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Any advice on climbers please ????

Lucy LooLucy Loo Posts: 1
in Garden design
Hi I'm complete newbie to gardening!! But since having my young children have now got the bug!.. Have just joined the forum so will be picking all of your knowledgable brains ???? I have a very large archway (west facing) entering in to our back garden and would love to grow a climber either side to join up at the top, I have 2 very large pots either side all ready but just no idea what to get to plant in them!! Would really love lots of colour and to flower as long as possible throughout the summer! (Maybe will need more than one variety to achieve this???) I grew a Montana over the pergola and although beautiful and fast growing only flowers for a very short time! .. At least I'm learning! Just don't want to make same mistake so thought I'd ask you experienced people!! image thank you very much in advance for any advice or suggestions!

Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 29,853

    Climbing plants that flower over long periods need a great deal of nourishment and watering and I personally feel it's a bit much to ask of a rose or clematis to thirve, year after year, in the same pot of compost unless you can guarantee that you can feed and water adequately.

    I suggest you have a play with annual climbers.  There's a colourful range to grow from seed or from plugs and small plants available from garden centre.   Most are not hardy so need to be grown on till all fear of frosts is over.  Have a look at the info here - https://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/Profile?PID=590 

    If you really do want permanent plants, have a look at repeat flowering ramblers such as Malvern Hills (pale yellow) or Snow Goose (white) which have good perfume, Narrow Water (pale pink), Phyllis Bide (pink) and Rambling Rosie (pinky red), Red New Dawn, Super Dorothy (deep pink) and Super Elfin and Super Excelsa - both red.

    Ramblers can be trained over arches more easily that climbers and all of the above will flower through the summer if kept well fed and watered.   They will need the best compost you can buy such as John Innes no 3 mixed with a bit of multi purpose for water retention and an annual spring feed of slow release rose fertiliser plus weekly liquid feeds of tomato food or comfrey tea form April to late June.   Feeding later than this produces soft growth which doesn't have time to harden off before winter frosts.  Keep on removing the spent flowers to stop them spending energy on hips and encourage more flowers.

     

     

     

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • PheoPheo Posts: 16
    My passionflower is going nuts at the moment in the back fence... Exotic looking and not hard to get going.
  • smallswansmallswan Posts: 86
    I was going to suggest a passion flower, but I don't know how well it will do in a pot. But once it has started the difficulty will be stopping it!
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