"stratford1" wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Sounds like Clematis is it! I
haven't thoroughly checked the area yet but I think there's a decent
amount of soil there. Just to verify this with those of you who've
grown clematis before...is it pretty easy to keep in check? How often
(if at all) do you think I'd have to trim it to prevent invasion into
the shrub? Or does clematis usually prefer to climb upwards rather than
out? Thanks for your help!


Clematis climbs upward. When they're very healthy, they'll grow outward a
bit. Actually, it's more a matter of there being too many branches to fit
onto the trellis, so they'll twine around the nearest thing. But, they don't
grip so tightly that they'll strange the bush, and it's easy to pull them
off. And, in winter, the grippers (whatever they're called) become brittle,
like dry twigs, so they're easy to pull off of whatever they've gotten cozy
with.