Wisteria clambers across the front wall and wanders up the steps to the front door of The Gables, on Sorrento Road in Dalkey. The trailing plant with showy mauve flowers has a reputation for being difficult to grow, but in fact it's easy, say Brian Wood, who built The Gables in the 1970s and spent many years cultivating a spectacular garden out of the rocks.

His front garden has no less than six varieties of wistera that flower through the spring and summer months. His garden centre, Murphy Wood in Dún Laoghaire, stocks six or seven varieties at any time, with colours ranging from white through to pink, pale blue, mauve and a dark variety called Black Dragon. A favourite with Wood, and the one he recommends is wisteria sinensis prolific, which as the name suggests is a fast grower with good clumps of flowers. It also has a superb scent. The trick with wisteria, he says, is to plant it in a sunny spot and give it a good first feed. After that it will grow, sometimes at a rate of six to eight feet in a matter of weeks.

However, to make a success of it you have to prune it rigorously in late winter and in summer. You can see how to do this on video.jug.com. Murphy Wood, tel 01 2854855