Help needed; putting in a trellis, south-facing, want a variety of climbers, what to get?

[JKSLtd]

We've had to dig up a couple of huge bushes at the front of the house as they died on us last summer - we had hoped it was temporary but no luck.
They were very big and took loads of space so it's no bad thing really that they've gone but - they provided lots of privacy for the front room and also lovely blue flowers in the summer, as well as being evergreen.

So, we want to put up a large trellis and plant a variety of climbers to climb up it.
There is some ivy in the ground anyway so will use that.

Would like a variety of flowering/scented/some evergreen for foliage throughout the year & preferably fairly fast growing.
We can easily prune stuff if it grows above the trellis so not worried about too-fast-growing.

I'm thinking Clematis/Passionflower/Jasmine/Honeysuckle?

It's south-facing, don't know anything about the soil but can put in loads of topsoil if needed. Also don't know if we should have stuff in pots or just plant in the ground or even in the ground inside a pot?

Any thoughts?

[Gooner123]

I like the rose and clematis combi,not very evergreen though.

[Pannacotta]

You cold try wall shrubs as well/instead of climbers as these are a bit easier to maintain.
Sounds like your shrub may have been Ceanothus, they are good for screening and cover
www.google.co.uk/#q=ceanothus
Abutilon are also good grown against a wall.

If you are sure you want climbers then Trachelospermum is a good choice, evergreen, scented flowers and neat growing.

I would avoid Honeysuckle, it is really a hedgerow climber and looks very messy/tangled grown up a trellis. Clematis are lovely but again look quite messy, better grown through other plants IMO.

[JKSLtd]

Gooner - I'm not keen on roses, all those thorns & worrying about winter and pruning back, etc. I'm not a natural gardener & have 3 young DC so gardening time is limited!

Pannacotta - it was that ceanothus. I loved the flowers. :(
I haven't got a wall for anything to grow up, just whatever trellis we put in between 2 wooden poles that hold up a sort of balcony thing in front of the house.
I know that Wisteria is gorgeous but only in flower, and looks rubbish the rest of the time, I don't want anything like that.
Is that what you mean by messy?
Trachelospermum sounds interesting, does it have an easier name?!

I quite like the idea of inter-mingling a few plants together, to get a variety of colour/flower/leaf/etc throughout the year, would clematis be good for that?

[Gooner123]

The trachelospernum is known as Star Jasmin,a lot of people lost their ceanothus last yr,you could plant another one seeing as you liked it.

[JKSLtd]

Thanks Gooner.
That's interesting about others losing theirs. I looked it up last year and there did seem to be some discussion about it.
I may get another one for the back as there is the space where the dead one was and I did like it

[Pannacotta]

Yes if you liked the Ceanothus do get another, no need to put it against a wall its just that gives more protection as its a little tender.

Re messy I meant the way the plant grows, Honeysuckle and Clematis are often quite scruffy looking at the bottom of the plant with flowers growing high up - you prune clematis but that is a bit of a hassle.

The Star jasmine doesn't need pruning and looks decent from ground up.

Another good lucking easy shrub which flowers later in the year (also scented flowers) is Abelia, also good for a sunny spot

www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/abelia--grandiflora/classid.3/

[JKSLtd]

Thanks again, Pannacotta.

I was looking at that website the other day coincidentally, is it a good one to order from?
I went to my local garden centre today and wandered around rather lost - I'm not a gardener! I did see some clematis & I saw a lavatera which reminded me we had one of those once and i loved it, but it did grow rather madly so maybe not what I need for the front.

I'm thinking 5ft high square trellis (ideally I'd like white but that seems hard to get hold of online) across between the 2 down poles, approx 11ft wide, so prob 2 x 6ft panels.
Not exactly sure how I'll get them to stand up, I can attach to the down poles I guess.

So, I've got in my basket so far:
a ceanothus (for the gap in the back garden)
a star jasmin (for the trellis)

what else?
There is an ivy of some sort already in the ground that I should be able to get climbing.
Will the abelia climb?
maybe another ivy?
or a passionflower?

[Pannacotta]

Crocus is very pricey, buy from a local plant nursery if you can, if not then a garden centre will cost less than Crocus and often includes a plant guarantee. Ask for help and advice when there!
The Abelia wont climb no but can be planted in front of the trellis or a wall.
Passionflower is pretty and not too unruly.

[JKSLtd]

It's just I wander up and down and read labels but have no idea where anything I want might be I have no idea how they organise plants or what to do if they haven't got what I've decided on at home.
If I'd seen a ceanothus today I would've bought it but had about 5mins (with DD in tow) so no time to ask someone who might dither and then tell me they don't have it anyway.

It's worse than the deli counter in a supermarket, lol!

Sweet pea? Though I think I can only see seed on the crocus website - not sure I'm up to growing from seed.

Given that we've gained a lot of space cutting down the bushes, I don't really want to put in anything that grows outwards by much. I want things that grow upwards for screening, scent, colour, flowers, etc.

[Pannacotta]

Abeila or Ceanothus can both grown as wall shrubs so can be kept slim.
Climbers are lovely but usually involve more work than shrubs to keep them in check and you had said you didn't want to do lots of maintenance.

I learnt a lot about gardening by reading gardening books and looking on-line. It is your garden so your call what you plant and where you buy from!

And when in a nursery or garden centre just ask for help!