Trained shrubs

Suitable for training

A number of shrubs with long, pendulous branches are suitable for training. All trained plants must be tied firmly because they have no tendrils. They are ideal against a wall or fence.

Popular examples include:

• Winter jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum, which flowers from the end of November until March, interrupted by possible periods of frost. If the plant grows very large, the oldest stems can be cut away entirely.
  
• Cotoneaster horizontalis, which particularly has decorative value thanks to its orange-red berries.
  
• Pyracantha can also be planted for its berries. The orange-yellow 'Golden Charmer' is highly recommended, as is 'Orange Charmer' with large colourful berries.
  
• Anyone who loves soft blue could opt for Californian lilac (Ceanothus), which flowers in May-June.
  
• White Japanese flowering quince, Chaenomeles japonica 'Alba', is also attractive as a trained shrub, and very unusual.
  
• Of the spindles, the species Euonymus fortunei which retains its leaves can be considered as an evergreen trained shrub. The leaf is variegated gold or silver. Large-leaved: 'Sunshine' (gold variegated), 'Emerald Gaiety' (silver variegated); small-leaved: 'Emerald 'n Gold' (gold variegated), 'Variegatus' (white, turning red in winter).
  
• The climbing rose, which should more accurately be called the trained rose. Roses do hook themselves onto irregularities with their thorns to some extent, but they are not true climber: they just produce extremely long shoots which can be trained and tied at spots where you want them.