what to grow through conifer hedge

Hi all,
I've a large conifer hedge in front of which I'm putting my 'hide away from the kids' seating area :rolleyes:

What could I grow through the hedge to give it a bit of interest?without killing the hedge?? preferably in a big pot?

 

Tropaeolum speciosum, any of the clematis you cut back to base in winter.

What aspect are you and why do you need it to be in a pot?

 

My neighbour grows a large leylandii hedge to divide our properties which I won't comment on in this forum (it is a sore point) :(

To brighten it up I grow a couple of clematis types namely viticelli and montana, both come in a variety of colours. I grew the viticelli from seed.

I also have a climbing rose honeysuckle Passiflora and variegated Ivy growing through it

If you have a look here you might just see what I mean. http://tinyurl.com/y88qs9

 

Don't you just love neighbours, TG?

Grey squirrels can really damage trees by ring barking them (know what I mean? nudge nudge, wink wink)

Even leylandii horrors have been known to die if squirrels chew through the bark at ground level. They strip the bark off for a few inches all the way around - such a shame . Norty little creatures, but with such powerful teeth just like a sharp knife or rasp. Tut tut!

 

Waco - it'll be east facing and the soil is like the desert so thought I'd keep things in pots. Figured I'd just be feeding the blooming thing if I improve the soil :rolleyes: :eek:

 

Russian vine? You can cut that back yearly and it grows vigorously again. I quite like the flowers.

 

I do know the problem you have, below was my nightmare Laylandii



Hornbeam I have encouraged squirels of your breed, but Leylans are very tough to destroy even with bark stripping.

Anyway back to your problem WM the trouble with growing things up the trees is that eventually your tree will go dead looking as mine did, so you have to decide weather you are going to use your trees as support for plants or as a green hedge.

I did manage to destroy our neigbours in the end, but its a long story!

as horrible as the picture looks from our garden (north side) it actually looked quite nice on the other side, so they never realised what the problem was.

 

mmmmm! I really need to keep the hedge as it is because it's a good windbreak and it's hiding a piece of wasteground that belongs to the council

Perhaps this pic might help?? My seating area is going in front of the hedge next to the summerhouse. Perhaps I should grow tall things in pots to jazz it up a bit??
Thanks all for your replies

 

That's looking impressive Windy! Can't see the beer though?
Seriously, you've been working hard, and it looks great - ove the circles!

I was attempting to post last night when my laptop ran out of battery, and lost my post..... I was going to say about the quality of the soil not being great - dust, in effect. Glad you've realised that. Lots of the suggestions wouldn't work in pots long term, but the tropaeolum speciosum that Waco mentioned would - and so would some smaller clematis, like the evergreen pixie.

I use T.speciosum a lot to climb up hedges, and other plants. It has lovely leaves, flowers, and the most amazing berries, and the flowers are late - have seen them last into October,and then the berries. Do you know the plant?
http://www.habitas.org.uk/gardenflora/trop_speciosum.htm
and pixie -
http://www.gardeningexpress.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductID=11505

 

Thanks Dendy That pics a few months old and its looking a bit more finished now!!! The grass is looking better now too, now we've had some rain

I like both of those climbers( thanks Waco!). I've got a passion flower that I'm going to grow up the side of the summerhouse, so for co-ordinations sake I'm leaning very much towards the clematis. Would it damage the hedge??? How would I go about pruning it???? Sorry, loads of questions! :rolleyes:

 

I don't think your leyland hedge is a problem, infact from what you say it does its job, so work with it.

I have some funny old clematis on my books that would suit you, not been able to find any yet (well at a price I would buy) but will try to remember to post.

I love the circles, I had a small garden once and did circles, have to admit got idea from a John Brooks book an old 60's type style, but still very much copied.

It all looks great - keep up the good work!

 

Windy, a clematis that you cut back would be safe, as would the one I mentioned, pixie, as it's meant to be a small one. So any clematis from groups 2 or 3 should be fine. A montana would be a pain, as it's so vigorous, but if you're determined, it can be done!!
These links might help with choosing
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/pruning_clematis.shtml

http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/pages/g00156.asp

PeterS had a good link too, but I can't find it at the moment.

 

Thanks Waco I'm sure when everythings grown a bit next year the circles won't be quite as prominent, and it's fun watching eye-candy gardening helper get dizzy mowing the grass :D :D
Great links Dendy, thanks Clematis pruning is a bit of a mystery to me so they'll come in really useful.

 

Have occasionslly dug a hole & put the pot into the ground to hold it, if i'm not sure about bout planting or growing conditions.

 

I've done that with my passion flowers, Gogs - so I can take them in over winter, since I reckon the winter temperature on the east coast of Scotland is a tad chillier than sunny Herts! :D