Climber in a trough??? Help please!

[wickedfairy]

Hi,

Hoping somene here can give me some advice please! Have just bought a Trachelospermum Jasminoides/Star Jasmine for the patio area. The plan is for it to grow up a trellis attached to a fence - area approx. 3 metres wide by 2 metres tall (although can train further).

Hoping for some advice on the following please: Guy at garden centre said that climbers don't really like being in containers and prefer being in the ground, as they like deep roots. We have a trough that is 120cm x 40cm x 40cm - so pretty big. Would this be sufficient? Can't really put it in the ground in the location I want it, as the patio is there. I could plant it at the base of the hedge at one end of the fence and trail it back over, but not sure if that would be better than the trough.

Conflicting advice on the net, whether a container is ok or not. Can anyone please advise? My plant is currently in pot from garden centre - about 1 metre tall, on a pyramid of sticks for support.

Any help gratefully received - clueless newbie to the whole gardening thing! TIA!

I'm answering because noone else has!
We always put our plants where we want them! We have the attitude that if they die they die but we will take cuttings first!
I think that the trough would be better than at the bottom of the hedge, the soil at the bottom of our hedge is so dry because the hedge stops the rain from landing and the hedge is so greedy, so planting the jasmine in the trough would mean that you can give it more individual care.
We have removed a few slabs from our patio and trained a jasmine(different type to yours) up the side of our shed and it is very happy.
MIL has a couple of clemetis (also climbers) in pots smaller than your trough and they do well.

We have done almost exactly what you want to do, with a Trachelospermum Jasminoides in a deep pot, along with several rambling roses and a clematis montana (each in their own pot). Because they are deep they seem to have found enough room for their roots and are going strong several years on.

YOu will need to make sure you water it well, but I haven't had any problems doing it this way.

hi, just saw this. I have a honeysuckle which needs to go in the ground, but the ground is rock ahrd and full of stones. wonder is it will thrive? I could buy a pot, but a substantial big enough one will be ££££. If i can try and dig a hole, will it establish in the stony ground i wonder.

Climbers can do well in pots, depends on the size of pot and the type of climber. We have a jasmine in a trough, roughly the same size as yours and it does okay. I agree with jenroy - we have plants growing in clay that say 'needs well-drained soil' and they're doing okay. We put plants where we want them too.

Thanks everyone - I have planted the star jasmine and 2 small clematis in my big trough, so will see how it goes!! Will train them up the trellis and hopefully all will be well :-)

Thanks for your advice!