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Morning all,
Let's see what suggestions you can come up with here. My house borders an electric sub station. There's a cherry laurel hedge at the front of it, and a dull old brick wall surrounding it:
I want to soften that wall by growing a climber up it. There is no soil to plant in by the wall and I don't want the hassle of looking after something in a planter.
I had a daft idea that I could plant a climber the other side of the little wooden fence where I've marked with a red arrow (not the aeroplane), then train it up the wall, over the gate and eventually across over the fireplace.
Obviously, any climber I plant will have to fight a mature cherry laurel. There is actually a decent space between the wall and the trunk of the first laurel (big enough that I put a hedgehog house there - it's quiet and has almost zero human traffic so I thought it might be worth a punt but I don't think it's being used) - maybe about three feet.
I am happy to do a wee bit of guerilla gardening - nip into the substation grounds (not in the substation itself of course, that would be silly and it's all concrete anyway), dig a bit of a hole, add compost or otherwise try and improve the soil, trim the laurel back on my side to make a bit of a gap and then I can look after it (I'm guessing mostly just watering, initially) from my side of the fence until it gets established.
To my question - is there anything tough enough that could cope with being planted no more than about 3' from a cherry laurel, with the associated shade and lack of water? I'm happy to help it get established but it'd need to be mostly self sufficient after that. No objection to chucking a bucket of water over the fence every now and then.
I (very) briefly considered a wisteria but they have too big a root system and I have underground utilities that I need to consider. I figured my best bet would be an ivy, but if anyone can think of perhaps a prettier (i.e. a bit more showy) climber that could cope, I'd love to hear it.
The wall is roughly west-facing. The ground under the laurel is covered in leaves which are incredibly slow to break down. I don't know if they will have an affect on the pH of the soil - I've a test kit in the garage somewhere but I haven't found it yet.
Over to you lot....
Cheers,
MBE
Let's see what suggestions you can come up with here. My house borders an electric sub station. There's a cherry laurel hedge at the front of it, and a dull old brick wall surrounding it:
I want to soften that wall by growing a climber up it. There is no soil to plant in by the wall and I don't want the hassle of looking after something in a planter.
I had a daft idea that I could plant a climber the other side of the little wooden fence where I've marked with a red arrow (not the aeroplane), then train it up the wall, over the gate and eventually across over the fireplace.
Obviously, any climber I plant will have to fight a mature cherry laurel. There is actually a decent space between the wall and the trunk of the first laurel (big enough that I put a hedgehog house there - it's quiet and has almost zero human traffic so I thought it might be worth a punt but I don't think it's being used) - maybe about three feet.
I am happy to do a wee bit of guerilla gardening - nip into the substation grounds (not in the substation itself of course, that would be silly and it's all concrete anyway), dig a bit of a hole, add compost or otherwise try and improve the soil, trim the laurel back on my side to make a bit of a gap and then I can look after it (I'm guessing mostly just watering, initially) from my side of the fence until it gets established.
To my question - is there anything tough enough that could cope with being planted no more than about 3' from a cherry laurel, with the associated shade and lack of water? I'm happy to help it get established but it'd need to be mostly self sufficient after that. No objection to chucking a bucket of water over the fence every now and then.
I (very) briefly considered a wisteria but they have too big a root system and I have underground utilities that I need to consider. I figured my best bet would be an ivy, but if anyone can think of perhaps a prettier (i.e. a bit more showy) climber that could cope, I'd love to hear it.
The wall is roughly west-facing. The ground under the laurel is covered in leaves which are incredibly slow to break down. I don't know if they will have an affect on the pH of the soil - I've a test kit in the garage somewhere but I haven't found it yet.
Over to you lot....
Cheers,
MBE
...hadn't realised that...good call 
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