Unless you can give them adequate moisture, and decent soil, Camellias won't thrive terribly well. There will still be a lot of competition there with the other planting on each side. It also depends on the aspect of the site. An east facing one isn't great, because of early frosts being thawed by sun, which damages buds/flowers. A hot sunny site isn't great either, so west to north is best. Semi shade is ideal. They don't need acidic soil either - that's a myth. Neutral is fine, as long as it isn't at the alkaline end of neutral. Adding just compost won't do a lot - you'll need lots of organic matter to give the soil a boost if it's had conifers in it for a long time, and if it's dry. Rotted manure, leaf mould, bark etc, and good quality compost if you don't have any home produced stuff. I don't know what a buy ball Magnolia is. Is that a typo?
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think the camellia is my most preferred as you can get winter flowering ones which I prefer. The aspect is S-SE facing if you had your back to that conifer but it doesn't really get any morning Sun as the house it between it and the Sun so when Sun is low in the sky in the morning it is blocked by the house.
That's interesting about camellias. I love them but find they very slow growing as we had one at our old house. I bought one for our new house not that long ago and seems to be doing well at the moment:
This is a fariyl small variety so would need one around 3m for the conifer spot if it would work.
@Silver surfer Some lovely photos. I do agree actually getting it to grow and climb as seen in your photos is the problem. I have seen something similiar with Eccremocaphus scabra but again getting it going is the problem. Neither of these plants will actually distort the host plant which is important. Looks really good against the gold conifer.
I have worked as a Gardener for 24 years. My latest garden is a new build garden on heavy clay.
Tropaeolum speciosum played dead with me for some years. I planted it under a beech hedge, and it would send up one or two tendrils and eventually it flowered, always unexpectedly. But then about three years ago it really took off! It now has fat white roots all over the place and stunning flowers. It would look great as @Silver surfer says, if it likes the spot. I'm going to try to get a piece established under a weeping golden yew, but I expect a bit of a wait for results.
I suggested the Tropaeolum earlier, but I think they can certainly be hit and miss. Maybe need more moisture than you have there @Silver surfer. There's a few houses round here that have then - through hedges [mostly conifer of course!] and they looked good this year.
Camellias are generally slow growing @Alfie_, as with most shrubs, but many of them become huge if they're happy. If your site has enough shade during that spell, you should be ok re the frosts. The other important time of year is late summer. Like Rhodos, they need plenty of moisture to make sure the buds form well.
Magnolia grandiflora can be huge, but there are named varieties available. I don't know how they are for size. I tend to think of Magnolias as a specimen tree/shrub, rather than in a border with hedging though. I haven't grown that type of Magnolia, but others may be able to advise. Again- establishing any shrub or tree in that site will take a bit of work because of the competition around it. If you get those long dry spells that many folk have been getting, you'll have to be really vigilant with watering and mulching for a good while , regardless of what you plant
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I'd forget most climbers, although Tropaeolum speciosum might be suitable if planted well, and not right at the foot of the hedge. Not evergreen though.
So sorry ....I missed that. Hergst Croft in Herefordshire is not in a wet area...yet it is growing well there. We tried growing it several times in South Wales garden where rain was not in short supply...never worked...maybe too wet.
Ah - fair enough @Silver surfer. Must be some other reason then, for it not thriving for you. Not a plant I particularly care for, but very useful for many sites that are tricky, or a bit dull - conifer hedging probably falls into that category
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thinking about that, my tropaeolum was almost non-existent through the late 1990's and most of the 2000's. It's grown better as the ground has become wetter due to climate change. It's not ideal on a beech hedge, as you can imagine, it delays trimming the hedge, but it's only a small hedge enclosing the oil tank so I don't mind. I have pulled loads of it up this year and last as it's spreading where not wanted, even coming up through joints in the path. Because it's growing with beech the tendrils aren't obvious so the flowers when they open are a surprise. When it was planted I had no conifers on which to grow it, or they were tiny little things then. The weeping yew will make a good host now if I can persuade a root to grow there. For the OP, I'd say that though it looks great growing on conifers, it's not guaranteed to thrive, and it could be a long wait for the flowers.
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They don't need acidic soil either - that's a myth. Neutral is fine, as long as it isn't at the alkaline end of neutral. Adding just compost won't do a lot - you'll need lots of organic matter to give the soil a boost if it's had conifers in it for a long time, and if it's dry. Rotted manure, leaf mould, bark etc, and good quality compost if you don't have any home produced stuff.
I don't know what a buy ball Magnolia is. Is that a typo?
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/magnolia-grandiflora/
I think the camellia is my most preferred as you can get winter flowering ones which I prefer. The aspect is S-SE facing if you had your back to that conifer but it doesn't really get any morning Sun as the house it between it and the Sun so when Sun is low in the sky in the morning it is blocked by the house.
That's interesting about camellias. I love them but find they very slow growing as we had one at our old house. I bought one for our new house not that long ago and seems to be doing well at the moment:
This is a fariyl small variety so would need one around 3m for the conifer spot if it would work.
I have seen it used to grow up conifers..it looked fab.
However I can never get it to grow.
It would look great as @Silver surfer says, if it likes the spot.
I'm going to try to get a piece established under a weeping golden yew, but I expect a bit of a wait for results.
Rest taken in Perthshire.
It either grows for you or in my case it NEVER grows. Duh!
Eccremocarpus scaber, the Chilean glory-flower is another good suggestion.
Maybe need more moisture than you have there @Silver surfer. There's a few houses round here that have then - through hedges [mostly conifer of course!] and they looked good this year.
Camellias are generally slow growing @Alfie_, as with most shrubs, but many of them become huge if they're happy. If your site has enough shade during that spell, you should be ok re the frosts. The other important time of year is late summer. Like Rhodos, they need plenty of moisture to make sure the buds form well.
Magnolia grandiflora can be huge, but there are named varieties available. I don't know how they are for size. I tend to think of Magnolias as a specimen tree/shrub, rather than in a border with hedging though. I haven't grown that type of Magnolia, but others may be able to advise. Again- establishing any shrub or tree in that site will take a bit of work because of the competition around it.
If you get those long dry spells that many folk have been getting, you'll have to be really vigilant with watering and mulching for a good while , regardless of what you plant
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hergst Croft in Herefordshire is not in a wet area...yet it is growing well there.
We tried growing it several times in South Wales garden where rain was not in short supply...never worked...maybe too wet.
Not a plant I particularly care for, but very useful for many sites that are tricky, or a bit dull - conifer hedging probably falls into that category
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
When it was planted I had no conifers on which to grow it, or they were tiny little things then. The weeping yew will make a good host now if I can persuade a root to grow there.
For the OP, I'd say that though it looks great growing on conifers, it's not guaranteed to thrive, and it could be a long wait for the flowers.