Bamboo canes may be the ticket for forgetful gardener

Part of the forced winter respite from gardening involves allowing a gardener’s brain to think about something other than gardening. And while that break is appreciated, it does make for an interesting re-entry into the garden.

Last weekend I was planting four clematis that arrived in the mail. I had a vague recollection of ordering two of them, but no recollection of where I intended to plant them. The other two were complete mysteries to me.

Fortunately I find clematis pretty easy to work into the garden. When in doubt, I plant them at the base of a shrub and look forward to them clambering up the branches.

But by the time I got to planting a smaller variety called ‘Elf,’ which has lavender-blushed white flowers, I was out of appropriate shrubs. I thought it’s 4-foot height might work nicely at the front corner of a bed with a small trellis to support some branches and let others scramble around a bit.

But when I went to dig the hole, I discovered that I must have thought something else would look good there, because I came across some plants just starting to push foliage. With no sign of a tag — not an unusual occurance in my garden because I generally dislike the look — I have no idea what they are. The foliage seemed vaguely familiar to me, but I won’t be able to place it until they develop a bit more.

In a few weeks, that winter garden brain fog will have lifted and I’ll be much more adept at rattling off the names of the plants in my garden, not to mention remembering where they are planted.

But as the garden matures and has more plants in it, the challenges of planting something in late fall or spring, when many plants aren’t visible, grows. Plastic plant labels are unattractive, often don’t last and don’t always come with plants, particularly if you’re buying in bulk or growing your own.

So this year I’m taking a page from one of the great gardens of the world, and it’s all about bamboo canes.

At the famous Great Dixter garden in the UK, gardeners use bamboo canes in two ways. In the first method, they use pieces of cane no more than a foot long to mark perennials. By placing a piece of cane in the ground next to a newly planted perennials, leaving just a few inches sticking out of the soil, they know exactly what areas are available to plant in between, even when the perennials are dormant.

They also use full-length canes to lay on the ground between dormant perennials to visualize what areas are available to plant annuals, bulbs or other perennials.

It’s less obtrusive and much easier than labels, and the visual representation of where a hole in the garden is lurking will prevent a lot of problems down the road.

And that should make it easier to find a place to plant a new Clematis the next time the winter plant shopping gardener in me fails to consult the spring planting gardener.