Topic: Growing a Summer Jasmine

[Garden Manager]

I have a summer jasmine planted in a border in my garden. It is freestanding (away from walls or fences) so needs its own support structure.

Until last winter the plant was grown on a tripod of stout tree stake like poles which allowed to to grow vigorously and form a bushy column of foliage, needing only the occasional trim to tidy it up. Last winters storms changed all this, the aging support poles were badly damaged and no longer supported the plant (rather the other way around!). it was time to replace the structure with something better.

In the spring i hard pruned the jasmine, removed the old supports (what was left of them) and installed a columnar metal obelisk like this:
http://www.greenfingers.com/product.asp?dept_id=200602&pf_id=LS8910D
This looked very pleasing and the jasmine soon covered it over the summer.

However recently there has been a problem. We suddenly started noticing the obelisk moving more than it should in the wind and on investigation found that the obelisk had come detached from its (seperate) legs, and once again the plant was holding up the support rather than the other way around.

It seems as if the plant itself was to blame, its vigour had actualy pushed the obelisk off its legs and there was/is no way of fixing it without cutting the plant down again. I have now temporarily staked the obelisk but I am now thinking about changing the support structure for something more substantial. Thing is i am not really sure what? Could anyone offer some suggestions or ideas please?

The plant is in quite a windy spot and is too old/mature to move.

[ACE]

You would be amazed how bombproof these  plants are. I planted one along a trellis, it was a 'gift' and with friends like that who needs enemies. It went mad and when I decided to change the garden around I dug it up with a mattock, totally blitzing it. It had been in the ground about ten years, but it just carried on growing on the rubbish heap. Cut it back and left it all winter thinking the cold would kill it. No! off it goes again so a sneaky spray of roundup and that was that. No! It is now planted right down the bottom of the garden growing up a tepee made from re/bar which being bare metal checks it a bit as I was once told that climbing plants don't like bare rusty steel for some reason.

Yours has bound to made some sideways growth with runners so take a new plant and start it in a different less windswept area. Ditch the old one as far away as possible. or split it up into small plants pot them up and give them away as (gifts).

[Garden Manager]

I have now decided to replace the jasmine with a clematis/rose combination on the obelisk and plant a new jasmine elsewhere in the garden where it will do better and will not cause problems. Seems a better solution than trying to build a structure to suit  the jasmine and then contain it within that structure.

Thanks for replies.