Pennine Gardening and Clematis armandii

Following relocation to Manchester, we found ourselves having the opportunity to buy a decent size plot in a pennine village nearby (sort of). Gardening in the Pennines offers the possibility of great hill top views but also challenges the gardener with predominantly wet and cool weather. This blog documents progress in our plans to create a Pennine Garden, battling steep slopes, brambles, deer, slugs and rain, rain, rain .... Some plants have done remarkably well, while others care not for our damp acid soil. So, what can be achieved? Looking at some nearby gardens for inspiration, quit a lot! Check out one of our favourite nurseries and gardens only a few miles away: dove cottage nursery in Halifax. A wonderful perennial garden in the Piet Oudolf-style attached to an excellent and well-stocked nursery! Closer to home there is land farm gardens near Hebden Bridge, a garden perched on a hill top which combines shrub and perennial planting with sculpture. More to the north, we have been inspired by the RHS Harlow Carr garden in Harrogate and the walled garden at Scampston Hall (designed by Piet Oudolf). Both situated outside of the Pennine slopes, but with similarly cool climates.

Can we create a garden (on a slightly smaller scale) that could withstand the comparison? I hope we can. Can my penchant for unusual and exotic plants be satisfied? Never! Do we have an unlimited budget to create an instant big splash? We wish. So, this is going to be a long journey which we hope to document plant by plant. I'll start with an overview of where we are at. We have been here for 3 short summers and 3 long winters, the house walls have been clothed in various climbers (one of the first things we did was to plant wisteria and Clematis armandii, even before our furniture arrived!) and some loosely colour-themed borders have been installed.

We just had one of the worst winters for the past years, although that meant it was much drier as well. Our evergreen clematis C. armandii "Snowdrift" is heralding spring in from early April (we are a bit late this year) till this week. This plant does wonderfully well against our eastern house wall, now growing by several meters each year. Once established it needs little care except for some guidance of its shoots, but, while young, it seemed prone to wilting of the young shoots during warm days (i presume its juvenile root system could not cope with water demand). As the name suggests, it produces vast quantities of wonderfully white flowers with a strong scent. It survived the past pennine winters without any damage. So far so good. While the plant looks attractive year round with coppery young foliage that turns into glossy dark evergreen leaves, the plant does eventually become bare at the bottom, as it tends to produce new growth near the top. C. armandii "Snowdrift" and other cultivars such as "Appleblossom" are widely available at most garden centres or on-line.