Climber to jazz up a large cotoneaster shrub

Kieran Wood

Hi all,

I have a big cotoneaster shrub, which is as high as our bungalow. I have a huge cotoneaster in one corner, its too big to think about removing. Therefore I thought growing a climber through it would be nice.

This is a bog standard shrub so I want a bit of jazz that will make it sing in the garden but at the same time it needs to blend with the standardness of the cotoneaster.

Thanks

Dorcas

A perennial sweet pea would be nice.  Grows fast in late Spring and flowers until the frost in shades of pink or white.  In winter it dies back but you can just cut it off at the base and pull out dead bits and then leave it until Spring to start all over again.

If you wanted something permanent, you could try an alpine clematis which will scramble through the cotoneaster although it might eventually strangle it.  Again, they need very little maintenance and look fabulous but only flowers for a few weeks.