A good easy to control climbing plant?

[stratford1]

Hi folks. I have an idea which may or may not work and need some of you more experienced gardeners to let me know. Thanks in advance for your help! Our chimney is on the front of our house and we're wanting to put in a trellis and some sort of climbing plant to dress it up a bit. The problem is, we have existing boxwood shrubs in front of the chimney which we dont want to remove. My question is...is there a climber which would be good to plant there behind the existing shrub which would (1) do ok without direct sunlight on it's lower area (near the ground) and (2) climb upwards to fill out the trellis but not start spreading into the shrub or cover the ground beneath the shrub? Any ideas you have would be great! (Note: we're in zone 6.)

[axemanchris]

Sounds like the perfect spot for a clematis!

Jacqui

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[Myrl Jeffcoat]

A couple of years back I planted a hybrid Flying Saucer Morning Glory on the back fence. It really is a beautiful plant, with gorgeous blooms. I can tell you one thing, don't obtain one of these plants if you are looking for something easy to control. . .I swear that thing grows about a yard a day!

Last summer, I went on a little trip, and when I came back, it was over the gazebo, in the Cherry tree, and on it's way to the neighbor's house! . .Totally amazing!

I've seen beautiful Clematis however. . .and yes, they are very nice - a little easier to handle.

Myrl Jeffcoat

[Mindful]

I would go with a clematis vine. Have you checked to see if the roots of the shrubs have invaded every inch of the area? If so few vines would thrive in that spot.

[stratford1]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. Sounds like Clematis is it! I haven't thoroughly checked the area yet but I think there's a decent amount of soil there. Just to verify this with those of you who've grown clematis before...is it pretty easy to keep in check? How often (if at all) do you think I'd have to trim it to prevent invasion into the shrub? Or does clematis usually prefer to climb upwards rather than out? Thanks for your help!

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Clematis climbs upward. When they're very healthy, they'll grow outward a bit. Actually, it's more a matter of there being too many branches to fit onto the trellis, so they'll twine around the nearest thing. But, they don't grip so tightly that they'll strange the bush, and it's easy to pull them off. And, in winter, the grippers (whatever they're called) become brittle, like dry twigs, so they're easy to pull off of whatever they've gotten cozy with.

[Myrl Jeffcoat]

. . .and they come in a variety of wonderful colors;-) Heck!. . .maybe I'll even plant one!

Myrl Jeffcoat

[stratford1]

Perfect. Thanks everybody!

[Doug Kanter]

Before planting...prepare the hole VERY NICELY. The plant's gonna live there for many years. Do it right. Do a little research.