicely she may post a picture of some of the cormlets that I sent her a couple of years ago

[Alice]

Sorry Nick, I should have posted the pics before now, but I've been in the middle of moving house (Rat will understand I've been in the middle of a flittin)
Anyway this is 1 pic of a gladioli nanii I got as a little cormlet from Nick (thank you again). I call them Nicky Nani. Several others flowered this year but due to the flittin didn't get as many pics as I should have.
Next year for sure.

[nick the grief]

Looks good Alice. If I'd have had that a couple of weeks ago I could have got a name for you from the Gladioli society but I'm not too good on the names as I had a packet of their mixed and it could have been one of those.

Whats the new garden like as the old one was super if I remember rightly

[Marthaclematis]

Thanks for all your help. I'm so pleased that I asked - I might have gone in with seceteurs blazing. You have saved me from doing something I would very much regret. And thanks for the tip about winding down new shoots of honeysuckle to stop it looking leggy; mine does look very leggy. I will deffinately do what you say. If the rain stops I might even dig up my glads - I have no idea what they are, they were a free mixed bag.