In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| It might be better and easier for you to take up a whole slab, manure and
| compost the earth underneath as best you can before planting. And then,
| having put in your climber, underplant it with e.g. flowering herbs like
| thymes or rosemary. If the plants are close to the wall, they'll be in the
| rain shadow of the house and will need plenty of water, especially during
| dry periods.

Agreed.

One other (New! Green! Ecological!) idea, if the soil underneath
is reasonably open (i.e. they can get their roots through), is to
plant climbers and plants that positively like the rain shadow.
I have Cyclamen coum and Passiflora incarnata in such a location,
and am trying out Clematis cirrhosa this year.

They need water until they get established, they need SOME wet in
winter, and the climbers need to be able to get their roots to
water in summer. But do I need to water them? Do I, heck. And
that is low-hassle :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.