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Not sure where to start :(

purves856purves856 Posts: 5
in Problem solving
Hi everyone,

First time poster and garden owner. I have bought my very first home and have I inherited this fully decked/semi shared back garden. I really want to pull all these plants out/cut them right back to ground level but is this the best time of year? I’m not sure what everything is but there seems to be this climber swallowing everything up.

Any tips on where to start would be really appreciated.

 
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Posts

  • purves856purves856 Posts: 5
    sorry auto correct to a my nemesis. Post should have read semi shaded :smile:
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,531
    I'd want to find out what the plants are before deciding what to keep.  Especially the climber.  Some plants are easier to get rid of than others.  Some of them, if cut down, will spread underground and throw up suckers far and wide.  If you like to show us some close-ups of individual plants, we can probably ID them for you.
  • purves856purves856 Posts: 5
    Oh never thought of that. Amazing thanks so much. Here are the first three. The middle photo is the climber plant that  seems to be taking over. 
  • JennyJJennyJ DoncasterPosts: 7,701
    Top one looks like a pyracantha.
    Middle one is one of the Montana varieties of clematis.
    Last one looks like a purple form of Pittosporum but I'm not 100% sure.
  • JennyJJennyJ DoncasterPosts: 7,701
    I think there's a Pieris in your initial pic - the one with the salmony-red tufts of new foliage,
    and maybe a hebe - a bit further along to the right, low mound, dark foliage.
  • UpNorthUpNorth South Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK Posts: 376
    Please keep the Pieris.  Very slow to go, amazing plant.  That size would cost £100 or more to buy in a pot, that size.  
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,687
    edited April 2020
    I think the first photo is an Ornamental Quince shrub. They are good shrubs if tidied up for early spring. Some can even be trained against a wall for maximum effect. Sometimes, in warm weather they fruit too.

    The dark shrub is as JennyJ states, is a Pittosporum shrub. Very useful evergreen shrub with nice dark glossy foliage, and can again be pruned to how you want it to grow. 

    Many of the plants by that wall can easily be pruned to size to help limit spread. 
  • FireFire North LondonPosts: 17,116
    All lovely plants
  • purves856purves856 Posts: 5
    Thank you so much for all your advice and plant identification. I’ll start with pruning back the clematis Montana (now I know what it is)  :) definitely keeping the Pieris. This wall of plants lies against a very wobbly boundary fence behind which is just an open space/wild garden. 
  • purves856purves856 Posts: 5
    If ok, I’ll update you lovely people once I’ve completed the above. 
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