"andrewpreece" wrote in message
...
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.




This is how rambling roses grow naturally, so is maybe the best option.
Also where I have done this, it makes the two tougher for winter gales.
When planting interesting hedges (I am a designer) I like to add some kind
of climber(s) to reinforce the hedge and add interest.

Neil