Fast growing trees/big shrubs

[debbiem]

Our darling neighbour decided to cut back all his Clematis Montana yesterday which had been tumbling all along our wall all the time we've been here. The Clematis took a lot of the top of our Ivy along with it, leaving the top of our wall laid open and bare. The neighbour's garden is on a level higher to ours so although doing this doesn't affect his privacy it has devastated ours, so Leylandii aside, any ideas for some tall fast growing shrubs or trees would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

[debbiem]

Mind you we do have a lot of nice big shrubs along that wall anyway, but in their early stages. And we did buy a hedging batch of Hawthorn, some of which haven't found a home yet so I think I've answered my own question anyway.

[4pygmies]

It depends how tall you would like really Mrs Beige - for a quickscreen could you put up some trellis on the top of the wall and put some annual climbers for the summer until the ivy grows back? There are quite a few which grow miles in a season. Or maybe an evergreen climber like Clematis armandi mixed in would be lovely. For shrubs, off the top of my head - buddleja, philadelphus, spindle, olearia, shrub roses, beech (copper beech is beautiful as a hedge I think), lavatera etc or if you want evergreen - Garrya elliptica, viburnums, variegated holly, laurel, bay. The trouble with growing up quickly is that they also grow out - how much space do you want them to take up?

[debbiem]

Thanks 4P some nice suggestions there. We just didn't expect the neighbour to just whip away all this growth, and I had spent a good while during the last couple of months moving plants around the garden and planting things up against this wall in question and felt I'd got it just about right. Underneath his Clematis I planted a Garrya, very small but it didn't matter as the Clematis was giving us privacy meanwhile, three Hawthorns, two Pyracanthas and a Guelder rose. Further down the wall a bit is a bog garden which we can't plant anything suitable in, a bit further along is a very small Holly and then a big Lilac. Him just doing this completely out of the blue has just thrown us a bit as it was all very savage and sudden. The Garrya and Guelder can grow out as much as they like where they are. The wall is about 6ft high anyway but the whole aspect of the garden has been thrown out right now with this massive gap along the top where the Clematis was, and it looks terrible right now. Our garden's just still in its early stages and things could have taken as long as they needed to get big, but suddenly we had this 'surprise'. We did dig up a mad rampant rambling Clematis that we can't indentify from the flower bed which twines around anything and is unkillable and uneatable, which is in a pot at the moment and which would love to be let loose on a bit of trellis so thanks for that suggestion too.

[The witch]

You could of course grow a Clematis Montana on your side Mrs. B I'm sure Clematis Montana should be pruned after flowering too.

Is the wall north or south facing?

[debbiem]

It's south facing. That's a really good idea too The witch. Of course I did try to give this neighbour the benefit of the doubt in all this and thought that maybe he had just wanted to prune his Clematis but before he set to it it looked as if it hadn't been pruned for 10 years, it was huge so you can imagine how it looks now. This neighbour is this kind of person - on the school run one morning I had difficuly getting my car out of a tight space, his car was parked in front of mine. The kids and I got the car out successfully. When I got back I found that he had reversed his car back a few inches so I couldn't get back into the space again. All done without even seeing him. But he was watching us all right. So I find it hard to see that what he has done is for the good of all.

[The witch]

Your neighbour doesn't act very neighbourly does he

How about a Ceanothus or two www.crocus.co.uk/search/pl/?q=ceanothus

or maybe some Jasmine www.crocus.co.uk/search/pl/?q=jasmine

or Honeysuckle www.crocus.co.uk/search/pl/?q=honeysuckle

[The witch]

Clematis Armandii has already been suggest I see - a lovely quick growing plant once established it is too. ;D
But IMO needs under planting as the lower stems loose their leaves.

[debbiem]

No he bloomin' doesn't.

More good suggestions, thanks.

[The witch]

Clematis Armandii, Jasmine and Honeysuckle smell wonderful too.

I have this growing in a pot.

[debbiem]

I like the idea of a Clematis, the mad one we have growing in a pot would definitely take off but isn't very colourful, and has tiny flowers. It's just getting the slugs to leave it alone until it gets going......

[debbiem]

The jasmine looks perfect! How high is it climbing in the pot?

[The witch]

well - I had to cut it hard back, so that OH could remove the wires he'd attached to the house for it to grow up - it did grow to about 15 foot high and 10 foot wide, but was a bit sparse.

[debbiem]

Sounds great. Also sounds as if it grows too fast for any beastie to get the better of it.

[sweetleaf]

My Jasmine replaced a rampant Ivy which was damaging the Brickwork, It covered a 6x8 fence in 12 months and flowers beautifully! I love it, and it is very easy to control ;D

[sweetleaf]

Cotoneaster is a good cover for any fence, flowers freely and is easy to control/train with a bonus of berries which are there all winter. Bees love it too ;D

[debbiem]

Thanks Sweetleaf, the garden's very young, can't wait to have something that needs controlling! The Jasmine sounds great. We've got some Clematis, one has grown up successfully but the rest keep suffering from slug attacks, end up in pots, grow back to a substantial size, get replanted and here we go with the cycle all over again......I feel very positive about Jasmine.
We have no idea which Clematis, if it is indeed a Clematis, (it has Clematis leaves), that this mad rampant climber is that we have in a pot, we found two of them in the garden. Nothing touches them and they twine around everything. Last year we directed one of them upwards and it ended up in the Horse Chestnut tree several feet above it, all in one season.

[maggyd]

Mrs B montana has to be pruned back at least every couple of years otherwise it starts to grow backover which is very untidy, unless he has taken it out altogether it will be up the top of the wall again by the end of the summer. I cut mine back every year otherwise it would take over, you could do as The witch said and plant one of your own, I must admit I dont ask my neigbour before I cut my climbers and like you I do know the lady behind has told me she likes my climbers so we cant overlook her and I replied I dont want to see your nickers on the line either,

[debbiem]

Thanks maggyd - you know, I really can't imagine that conversation with my neighbour...in fact I have never had a conversation with him, he is too busy muttering and objecting to everyone/thing to bother with anything so lightweight as a conversation. But anyway thanks for giving me the viewpoint from the other side. Did your neighbour like the bit about the knickers?
What has rattled me and hubby more than the Clematis going is all our ivy which was underneath it which they hacked away in large bits and chucked back over our side indiscriminately. I know that is what the law says but they had no regard for what it was landing on and it looks a right mess.

But the plus side - I've just made some stone and wood piles around the garden and the ivy branches are just right for going over the top of them