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Old 05-06-2003, 09:19 AM
andrewpreece
 
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Default Interweaving Shrubs....?

I don't expect to get an answer on this one, but........
I have a wall to cover, south facing, about 4-5 feet high,
and about 22 feet long. I may raise the height to 6 feet
with some trellis. I wish to cloak it in evergreen
stuff. I have bought a "Mermaid" rose, and a Ceanothus,
"Autumnal Blue".

The rose is a vigorous climber, and could get to
20 x 30 feet if left unchecked, and has semi-evergreen
leaves. The Ceanothus is evergreen, and can reach 10 x
10 feet. I would wall train it.

Of course I will need to prune them to keep them in
check, but having bought them on impulse, I now find it
difficult to see how they can both inhabit the same wall.
Their combined maximum spread is 40 feet! Aside from
throwing one away, I see my options as:-

(1) Plant them about 10 feet apart and keep them well
pruned.

(2) (Radical) Plant them close together (c. 2 feet ) and
let them grow through each other ( dark blue and
canary yellow flowers - nice combo ). The
Ceanothus can spread and even Mermaid has a shot
at getting big.

Option (2) sounds interesting and solves my problems,
but is it daft to try and interweave plants like this?
Anyone done someting similar?

Andy.