What to plant behind this Acer (with pic)

united4ever

so behind the acer is some space. for something to cover the ugly background add vertical interest. I added the wooden fence post (there are three across the back of the garden up to the trampoline with galvanised torsioned wire between them).

I have Jasmine Beesium in a pot ready to plant but was wondering if there is a better alternative or if Jasmine does not grow well/look good with Acers. Is there anything better - must be evrgreen, tall (4-10 meters), not damage walls/fences, low maintenance, Bonus if it flowers a lot.

It is just the area behind the acer on the left I am talking about. I have a climbing hydrangea and climbing rose establishing behind the conifer and holly but only there first year so need to be patient.

By the way, i will prune the acer this winter since it is getting too big.

Thanks

goldfinches

What time of day did you take the photo and which way is the fence oriented?
Are you able to paint or stain the fence and the posts so that it fades more into the background and is a consistent shade all along its length? I suppose that sounds terribly fussy but the colour of the background will affect what you see when you look at your plants and when you have a small space it is much more important to choose carefully so that you don't end up with a plant that you love for only 4 - 6 weeks of the year.
With that in mind is there an open garden near you that you can visit to have a look at some suggestions so that you can get a better idea of what you will really enjoy?

united4ever

it faces east but gets the sun pretty well until around 2pm.

Those fences are the neighbours fences (actually different neighbours) and because their entrances are on different streets I barely know them so tricky to stain their fence and fence posts.

yeah, I have thought about it a lot because it will be very visible whatever i see - I have decided so far on Clematis, climbing/roses, climbing hydrangea and Jasmine Beesium are what I like but I haven't committed to planting yet. I did have bamboo in that space until last week but ripped it out (non invasive tyepe and I got all the clumps I believe) because it didn't look so good. Don't really want to rip the next thing out in a year or two.

I think I shall stick a Jasmine Beesium but wondered if there were any other good ideas.

twopenny

climbing hydrangea isn't evergreen. likes moisture and it takes ages to grow. I bought one because I liked the way it billowed out on smart houses and still only a couple of branches after 2yrs and no blossom.

If that's the summer jasmine I think it is it grows like wildfire and is evergreen. I put it in to cover a fence which it does but unspectacularly. I've also got the old fashioned white jasmine, winter jasmine and honeysuckle growing amongs it so I get some scent, greenery and blossom at different times of year.

Too dark for climbing roses in that space. Clematis might grow but again it's dark and possibily dry between the rain shadow of the fence and the tree.

united4ever

Thanks twopenney

Here is the jasmine below. I read the first couple of years of climbing hydrangea are uneventful but it takes off quickly after that. I can wait and see.

What clematis would you recommend. Have an apple blossom on the very far right but again only a few months since I planted. Ideally evergreen but maybe I can mix and match with deciduous and perhaps the jasmine can be the uneventful screening whilst have some clematis for summer colour.. could you plant clematis between jasmine and have them intertwining up above or is it best to keep them as separate as possible.

twopenny

I've heard that star jasmine is good value, i think it's evergreen but look that up.
You could add a winter Jasmine and some summer clematis. They are always a nice little surprise when they pop out.
Is the soil decent under the slabs? I've found plants like having their roots under stone or weed membrane where their cool and moist, never baked or frozen.

quirkydeptless

twopenny said:

You could add a winter Jasmine and some summer clematis. They are always a nice little surprise when they pop out.

I have Winter Jasmine which flowers when everything else in my garden is gone and it's great for the hungry early year bees.

united4ever

Ordered a star jasmine and a sweet summer love clematis. Hopefully they go well together.

One question about the star jasmine. It's by the boundary with neighbours to the side and behind. If I plant right in the corner could it invade their garden from the ground/underground. Am happy to prune it above ground but don't want it popping up on their side of the fence like bamboo can. 

If it's a problem maybe I could buy a big cheap pot and plant it in that and maybe put it in the ground but in the pot still to stop spread.

wort

I personally would stain the fence , a dark color, black or dark brown, it wouldn’t be visible to the neighbour and it’s preserving the fence. With the posts the same colour it would fade into bag round better and the plants pop against it. I have an evergreen hydrangea, it has a different leaf, than the other type . Both mine grew well. I took out my winter jasmine as the sprawling habit looked messy. Clematis is good to grow through other plants, as it has tendrils that it holds on with, as long as you can get to it to cut it back when needed.
I have a Garrya elliptica which has rascemes/ tassels which is beautiful.

REEN

Jasmine beesianum is very invasive. It twines itself around everything and will make a complete nuisance of itself. The flowers are small and don’t have any scent. Find something better, I wish I had.