Clementis etc in a narrow,shallow border

jay0109

Hi

complete gardening novice here so hoping someone can advise me. I have a narrow border between the wall of the house and the footpath. About 6ins wide and about 1 foot deep. After that 1 foot or so is the debris etc from the foundation of the house.
I was looking to plant clementis in the border (its about 18 ft long) and let it grow up the wall of the house to about 5ft in total.

My question is: is that border deep/wide enough to support the like of clementis growing 5ft or so high and spreading widthways to cover the wall?

looksee

The short answer is no. Six inches wide (out from the wall) does not even get it out of the rain shadow of the wall, and a foot of depth is not sufficient (especially in that dry area) for anything much bigger than say a sedum.

jay0109

Damn it, my fault. Should have made the border bigger when the footpath went in last year. Really wanted to get something tall growing in there to take the bare look off the wall.
Might try ivy...it grows everywhere without much coaxing. I've a lot of the common variety around the garden and when I pull some of it up at times, there's not a lot of root to it. Not the common ivy thought, there's another type I've seen with a lighter coloured leaf in parts, will try that one

looksee

No, don't put ivy in - I have a varigated ivy that i put in against a wall - garden wall, not house, and it now has a massive root and stem on it that would need a jcb to get it out. It grows like mad and has to be hacked back on a regular basis.

Lumen

I was reading recently about the use of root restriction to force certain vigorous fruit trees to dwarf. There are a couple of techniques, one is to plant close together to force roots to compete, the other is to line a trench to limit the root spread.

So perhaps if you can find something that's naturally a bit bigger then you want and responds well to this sort of treatment, you could have some success. You will probably need to give it support e.g. a trellis as the roots won't give it much of an anchor, and water it like you would a potted plant.

Lumen

Which direction does the wall face?

feedthegoat

It may thrive for a year or two but will likely perish thereafter.

jay0109

Lumen wrote: »

Which direction does the wall face?

West. Will get the sun in the afternoon but will have trees putting it in shade at time too

Lumen

Oh, there are apparently dwarf ('patio') Clematis suitable for container growing, Google 'boulevard collection'.

You may be able to dig down further and backfill with new topsoil, unless you have actual footings down there.

Maybe the rainwater will drain off the footpath into the trench.

Lumen

jay0109 wrote: »

West. Will get the sun in the afternoon but will have trees putting it in shade at time too

Figs are supposed to respond well to root restriction and can be trained on a west facing wall. Even if they are unreliable for fruit they're an attractive plant.

jay0109

Thanks, I might try that root restriction technique. I'm looking for something low maintenance as no gardening expert.
There's the wall one side, the foundations about 1 ft down or more. Though there would be scope for the roots to grow out the other side, under the footpath.

Day Lewin

Clematis needs more soil than you've got; also, it wouldn't stop at only five feet high!

Swimming against popular opinion, i'd say that Ivy would certainly establish, it needs but little root area; and some of the variegated and fancy forms are far less vigorous than the classic dark green kind (which is really too exuberant.)

I suggest winter Jasmine which thrives in shade and needs little root area; along with its classic partner, herringbone Cotoneaster (horizontalis)
Both are very tolerant of rough conditions, especially if you throw some compost or manure on the site once in a while to feed them up.

Blackberries and loganberries would be ok too but they need attention each year, and are prickly.

Lumen

Maybe consider protecting your foundations. Or use a planter.

jay0109

Day Lewin wrote: »

I suggest winter Jasmine which thrives in shade and needs little root area; along with its classic partner, herringbone Cotoneaster (horizontalis)
Both are very tolerant of rough conditions, especially if you throw some compost or manure on the site once in a while to feed them up.

Would I get them in the average gardening centre?

Lumen

Day Lewin wrote: »

Clematis needs more soil than you've got; also, it wouldn't stop at only five feet high!.

Loads of small Clematis...

http://www.taylorsclematis.co.uk/clematis-by-height/

Day Lewin

jay0109 wrote: »

Would I get them in the average gardening centre?

Yes. You'd even get the jasmine from any neighbour - it roots very easily, everyone who has it is always digging it up!

Nell B

I have climbing hydrangeas growing in similar conditions - very narrow border. They took about three years to establish and get going but it was worth the wait, they take little effort and the bees will love you for it.

Here is a link to one, but all garden centres should have them as they are popular.

https://www.johnstowngardencentre.ie/p/hydrangea-anomala-petiolaris----climbing-hydrangea/hydrangea_petiolaris

jay0109

Does the Hydra require much effort for the climbing i.e. trellis etc or is it like Ivy and will climb by itself?

Nell B

No - it needs no support at all. Unlike the ivy it has little 'suckers' that just sit on the wall.