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What to plant around an arbour?
jchampy1992P37Q2xXz
Posts: 3
Hi everyone!
I'm looking for some advice on what to plant in this border, which runs along the wall of my garage. I dug the border a couple of years ago and planted climbing roses, climbing hydrangea and buddleia around the large arbour, but they just grew really messy and looked terrible!
The border is south-facing but doesn't receive full sun all day because it is partially blocked by the house itself. Nonetheless, it's a warm spot and gets sun for most of the day. I'm looking to plant things that are a low maintenance as I don't want to commit too much time to pruning etc., and also plants that will look reasonable for most of the year.
I'm not overly attached to the arbour, so also open to alternative features if anyone has any ideas.
Suggestions welcome!
I'm looking for some advice on what to plant in this border, which runs along the wall of my garage. I dug the border a couple of years ago and planted climbing roses, climbing hydrangea and buddleia around the large arbour, but they just grew really messy and looked terrible!
The border is south-facing but doesn't receive full sun all day because it is partially blocked by the house itself. Nonetheless, it's a warm spot and gets sun for most of the day. I'm looking to plant things that are a low maintenance as I don't want to commit too much time to pruning etc., and also plants that will look reasonable for most of the year.
I'm not overly attached to the arbour, so also open to alternative features if anyone has any ideas.
Suggestions welcome!
0
Posts
Hundreds of varieties for all tastes and aspects. There are plenty of smaller ones suited to drier sites which would be better for that position. They need very little care or pruning too. The Alpinas and macropetalas are the ones to look for.
Take a look at Taylors, Thorncroft and Hawthornes for ideas, and also Peter Beales - they sell good quality clems, andother climbers too.
If you're in a mild enough area, some of the jasmines might suit too.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
You might like the arbour more if it was painted in a slightly darker colour, say sage green or a mid grey. The white appears to jump out at you although presumably it was painted to match the garage door?
If you then painted the trellis the same colour, then that would all tie in nicely. Are the plants now in place the original climbing roses or have you taken all those out? If so, what are the current plants? Variegated euronymus, such as the green/cream/white ones (not the green/yellow versions) would look good against the brickwork and need very little maintenance and no support. Their branches can be trained upwards and they just gently lean against a wall but are not self-clinging.
Fairygirl's suggestions of alpina or macropetalas clematis are also a good idea. You could underplant with spring bulbs (available now) to give extra interest.
The arbour is actually much whiter than it was ever intended to be! It does tie in with the white garage door, but it was supposed to be a cream colour - but the paint ended drying up a very bright white
The existing plants (climbing roses, hydrangea and buddleia) are still in place but I have just cut them right back to tidy it all up before deciding what to do next. I live in north Buckinghamshire and we have very heavy clay soils here, so I'm not sure if that limits my planting choice further.
If I were to remove the arbour and just have an open border, would that chance your recommendations? I have previously considered just planting the whole thing with lavender...
Climbing hydrangeas become enormous and cover house walls quite readily. It would swamp that entire building in the photo if the conditions suited, and clay is perfectly fine, although a sunny site isn't the best for them.
If you still have the rose and a buddleia, there's not really room for much else. Buddleias like a freer draining soil, but near a house wall is always drier anyway.
Climbers need to be planted around a foot to 18 inches away from walls for that reason.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Do you know which climbing roses you bought? Depending on the type (some are much bigger than others) it might be worth keeping those as they would do better on your clay soil. Once you have trained them onto the available space on the wall (and bigger trellis perhaps) they are reasonably easy to keep under control.
I feel lavender might struggle in heavy clay soil.
To be honest, I'm keen to just get rid of all the existing plants and start from scratch. Does anyone have any recommendations of something I could plant for the autumn/winter - or is it really only worth thinking about plans for next spring?
Buddleias are fine if you have a big enough border for them to do their thing, but if you're keeping the arbour, some clematis and your rose, will do the job. A bit of trellis on the wall behind it will give you more coverage too.
Lavender will be no use as @Lizzie27 says - the soil will be too heavy.
You can have some shrubs, perennials and bulbs in the main border. To be honest, it largely depends on what you like, whether you want plants you can see from the house [winter interest] and what time you want to spend on maintenance. Budget as well.
Start by making a list of colours and the other points I've listed. There's hundreds of choices which will suit.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...