Phase 2 of my garden - inspire me!

I have salix integra flamingo. That's probably not the one you've seen. I bought it this time last year.

It looked like this when I bought it.


It looked like this a few weeks ago.


It has filled out more since then but this is the most up to date photo I have.

G.

 

one of my Salix Integra.... hakuro nishiki....growing here

 

So while my eye is not quite as good as yours @ Verdun , @Jack Sparrow , I have one of these a bit further along from the section here:



Looks broadly similar?

 

Looks like it to me but I'm no expert.

G.

 

Hi @Cardinal-Red , yes that a "Flamingo Salix" . They are beautiful shrubs. We have both the stsndard which we let grow out and weep natually ( rather than shaping them into perfectly round spheres which looks un-natural ) and normal shrubs about 2 to 3 ft high.

PS.... if you wanted anymore to grow as shrubd, don't buy them. Just cut some stems off and put them in a glass of water or a pot of compost and they'll root within 3 weeks.

 

I grow them here as shrubs too. Agree about not clipping them (as a form of topiary) as they are not really suitable for that.
All I do is remove any die back and trim leading shoots....produces extra density....in a few weeks mine will produce those long arching branches
Will post a picture of it then

 

The mind boggles!

I've just been reading up on that. Three different websites said.... "soil-less mix", "in compost" and "in water".... which do you recommend?

 

One option would be to choose a clematis and train it to grow up and over the conifer. This would add colour and interest, and would also jazz up the conifer. I would put the roots near the fence somewhere between the conifer and iris, then train it across to the conifer....

 

Love this idea!

What kind of support / "supervision" does it need? Should I set up some bamboo canes etc? Or can I just leave it to do its own work.

Would be good to get it to grow back onto the fence as well if that were a viable option?

 

i think you would just need a single cane to take the stem from where you’d planted the clematis to the conifer. From there on it would be able to make its own way up. Maybe a case of directing it to run in front, rather than round the back. I would certainly run any additional stems along the fence...