How crowded can climbers be?

I could really use some advice on how to organise some plants!

I've got a north facing fence that I want to make look nice, especially in winter, as that's what I end up looking at when I'm having a smoke when its too cold to leave doorway…

Its about 3m of free space, with a shed on the left and a old gate on the right.

The plants I have are:

Honeysuckle - periclymenum -Graham Thomas
Honeysuckle fragrantissima
Pyracantha
And I'm going to get a winter jasmine soonish from a cutting from my dad….


My question is basically, do you think its feasible for all four of these to fit against that one bit of fence?

I'd like to plant the periclymenum on the far left, so I can train, say ~50% to grow up behind the shed and over the fence there.

Im also considering planting the winter jasmine through the pyracantha, but im not sure if this would work, because isn’t the pyracantha quite slow growing in comaparison to the jasmine? If I was going to do that, how exactly would i do that? How far apart would they need to be, and how far from the two honeysuckles?

Or would it be best to stick at least one thing somewhere else?

Any advice would be gratefully received! My dad's kinda totally useless at responding to anything….


(Oh I may also be tempted to stick some sort of blue clematis there as well next year)

 

Hi there

I'm really the wrong person to answer this one, since I always cram in much more than is a good idea. Gardening books will give you planting distances, based on the eventual size of the plant. It's a good idea to give things space to develop and grow properly, otherwise you can end up with the kind of mess I'm sorting out at the moment ... although I'm already planning to shoehorn in more new plants. It doesn't matter too much, I think, if you're prepared to chop back/move your plants when they get too big.

The honeysuckle 'Graham Thomas' is a very good choice. It has large, clear yellow flowers and a delicious scent. I've had it growing in my front garden with little attention, other than a bit of chopping back, for years. Once it's established (a couple of growing seasons), you can prune it back a bit after flowering, to stop it getting untidy, and it will be all the better the following year. So you can more or less choose what size you want it.

Lonicera Fragrantissima isn't a climbing honeysuckle - it's more an untidy shrub. I love it, however. It flowers in winter and, again, has a wonderful scent. This is a very good natured plant which you can prune to keep in check - it's best done in the spring when it has finished flowering so that you'll get a good crop of flowers the following year.

I like winter jasmine because it gives me a good display of yellow flowers at a time when there isn't much colour in the garden. It's very easy to grow - any cutting will produce a new plant and it layers itself very easily. It's vigorous, and can be a nuisance if you don't keep it in check. But, again, it's so hardy that it will stand almost any amount of manhandling.

I've never grown pyracantha, but there again it is one of those garden stalwarts which always seem to survive.

 

yep, i choose them all well, i think! but appararently the Fragrantissima can get VERY rampant, so thats why I'm a little concerned! But them I don't mind a bit of pruning.

So if its not really a climber, it shouldnt interfer with the other stuff too much?

 

PS I've just re-read your post. Growing a winter jasmine through a pyracantha might be a little difficult. Winter jasmine is a lax shrub which produces lots of long, straight shoots, rather than a true climber, and I don't think it could be persuaded to meander through other things in the way you imagine. It would probably swamp the other plant, left to its own devices.

 

I grew 'Fragrantissima' for years (eventually it had to make way for some paving) and I didn't find it a problem. It IS vigorous, but not a monster. You can hack it about and it won't mind. In fact, it will be better for it as it doesn't have a beautiful shape. The leaves are bit a ordinary, too. But the scent makes up for all its shortcomings. Unfortunately perfume doesn't fill the air in winter in quite the same way as it does on a hot summer day - you might have to get quite near to get a proper whiff!

 

Winter Jasmine does well when it's cut back after flowering - not doing so means less flowers the following year. I remember that piece of advice on Gardeners Question Time.

 

Thanks ClaraLou, I think you've covered everything!

I'm gonna put everything against that fence, as I really like the over-stuffed look in a garden, and it gives me more room to plant more stuff (I've gone a bit mad with the seed-ordering). I think I'll put the 2 honeysuckles next to each other, about 2 ft apart, and then the jasmine, then the pyracantha, which will all look lovely come winter.

Sussexgardener -thanks for that -I didn't know that at all, I will investigate further...