Climbers for dead leylandii project

Hi

I've been in my new home for around six months so far and have spent the time getting to know the space and how we use it as well as some general mainenance jobs (like waging war on ground elder which is beating a retreat but far from gone yet).

Plans are beginning to form in my head though still only loose so far.

I wondered if people here would be willing to give suggestions about this leylandii hedge which is planted in front of our (huge) shed.





Our loose plan so far has been to cut them to the height of the gutter on the shed, kill the trees, use the trunks to form support for beams of a carport between the shed and the trunks while growing climbing plants up the trunks to form an evergreen wall.

In front of the hedge is an area that had similar sheds that were demolished long before our arrival so the soil is not good. It's basically a layer of grass over either cobbles or gravel and some soil matter built up over the years. Any of the bushes planted in that area are falling over or suffering from lack of root room I think. Our idea there is also to have some structure for plants to climb on (in my more fanciful moments I dream of hydroponics )

This is the view from down the slope below the demolished shed foundations



This is the part with cobbles that we thought we could roof, possibly even with a green roof of some kind



This isn't the most helpful picture but it's all I could easily find. It's how the area looks when the huge trees on the boundary are lacking leaves



My main planting criteria for the entire garden are:

Able to survive Scottish winters
Able to survive shallow rooting and/or live in containers
At least some of the scheme to be evergreen and year round interest.
Fragrance if possible
Wildlife friendly (this is a big one as the entire garden is my dream of providing a wildlife refuge). So no blossoms that won't support insects for instance. Somewhere near to this hedge I am planning a large hibernaculum for toads that already live here but might multiply once I build my wildlife pond.

The shed is to the south of the hedge so the hedge itself is shaded. The huge deciduous trees are to the west of the plot (on the other side of the boundary stream). These cast shadow in the evening. The foundations area that we hope to have the pergola type structures on gets a lot of sun in the summer but frosty in the winter.

I'm a beginner on a low budget and welcome any advice no matter how basic Thanks.

 

Wow Piffyuk,

It seems like your not as amateur at this as you may think. The leylandii idea is very good and the structure would tie in nicely with the existing shed. The good news is once you cut all the branches of the leylandii, just leaving the trunk it will die itself, they don't like tough pruning.

With regards to the demolished shed area, it sounds like it is perfectly set up for an alpine garden. While many might think they went out of fashion 10 years ago, they can look stunning with a little planning. It should give a distinctly wildflower appearence which could be mirrored with a light weight alpine and sedum roof garden. Can be done DIY and cheaply.

 

Thanks Gardenman I hadn't thought of an alpine area there I shall have to do some research. I take it they won't mind frost? Certainly the middle of the foundations barely supports even grass so it's not that far off the gravelly alpine areas I've seen in other gardens.

I've been giving a lot of serious thought to the project since I posted this anyway. I read quite a lot of threads on the forum about climbers and like the sound of Clematis Montana (Broughton star still looks useful for insects and very pretty) or evergreen honeysuckle (Lonicera Japonica var. repens) mixed with a nice ivy; Hedera helix Golden Jytte to give warm colour in the winter. I was looking for a climber that would give a redder hint in the winter but am coming round to putting a container grown red bush or two in front for that.

I'm quite excited by this kind of garden planning. I've never had a garden of any size or significance before but developing a mental picture of how it could look and then searching out plants for it has been really fun this week. Those plants I've listed look nice and affordable and propagatable so if I order them now I could get going with some cuttings perhaps.

Still will welcome any wisdom or other thoughts if anyone has any.

Oh an afterthought, when we can afford around £400 forest green stain for the shed it is changing colour. Probably not this year though.

 

not sure if you can plant 3 different creepers together, but I would look at 3 that grow fast and cover a large area ...

virginia creeper or boston ivy for the nice red autumn colour

a vigorous rambling rose with nice flowers and such as Alchymist or MMe d'Arblay or Rambling Rector

climbing Hydrangea for evergreen foilage

I'm not sure if you can plant all 3 together, but if so, will look interesting most of the year, and will be cheap to cover a large area fast

 

Piffyuk, did you know that Leylandii are one of the best trees for wild birds ?
When they're looked after and maintained they are an extremely good plant to have in a large garden/area.

 

You need to see my fences jasmin summer and winter honey suckle 4 vatrieties hydrangea roses clematis they were all planted at the same time so I think thats the trick looks realy good and they fight it out amongst them selves ,
I do tend to forget with the clematis and then they break into flower , the roses are now starting to climb in to the trees oh nearly forgot wisteria as well would look realy good

Spruce

 

Akebia quinata would love to sprawl through a large tree; it's semi evergreen in mild winters, has a lovely purple flower and it is extremely vigorous :thumb:

Akebia quinata - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Don't worry Louise, this isn't the only outcropping of leylandii in this garden But an ivy screen is also a very good habitat for wildlife I've read and has the added bonus of flowers and berries for some variants which whereas leylandii provide neither that I have seen.

Spruce, glad to hear you have successfully mixed climbers in your garden. If you have photos I'd love to see.

I'm getting plenty of experience at the moment of dealing with mixed rates of growth as I struggle to rescue the privet in my hedge from the overgrowth of elm and lonicera that had nearly throttled it in the years before we bought the place. The advantage is that I tend to be at home pretty much full time and can poke at things on a nearly daily basis if I have to.

 

Ah I'd looked at that one Bilbo, I liked it's flower colour and that it was evergreen. The only thing putting me off was the chocolate scent. How chocolatey is that do you know? It's one of the few scents I probably wouldn't find that appealing.. weird I know :D

 

I think it's one of those personal things, I planted one in my mum's garden and couldn't smell much a chocolate smell at all really; it's like the perennial chocolate cosmos; couldn't smell that either whilst others will tell you it's a strong chocolate smell....

 

The trunks of the Leylandii, will rot at the base in about five years, so would not support car part beams for very long

I have done the climbers around the trunks, the trunks turn light grey, I preserved them with dark oak preservative, and have attached posts at the back of the now rotted through trunks (it looks like an amazing unusual tree as one of the climbers appears to be the canopy)

Jack McHammocklashing

 

Thanks Jack, I really appreciate hearing about something similar because that clarifies for me that this probably won't be the strategy we'll take. Five years does not sound long enough and I think we will aim to generate some kind of screen and pergola structure over the foundations of the buildings and then take the leylandii right down. I would be very surprised if they can be cut back into a decent hedge without it having to be a six feet deep hedge to avoid cutting into the old brown wood. We have no need to be using six feet of the garden on a deep hedge just there. I'd far rather be growing something attractive.