(Jim) wrote in
om:

I looked at the Buckingham Nurseries page and yes,
a green balloon or 'Buxus sempervirens' is just the sort of plant I am
looking for, however I note that it has a cross against the
'exposed/windy' criterion. Do you think it would survive at the edge
of a 4th floor balcony in Central London? it does get quite windy up
here. I also looked at the crocus.co.uk site, but have not yet managed
to locate the maturer green balloon bushes that you talked about. Do
you have a link?

http://www.crocus.co.uk/findplant/results/?
ContentType=Plant_Card&ClassID=7561&CategoryID=19 - or choose 'plant
search' and then 'topiary'.

I have 4 'ball' buxus sempervirens in pots, and they seem to survive all
the breezes I can throw at them: in fact I'd have said they were almost
unkillable, but YMMV. Of course they are quite round and dense, so they
might be susceptible to blowing over?

Crocus also sell lavenders, but I would want to check how big the plants
are. Any garden centre or plant shop is also likely to have lavenders,
though I'm afraid I can't suggest anywhere in London. (I'm in Cornwall).

Oh, hang on a sec, what about these people?
http://www.capitalgardens.co.uk/acat...n_Centres.html
I know nothing of them but the website though.

Finally, any suggestions on the traling plant? I was even thinking ivy
might be quite good... it will be surrounded on one side by flowers
and the other by whatever shrub I buy... can you buy mature fronds of
ivy (as opposed to having to grow from scratch... remember, my aim is
to get something looking nice asap).

Climber is trickier because of the wind problem. (climbers long stems
are likely to get snapped or battered about...
Ivy is pretty tough, but anything you buy as a mature plant is going to
have more problems than something bought young that develops in that
environment.

I'm not sure what to suggest - maybe someone else can come up with
something?

Victoria