"mollie38" wrote in message
...

beccabunga;868748 Wrote:
We took out five conifers in a bed, and had the stumps ground out.
Afterwards I dug over the whole bed [18 x 8 feet] with homemade compost
and ericaceous compost - we wanted to grow some acid lovers. It was
allowed to settle over the winter before planting anything new, which
gave plenty of time to plan new plants.

You don't say what direction your fence faces. If you are planning
clematis, remember that they always grow and flower into the sun, so no
good if your fence faces a northerly or westerly direction - your
neighbours will benefit!

Work out how the wind affect the plot and start planning windbreaks -
small hardy shrubs or small trellises to interrupt the flow. Otherwise
your clematis will be blown off the fence.

Hi

Right I have posted 2 pics on tinypic of the patio area these were
taken just after the stumps had been removed by the stump grinder. We
have since had a new fence erected but havent been able to do much this
week with the rain hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, hubby is out
there at the moment removing most of the sandstone from the patio

here is the url for the pics
http://tinyurl.com/yzylhfb
http://tinyurl.com/ydz3jm8

Kind regards mary
--
mollie38


Hi Mollie,

I'm not quite sure how your post and pics got into this thread (!) ... or
perhaps I'm the only one to view it here ..?

Looking at your pictures, I can see that you have a real problem. Even if
you plant a new hedge or border, you've got hardly any access to maintain
it. The structure and planting you already have is quite attractive, so you
don't really want to be trampling on it. Another problem could be roots
invading your water feature, although the conifers you've removed must have
been a similar threat.

Anyway, here are some suggestions with their associated pros and cons:-

Bamboo - pros: can be tall and quick-growing, offering texture, movement and
sound.
choose solid green or variegated.
cons: roots, even of clump-forming types, may invade
existing border.

Yew - pros: handsome evergreen hedge which will give you 8' and more.
will remain green when closely trimmed.
cons: you will need access to trim it. Outlook dark. Toxic.

Euonymous 'Silver Queen' -
pros: Evergreen, variegated shrub which will be tinged pink in
cold weather.
Bright attractive outlook, even in winter.
cons: Best left as informal shrub border, but can be trimmed to
hedging.
Will need tying back to fence at first, and will usually
only grow to 6'.

Cotoneaster - pros: choose evergreen or decidous, green or variegated.
C. lacteus is often sold as hedging. It is
evergreen; white flowers
from pink buds; red berries later. C.
horizontalis is deciduous.
It can be trained to cover a fence. Flowers
and berries as lacteus.
Brilliant scarlet and orange colour just
before leaf fall.
cons: May self-seed.

Ivy - pros: Evergreen. Most are hardy. Green or variegated. Subtle
flowers/berries.
Will (eventually) cover 8'; will need tying in at first.
Narrow front-to-back.
cons: May outgrow it's height and width unless controlled.

Hebe 'Midsummer Beauty' - Pros: Lovely. One of the largest Hebes. Covered
with
purple flowers. Loved by bees and
butterflies.
Cons: Not compact. May
self-seed.

"What I would do" - Affix attractive trellis to upper 2' of (neighbour's)
fence. I would plant the Euonymous 'Silver Queen' as an informal hedge
below and, if need be, rethink planting in existing raised border. Pros:
you would have the entire surface of the fence 'broken up' with living or
inanimate texture/colour. Leaf fall would be limited to the shedding of
older leaves, which would keep the water feature relatively clean. As
mentioned above, it is very cheerful to look out on, especially in winter (I
have one!).
You could tie bird feeders to the trellis in winter, or ornamenta all year.
Cons: It will not be an 8' hedge/border. It will not be narrow and linear,
if this is really important. You will need to tie it back to the fence to
encourage the 6' high coverage. There is bound to be some leaf-drop and
dead flower drop.

Well, that's plenty to be thinking about. Hopefully, you'll get other
suggestions from inspired posters!

Spider