A small bed against the north wall of Genus HQ is planted with a nice mix of geranium, hellebores, saroccoca, and bulbs. Several years ago a favourite philadelphus was threatening to swamp the bed and so rather than risk moving it we thought we’d try and prolong its usefulness and train it against the wall; a bit unusual as we’d never seen this done before. However, knowing that philadelphus throws up plenty of new growth we knew there would be plenty of fresh material to tie in as we removed older shoots.
Three years on and the idea seems to be working. The only problem we’ve had has been the common affliction of blackfly on the new early summer growth but it flowers well, clothes the wall nicely, and we can enjoy the beautiful scent as it permeates that area of the garden.