Planting, gravel and basement walls
thom51rq9GZ6
Posts: 4
Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some advice about planting climbing roses outside my building. I’m attaching pictures of the two areas I’d like to plant for reference. I have two questions as follows:
Firstly, Is there a danger that climbing roses could cause damage to the walls and foundations of the building underground? I’m able to plant about 1 foot away from the wall but as you may see from the pictures, there is a half sunken basement below our building, so the walls extends down around 4 feet below ground, where they meet a concrete base. I believe the ground is mainly made up of clay. I’ve read conflicting opinions about this and I’m not sure how having a basement might affect the verdict.
Secondly, the ground I would be planting into is not ideal. One of the areas has around 1 foot of drainage gravel, with clay and rubble from previously demolished farm buildings below. Another area has a a shallow layer of drainage gravel, with clay and rubble below. Presumably I would need to dig out these areas down to a certain depth, then fill with good soil around the rose. As both areas adjoin a basement wall I’m keen to avoid putting soil up against the wall directly as I fear it will cause damp problems. I’ve seen a video suggesting I could dig a hole and remove rubble and clay, then place a large plastic bin/container with the base cut off, into the hole. The container could then be filled with good soil and compost to plant the climbing rose in. I could then cover with a weed membrane and dress with gravel to match the surrounding areas. The rose roots would be able to grow downwards, but the soil would be kept away from the walls. I saw a video about this here which seems to make good sense - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G50UNxqENfQ
Does this sound viable or would you suggest another way?
Thanks for any advice you might offer!
Thom
Posts
Re the basement and damp - currently rain is falling on the gravel in this location and this doesn't cause issues with damp, but I agree replacing all the gravel with soil and then watering it would probably cause damp issues. I'd like to avoid putting any soil directly up against my basement wall. That's why I'm looking for advice about the above idea. To try to summarise:
I'd dig out the gravel in order to bury a plastic bin / container with the base cut off, which could then be filled with soil and compost, before planting the rose into it. Roots would be able to grow downwards though the removed base. Around the outside of the buried container next to the wall, I would fill in with drainage gravel to avoid any damp problems. Visually, it would appear as though the rose was planted in the ground as normal, but hidden below ground the plastic container would be protecting the wall from the soil. Any advice on that?
One area is very sunny and south facing, though the width of the trench is smaller at about 1.5 feet I'm a bit concerned this is too narrow now). The other area is west facing but gets a good amount of sun from the middle of the day onwards, and is about 2-2.5 feet wide. I'd like to avoid planting in pots because of the additional watering and care required...
That said, I have seen roses growing in surprisingly inhospitable places, do a google image search of Chedigny Rose Village - some of them seem to be growing directly out of the tarmac at the back of the pavement!
I agree with @Busy-Lizzie. I would hesitate to plant a large rose in a big pot in that situation as they might need watering well once a day in very hot weather.
Lizzie27 - in answer to your question, no, the plant in the big pot has not caused any damp problems. The basement isn't actually below this pot or the site I'm hoping to plant on - you can see the half sunken basement window and the wall just extends downwards from there about 4 foot underground. The ceiling of the half sunken basement is above ground.
Might just be worth confirming the gravel doesn't act as some component of a wider drainage system first though...