A bit of help with my garden please....

joeyvicks

hello,

Just a few questions ive got for anyone with a bit of knowledge on gardening as i'm in the process of neatening mine up at the moment.

1. Looking for a climbing plant to cover the garage walls on a trellis, the back is east facing, long side is north facing and the front (were i'm planning on having a thin trellis either side of the door) is west facing. If you could recomment anything suitable....

2. Along a border in the back garden i'm after some sort of shrubs or little trees but i dont want anything that is going to eventually become huge!!

3. On my front lawn i have dandelions (well the scrubby leave things anyway) covering as much space as actual grass can anyone recommend a removal method for these? and something that will bring the grass through these patches or should i just cover the area in grass seed?

thanks for any help provided

niksyg

Try a clematis for the climbing plant to cover the terrace - montana reubens grows quickly and has lovely pink flowers.

Hebes are nice shrubs as they have lovely coloured foliage.

I am having similiar issueson my front lawn - I think it's going to take an afternoon out there with a knife diggong down to get the roots out.

Hope that helps!

kippers

What about Hydrangea petiolaris as a climber. It attaches itself to the wall and does well in less than perfect conditions

Here's the link (I think) http://www.gardenersworld.com/plant-detail/PL00003342/397/climbing-hydrangea


As far as your border is concerned...how tall do you want the plants to grow? and have you any idea what your soil type is (acid or alkaline)?

ERICS_MUM

I love hebes and think they would be perfect. Also euonymus plants are hardy, evergreen and brightly coloured yellow and green - adding a splash of colour all year round. I would not recommend you plant any form of conifer as in my experience it'd difficult to keep them neat and green.


Linda xx

joeyvicks

kippers wrote: »

What about Hydrangea petiolaris as a climber. It attaches itself to the wall and does well in less than perfect conditions

Here's the link (I think) http://www.gardenersworld.com/plant-detail/PL00003342/397/climbing-hydrangea


As far as your border is concerned...how tall do you want the plants to grow? and have you any idea what your soil type is (acid or alkaline)?

yes like the look of them..... i'm going to put 3 seperate trellis' along the side of the garage so i think i'll have 3 different types.

just want something probably about 1m - 1.5m nothing much bigger than that....not sure on soil sorry

Kay_Peel

1. I have a Hop plant (Humulus Lupulus) that scrambles across a trellis and over the top of my shed. I recommend it for its vigour and for it's stunning yellowy lime green colour. The flowers are yellow and the hops hang like catkins.

2. A Fatsia Japonica is great value in a border. It's got large glossy leaves, it's evergreen and it flowers in the darkest days of winter. I'm ruthless with mine - I keep them at shoulder height but they can grown taller. The trick is to lop off the lower limbs and leaves so that small woodland plants and ferns can grow under their canopy.

3. Dandelions are a long term project - little and often over a couple of years. I've tried digging them out and find that the brittle roots break off and they come back stronger than ever. Weedkillers aren't as effective as I would like and leave the lawn looking horrible. I've had more success with this method:

I wait until the flowers appear and remove them so that they can't go to seed. That's the first stage. I dig the top of the plant out and take out as much root as I can. I blast the hole with weedkiller. I place a 'barrier' such as a piece of cardboard or stones on top of where the dandelion was growing from. I fill the hole in and re-seed it.

I had one area that was very bad - more dandelions than grass. I borrowed one of those flame throwers that burn weeds in pathways. I flamed the Dandelions, covered the area with weed suppressant fabric and put a display of pots and bark chippings over the fabric. I removed the 'display' in September and reseeded the area.


Hope those tips help.

joeyvicks

how do you go about 'starting off' the climbing plants. If i fix a trellis to the wall do i then just stand a pot underneath with the clematis in and leave it to go up? I wanted to buy plants that are a bit developed though so how does this work?

niksyg

joeyvicks wrote: »

how do you go about 'starting off' the climbing plants. If i fix a trellis to the wall do i then just stand a pot underneath with the clematis in and leave it to go up? I wanted to buy plants that are a bit developed though so how does this work?

Most climbers come with some form off support already in place - like a tripod of short canes. You can just plant it as it is below the trellis and it should start to grow up it. That's all I did with mine and it was fine!

zarazara

russian vine or viginia creeper should do well,and are quick growers. as for the dandilions, i'd just learn to love them,add daisies to the lawn and buttercups and you will have a lovely wild flower meadow which ids pretty and great for wild life.