what climbers could i grow

Mrs Ahab

Hi, we have built a large pergola out of scaffolding tube. Its about 8 ft high and 10 wide. we want ultimatley to crate some shade of hot days with nice flowers too. There are three poles to the front and back. 2 front poles are set into the lawn with concrete so any plants there may need to go into pots. one front poles has a flower bed running next to it so plants could reach over the short distance. The back poles are shuttered into concrete too and have a bed behind but these have large laurels growing behind. This part of the garden gets shaded by the laurels in the morning and then better sun as the day goes on with the best sun being late in the day. I want something that will grow quite fast and be pretty idealy. I was looking at amethyst falls wysteria or serotina honeysucle. I had thought about building some planters around the poles. Really i am a novice. If i do put them into planters what will happen when the roots hit the concrete will they find their way around and keep growing as usual or will their growth be stunted? Any advice would be really helpfull. thanks

Fairygirl

Hi Mrs A - if you have a lot of concrete at the base of the structure, you're really limiting yourself. If you can't get climbers into the ground, it would be best to build some really generous sized planters in order to get a good result. Climbers in particular need a decent amount of root run. Depth is more important than the other dimensions too. 

The area where the laurels are could be a possibility, but only if you have sufficient clear space between them and the structure. You'd have to be very vigilant with watering and feeding (especially till plants were established)  as Laurel will leach a lot of that. 

I'd personally build some decent raised beds or you'll always struggle to get things looking at their best. It can be done quite cheaply with timber  

Mrs Ahab

there is probably only 2 feet from the laurels to where the new plants would go and they are very mature, probably about 10 feet at the moment!  we have made various raised beds and planters before from scaffold planks etc which look very nice. I want to get it right as they have a long way to climb and i dont want to waste time. Does anyone have any experience with amethyst falls? it is so pretty, does it take  a lot of maintenance?

Landlubber

Sounds like a really strong pergola you have there...... what a great idea using scaffold poles too.

Fairygirl

MrsA - just make sure the ground you plant into can support the eventual growth above. Climbers of any kind need something decent to get their roots down into, otherwise they won't thrive and will be disappointing for you. I wouldn't plant beside those laurels - the ground will be pretty poor. Honeysuckle, for instance, is a woodland plant and needs reliably damp soil or it can be prone to mildew, and would be ultimately disappointing. The laurels will suck a lot of moisture from the surrounding area and deplete nutrients.  A montana clematis might thrive, but you'd have to improve the soil where you plant and keep it well watered for the first year until well established, and then keep an eye on it after that. Even in a wet area, new plants can get dried out in those circumstances.

Preparation for your climbers is the most important part of the exercise. It would be a shame to take short cuts and be forever trying to keep things growing well. 

Mrs Ahab

 you can see a little big of our pergola here (this is our fireplace made from recycled skip bricks!)  it was quite a job to get it all set up and concreted in and level, but it will be worth it as we aim to have some hammocks etc hanging from it. Thanks  so much, i think i am going to see if i can get either an amethyst falls or an evergreen honeysuckle. I think ill plant it in the flowerbed away from the laurels and see how we go. I had hoped to have more growing up other poles, so maybe we will add some planters too for things that might not achieve the main cover but add a little extra.

Landlubber

oh - very nice and well done too

Dovefromabove

If you plant away from the concrete and train towards the poles and tie in, I think you could grow a grapevine or kiwi up there - what do others think?

Mrs Ahab

i do have a grapevine  i bought last year, that i plan to put into a large barrel planter i have on the other side, i know that will take a long time though so i wanted something else to give me some quicker cover and then i can allways adjust later if i need to, but yes, grapes would be wonderful! We could cook in there with a frying pan and of course a stick, but we plan to make a small rocket stove too. the final plan is to have a log fired hot tub made out of a cast iron bath we have and a kitchen worktop area for food prep. Its going to be all very bohemian darling

Dovefromabove

Hope you hurry up and get it done - it sounds like just the right venue for one of the Forkers' virtual parties