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Trachelospermum jasminoides - hardiness?

FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
in Plants
Can anyone share their experiences of how hardy they've found this climber to be in real life? 

I'm looking for an (ideally) evergreen climber to cover a new archway.  Its quite exposed in a north west facing garden (but plenty of sun as not overlooked) in Manchester.  I wouldn't be able to protect it much over winter, it would have to toughen up and just survive, has anybody had any luck in similar settings?
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  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    The site sounds less than ideal and it won't like cold winds or exposure. You could take a chance and plant it now, or next Spring, giving it a good 4-5 months to establish before winter sets in. It also depends how mild our winters are. I live in the south and in bad winters I have lost griselinia, pittosporums and a whole host of other things. Even the sharp frosts we had in later April/early May scorched the young foliage.

    I have a very exposed pergola and have a semi-evergreen honeysuckle growing well. I have also got a muhlenbeckia that has taken 4 years to establish but is now dense. Both may be too untidy for you archway. 

    What look are you trying to achieve with the climber?
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I had 3 TJ's here in Essex for over 20 years and they all grew very well.
    The Beast from the East had no lasting effects on any of them apart from loosing a few leaves.
    1 was in a sheltered position facing east, the other 2 were covering an arch in my north-facing front garden which gets the sun from April-Sept.
    They all performed well.
    Sadly all lost now due to renovations, but I will be getting more.


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    rachelQrtJHBjb said:
    The site sounds less than ideal and it won't like cold winds or exposure. You could take a chance and plant it now, or next Spring, giving it a good 4-5 months to establish before winter sets in. It also depends how mild our winters are. I live in the south and in bad winters I have lost griselinia, pittosporums and a whole host of other things. Even the sharp frosts we had in later April/early May scorched the young foliage.

    I have a very exposed pergola and have a semi-evergreen honeysuckle growing well. I have also got a muhlenbeckia that has taken 4 years to establish but is now dense. Both may be too untidy for you archway. 

    What look are you trying to achieve with the climber?
     

    This is the arch (please ignore the mess, garden is very much a work in progress!)

    I'm not too fussy, I just want something nice and green with pretty flowers occasionally and ideally something that would benefit wildlife.  I was thinking of clematis avalanche but I think it would be too exposed.  I'm not really a huge fan of honeysuckle but I suppose it does fit the bill.  The arch was a bit of an impulse purchase to add some height in that area and distract from the ugly patio without thinking about what plants I'd use!

    Those beds don't have a base so the roots can go right down.  I have acidic clay soil but there is always a lot of compost added each spring. 






  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    edited June 2020
    Pete.8 said:
    I had 3 TJ's here in Essex for over 20 years and they all grew very well.
    The Beast from the East had no lasting effects on any of them apart from loosing a few leaves.
    1 was in a sheltered position facing east, the other 2 were covering an arch in my north-facing front garden which gets the sun from April-Sept.
    They all performed well.
    Sadly all lost now due to renovations, but I will be getting more.

    Thanks, that's encouraging but I expect you have a slightly milder climate down in Essex!  I get a fair amount of wind as I'm on the plain between the pennines and the west coast, alongside the A580 that creates a bit of a wind tunnel effect especially for westerly winds as there's very little to slow them down!
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Clematis Armandii?

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    Pete.8 said:
    Clematis Armandii?
    The arch is only just over 2m tall will an armandii not want a lot more space than that?  If it will work it might be perfect but I assumed it wouldn't like being restricted that much?
  • Joy*Joy* Posts: 571
    Clematis armandii isn't evergreen. I had 3. One died, one is growing a bit but doesn't flower and the third is scruffy and not worth its space. My Tracleospermum did very well last summer and had so much flower I could smell it indoors and it was protected by other plants. As a result it didn't grow much so I have moved its protection and it is now doing much better. Of all the suggestions I would give the Tracleospermum a go, but it might take time to cover an arch and two, one each side, might be a bit expensive
  • FlyDragonFlyDragon Posts: 834
    Joy* said:
    Clematis armandii isn't evergreen. I had 3. One died, one is growing a bit but doesn't flower and the third is scruffy and not worth its space. My Tracleospermum did very well last summer and had so much flower I could smell it indoors and it was protected by other plants. As a result it didn't grow much so I have moved its protection and it is now doing much better. Of all the suggestions I would give the Tracleospermum a go, but it might take time to cover an arch and two, one each side, might be a bit expensive

    I think I will give it a go, nothing ventured nothing gained and if it doesn't work so be it.  

    If it does work I think it'll be lovely. If not I'll be back here asking for more suggestions! 

    I might try and get it planted this week so its got a good few months of warmer weather to get some roots down. 
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    I think the TJ might work, but if not, have a look at Clematis cirrhosa ' Freckles', a dense evergreen, winter-flowering clematis with delightful cream bell-shaped flowers with red freckles inside it. Although we're in the Southwest, ours is in a very exposed windy corner position on trellis on top of a 5ft wall. We once had a  bumblebee on the flowers on Christmas Day! The foliage is quite pretty as well.

    Clematis Armandii is also  evergreen but totally unsuitable for your arch as it can get quite big - up to 15ft x 10ft wide.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    FlyDragon said:
    rachelQrtJHBjb said:
    The site sounds less than ideal and it won't like cold winds or exposure. You could take a chance and plant it now, or next Spring, giving it a good 4-5 months to establish before winter sets in. It also depends how mild our winters are. I live in the south and in bad winters I have lost griselinia, pittosporums and a whole host of other things. Even the sharp frosts we had in later April/early May scorched the young foliage.

    I have a very exposed pergola and have a semi-evergreen honeysuckle growing well. I have also got a muhlenbeckia that has taken 4 years to establish but is now dense. Both may be too untidy for you archway. 

    What look are you trying to achieve with the climber?
     

    This is the arch (please ignore the mess, garden is very much a work in progress!)

    I'm not too fussy, I just want something nice and green with pretty flowers occasionally and ideally something that would benefit wildlife.  I was thinking of clematis avalanche but I think it would be too exposed.  I'm not really a huge fan of honeysuckle but I suppose it does fit the bill.  The arch was a bit of an impulse purchase to add some height in that area and distract from the ugly patio without thinking about what plants I'd use!

    Those beds don't have a base so the roots can go right down.  I have acidic clay soil but there is always a lot of compost added each spring. 






    Would roses fit the bill?I ask because I have seen small (8-12ft) climbing roses trained over arches and a pergola in a very windy/exposed garden. Each year the owner untied them during winter and re-fixed them to the structure, meaning they were fully supported. There are also some small clematis montanas. Check out Thorncroft clematis.
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