Ideas please

bouicca21

The alternating heat and heavy rain means that the bramble in our communal garden has gone crazy.  It inhabits a patch of about 4 sq metres between a yew tree at one end and a holly and a huge ash at the other end.  The holly seems to have either suckered or layered itself - I can’t tell which until I can clear a bit more) and the cares of the bramble seems to have a fair bit of old dead stems.  There is also a heck of a lot of Ivy.

I’ve started cutting back the bramble and will have a go at digging out as much of the roots as I can; ditto the holly.  I doubt I’ll win against the ivy.   When I’m done does any one have any ideas about an easy, cheap bush that I could plant that might stand a sporting chance of holding its own against a resurgence of the bramble?  It’s clay soil, more or less neutral, and west facing.  I assume that like the flower bed on the other side of the yew, it dries out easily in good weather and that the trees take a lot of the nutrients.

Davesnave

Portuguese laurel is more refined looking than its namesake and equally tough. You might even try bay, which looks similar and stands drought.