IF you look at a country hedgerow in summer, after the blackthorn, hawthorn and other hedgerow shrubs have finished flowering, what do you see taking over? Honeysuckle is completely hiding the developing hawthorn berries, old-man’s beard is clinging to the blackthorn spines, wild hops and wild climbing roses are taking over, and ivy is steadily making its way up the tree trunks. These are climbers, doing what they do naturally – using mature shrubs for support to carry their flowers into the light.
Supporting climbers
So why do we insist on forcing climbers onto obelisks and up poles and confining them to narrow panels of trellis by the front door? Of course, choose the right varieties and they make very effective features in tight spaces. But if you have mature shrubs, or even shrubs of modest size, why not copy nature and set climbers to use them as support?
In nature,
