Snork's Garden Redesign Project

Better to be on the safe side then
Taylor's clematis are brilliant at whittling down the right clematis for your position. If you haven't looked yet, pease do..... I've got no affiliation with them, I've never even bought from them. I'd love to though .
It's an amazing site for information and finding the right plant for the right place.
There's lots suitable for pots, all aspects and conditions.
I think it looks great as it is
Roses would be the perfect country arch, but without soil they wouldn't be happy.
A happy plant is always more cheerful, to look at, than a sulky plant

 

Ha ha yes you are right there @Loki - definitely needs soil lol. Plus, I've got a lot of roses in the front and they're all blighted by black spot despite following all advice. I'll have a look at Taylor's now thanks Loki.

Ah yes, @Mike Allen , a black trough or pot of some description is what I intend to use. I thought I'd pick the desire plant first and make sure I get a suitable container.

Just been looking through the seeds I've got and I've realised I've actually sown a few Mina Lobata which seem to have germinated. Do you think that would grow over the arch?

 

Last year was my first year with Mina Lobata. Mine flowered early but didn't make much growth. A friend took some of the seedlings and they put on a really good display, probably due to them being in fuller sun. His put on much more growth than mine. Three or four plants in a large planter would look great on the arch.

Edit: I found some of the seeds to germinate really quickly (days) and some to take up to a month to germinate. Strange seeds.

 

How about runner beans they have nice flowers plus you can easily pick them and they do well in a whiskey barell ....

Spruce

 

My niece has set me a mind and physical teaser....again!!! At 24 she has loads of ideas but without the practicality of applying them.
A manhole cover by her front door ....can’t simply be a good looking pot containing a good looking plant, oh no!! Actually I have ideas...succulents, stipa tennuissima grasses,,etc., in a raised area....but your arch planting, Snorky, made me smile at the similarities I will build a raised bed edged with black brick with gravel mulching.

 

I like the runner bean suggestion for the pergola. Before I read that I was thinking of winter jasmine but you could have both runner beans and winter jasmine for when there are no bean flowers.

 

I think Painted Lady beans are a great idea, but would also like to suggest the everlasting pea, which is an ornamental rather than a vegetable: Lathyrus latifolius | broad-leaved everlasting pea/RHS Gardening

I've got it in the garden here, it grows strongly and the flowers are lovely but it's also pretty undemanding - cut it back to the ground in the autumn and it comes back year after year. As well as the original pink (often seen growing wild on the railway banks round here) there's a white and a deeper pink/red version. Should be quite readily available in the next month - I remember seeing it sold along with honeysuckle etc in my local Asda last spring.

 

As with any recommendations on any forum, here are my current favourite children. A couple that are going in our tropical area this year are Periploca graeca (silk vine) and Bomeria hirtella which is a climber related to alstromeria.

Both climbers, both reasonably winter hardy. Something else, along with the runner beans idea, that's a bit different.

 

I do reckon you could plant a rose to cover it with a good size pot, a david austin shrub rose can get a fair height some can be used as climbers. Could have a good with a wisteria in a pot, it not mind being in pot seen as they can be bonsai . As you probably know anything grown in a pot all of its needs are counting on you regular feeding etc.

Everyone else has mentioned lots of what I thought, I am growing a type of bean this year Hyacinth bean think its more of a ornamental bean than a eating bean, think it can be used for cooking though.

 

Think they use it in curries

 

Funny you should say that - I have had 4 seeds germinate and another 5 with no signs of activity.

ha ha I want to make it look the best it can. Funnily enough we have a man hole in the front grass to be able to access a hidden well and also one for accessing the ground source heat pump etc...I am wondering how I can make those look better

AH yes _ I have three of these in the back garden - they romp away! I've found they can get really heavy and quite hard to keep under control!

Thanks for all the recommendations everyone. Given me a lot of options to consider

 

A little update on the garden project. Had the old small pond removed and the edge straightened out. Still got the turf to redo but we are getting there. Landscaper is here again tomorrow. I've been planting in the raised beds. Still waiting to get my phormium platts black to add a bit more height and a different texture. A few piccies: