Well-trained mock orange

We’ve talked about the climbing plants at Genus HQ before and we’ve probably mentioned the philadelphus on the north side of the cottage.  Planted in the border some years ago it started to become more enthusiastic in its growth than we had anticipated.  With the option to remove or to retain it we decided to treat it as a wall shrub and train it against the wall next to a very slow growing Shizophragma

In the back of our minds there has always been the possibility that this treatment might not suit this type of shrub but at last we can say that it’s been a resounding success.  Plenty of flowers have been produced and the stunning scent is commented on by almost every visitor that comes to the front door.

Careful pruning of old wood, tying in of new, and a generous feed and mulching regime have resulted in a healthy specimen that takes up very little space, requires minimal input, and repays us tenfold, hopefully for many years to come.