Garden Structures Arbour Planting
An arbour is s shady resting place in a garden often made of rustic wood or latticework on which plants, such as climbing shrubs or vines, are grown. However, you need to consider the location of your garden arbour when selecting climbers. A vigorous climber will take over your arbour until the original shape disappears! On the other hand, a slow grower can take several years to even reach the horizontal part of your arbour which means you have to be very happy gazing at the bare structure for a long time. Some, like wisteria, grow fast but may take five to seven years to produce any flowers and others, like the fast growing clematis family, may need to be pruned back heavily in winter but still have to be trimmed three or four times in the growing season if you are to be able to enter your arbour at all! Understanding the habits of the plants you choose will help you get the right options for your arbour.
Plants for shady or partly shady sites
- Clematis
- Climbing Hydrangea
- Ivy
- Winter Jasmine
- Roses
Fast growing plants to cover an area quickly (but needing pruning)
- Clematis Montana
- Honeysuckle
- Russian Vine
- Virginia Creeper
- Grapevines
Annuals (good for arbours that need to be painted or stained every year)
- Sweet Peas (need support)
- Black-eyed Susan (vine)
- Morning glory
Fragrant Plants (dont choose if you have a household member who suffers from hay fever!)
- Climbing rose
- Wisteria
- Honeysuckle
- Sweet Peas
Garden arbour photograph by Waterlily, used under a creative commons attribution licence.
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