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Q. I live in a Central London penthouse with a patio that has a wall which is three or four feet tall and about 80 feet long. which I have attached hurdle to, what can I plant to cover it? A.
Wall shrubs, Pyracantha or Blueblossom - Ceanothus would also be good choices though require more training and keeping in check to the shape although less likely to wander. For rapid quick cover, plant climbers such as those above, ivy or passionflowers, and then dot (clump) other more varied plants along the wall as long as you don't let them get too swamped by the quicker growers. Q. I have moved into a house that sits approx 50m from a busy road. I'm looking to plant something that will suppress some of the traffic noise. I have been advised to plant Cupressus x Lleylandii or Laurel. Can you suggest any alternatives or are these the best defence for all year round protection? A. It depends on the length of the barrier, your budget and also how high you want the barrier to be. For noise suppression a fence works best, the noise bounces back off it. This can be planted in front or behind with a hedge to hide the fence and also help soak more noise up. The hedge will also help to reduce dust and pollution from the road. You need a thick dense hedge to suppress noise and the two plants suggested are ideal, evergreen, dense and quick growing (though slower than a fence!). Of the two I'd go for laurel, it's less unruly than Lleylandii and looks better too (it also flowers in spring). You could use Lawson Cypress if you don't like laurel, it's not as quick as Lleylandii which has advantages and disadvantages. Another trick you could try is to have a small water feature in your garden. It's surprising how a fairly quiet feature with running water can help to disguise background noise. Q. I am moving to a house which only has a walled paved courtyard. I would like to grow climbers up the wall, but I am unsure of the best way. Can climbers be grown in containers and how should they be cared for? A. There's no reason that climbers can't be grown in containers like any other plants. Pick the largest containers you can afford, I'd recommend ceramic or terra cotta for perennials as plastic ones do deteriorate in time. You have to be careful in choosing the climbers themselves as many are very vigorous indeed and so you want to use smaller, more restrained varieties. There's nothing special that you need to do, just make sure the containers are kept moist and not allowed to dry out as they won't receive enough water directly from rain. Also, you need to think carefully about positioning the containers as once a climbers is attached to a trellis or other support it's going to stay that way without either some drastic cutting back or a very complicated and fiddly extrication task. Q. What kind of shrub could I buy for a dear friends 55th wedding anniversary (emerald) A. There are no really spectacular shrubs that are called or associated with "Emerald" there's a couple of Euonymus called "Emerald and Gold" and "Emerald and Silver" which are low-growing foliage shrubs that are variegated green and yellow and green and cream/white respectively, but they're both more supporting cast than main event. You don't say when the anniversary is but if it's shortly I'd get them a large flowering shrub such as a Rhododendron that does it's stuff each year at the time of the anniversary. You could also get them a large container to put it in (with ericaceous compost for the Rhododendron) anywhere from budget (plastic) to as large and expensive terracotta or ceramic as you want. The larger the container you can afford the better, the plant will always grow into it, but could only grow out of it if it was too small. You could even underplant with one of the Euonymus suggested above. Plants by time of year Q. We are looking for column-like conifers to grow in pots on either side of our front door. The house is north/northwest-facing and therefore doesn't have a lot of sun. Any suggestions would be most welcome. A. The two main column shaped conifers that are grown are Juniperus scopulurum "skyrocket" and Cupressus sempervivens stricta - the Italian cypress. Both of these need full sun to do well. There aren't really any naturally narrow upright conifers for your situation and conifers generally prefer a sunny position. Thujas tolerate shade and you could try a couple of Thuja plicata - Western Red Cedar, that you could trim to shape as they're often used for hedging. Alternatively Box or Yew which could be trimmed to shape though are slow growing. You might try the dreaded Lleylandii as they are very tolerant of trimming and position too and will grow quicker if less elegantly than the others suggested. How about a pyramid support covered with a delicate variety of ivy? Q. What bedding plants will grow next to a privet hedge in a dry soil? A. Realistically - none. Privet is notorious as a greedy shrub for both water and nutrients, it's the pay off for it being so hardy and reliable. You could try Geraniums as they tolerate dry conditions pretty well as do Mesembryanthemums and Portulaca, but the further away from the hedge you can get, the happier they'll be and like most plants that tolerate dry conditions, these are sun-lovers Depending on position of the hedge, you could try some taller plants a little distance (1-2ft) away so the gap is not noticeable, say Nicotiana. |
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