With signs of spring in the garden, GINA PARKINSON checks up on a clematis planted last year and finds a vigorously healthy specimen.

JANUARY is over and spring in on the way with snowdrops in full bloom and daffodils pushing up strong shoots and strappy leaves. Last week's brief covering of snow and ice has disappeared to reveal plenty of activity in the garden as plants start to bud and new rosettes of leaves begin to form on the surface of the soil.

One plant I am excited about is the clematis armandii I was given for my birthday last year and which has grown considerably since it was planted last April.

The strongest stems are several feet long and have been carrying fat, pale green buds for some time. These have slowly split to reveal small stems laden with tiny, almost black buds that will eventually swell and open out into a mass of flowers with four to six long petals.

The species has pink buds opening into white flowers and there are a few mainly white varieties including Little White Charm and Snowdrift.

However the variety I chose is Apple Blossom, a popular plant easily available from garden centres and nurseries and with pink suffused blooms. These should open in March or earlier in mild conditions.

The armandii has been planted in a west-facing bed where the roots will be shaded from the sun both by the aspect and by other plants.

The twining leaf tendrils will attach themselves to wires or other plants and thanks to the rapid growth, constant vigilance is required if the stems are required to follow a certain route.

Ours is supposed to be covering a wall and eventually growing around south-facing French doors to provide early flowers and an evergreen covering for a bare area.

However, winter neglect has resulted in the stems growing together along the top of the wall and time will have to be spent this weekend untangling them and tying them in.

Weekend catch-up

NOW is a good time to start thinking about improving poor soils, while beds and borders are still reasonably accessible.

Mulching is a good way to make general improvements as it will aid drainage and help to keep down weeds. Spent mushroom compost, well rotted garden or farmyard manure, bark chippings and cocoa shells can all be used. Simply spread the matter in a thick layer over the soil, but avoid putting it against or on top of stems, branches and new shoots.

If the soil needs more than a mulch, it can be dug over and added to. Clay soil needs bulky organic matter and coarse sand or grit dug into it, while sandy soil will need lots of organic matter to add bulk and help retain moisture as well as an annual mulching.

Chalky soil is often thin and poor and will benefit from regular additions of organic matter to increase the depth of the soil.

While soil improvement is ideally done on an empty bed where there is nothing to get in the way, in reality most gardeners have to do the job in areas stuffed with favourite plants.

When this is the case it is a good idea to tackle the problem while the plants are dormant or at the beginning of growth, when they are still small and less likely to get damaged.

Loosen the soil carefully with a garden fork in case there is a plant under the surface, and mix in the organic matter. It will be difficult to dig deep in a planted bed but an annual addition of matter together with mulching will soon improve even the poorest of soils.

Updated: 08:53 Saturday, February 07, 2004