A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 I'm "stumped"

In my back yard is a line of junipers that were put up as a wind break years ago. We trimmed them this spring and they look really nice. But the question I have isn't about the live ones, it is about one that apparently blew over in a wind storm when the ground was very wet. The tree was cut off about 2 foot from the roots and the hole in the ground where the roots used to be is still there. It apparently happened a long time ago because the roots are weathered and completely bare. What I was wondering, what could I plant to grow over the roots and stump that would look cool. I want to leave the stump there with the roots in the air, I think it looks cool. But I want some kind of stunted flowering vine to grow over it. It is in partial shade and I live in zone 6a. What would you recommend. At first I thought clemitis but they grow too much. Then I thought periwinkle but I was afraid it woudld take off in all directions. So what do you think? I wish I could show you a picture but I have neither a digital camera or a scanner.

Would petunias or some of the wave petunias be too much? They don't vine far but would hang off the roots if they aren't to high. And the flowers are pretty much medium in size and there are a bunch of colors to choose from.

What about hops? They are partial shade. They die back to the ground every year but are said to be fast growers?

Here is a link to a nursery that specializes in vines.

Vines

This is a kiwi and is unusual to me (but then everything is unusual to me) lol. Actinidia pilosula

I hope you find something you like.

Hops can grow to 30 feet, so I'd worry about them getting into your other junipers.

I know you said no clematis, but I think sweet autumn clematis would work. A little light trimming now and then should keep it in bounds and it prefers a little shade. I think it's pretty spectacular when it blooms in fall.

clematis

Hey,

That's cool Terry you wouldn't even know the stump was there.

Thanks you two for your help....the vine site is giving me tons of ideas.....+ the autumn clemitis looks like an option. Actually after looking at the vine site that TK sent me, I was going back to looking at clemitis anyway. Some are a little more "timid" tan others. I am going to one of my local nurserys with ideas in hand and I will let you know what I ended up doing!

Can't wait to find out. And when the time is right, PICTURES?

terry, i shortened your url so it didn't "run off the page"... hope you don't mind

Thanks, for some reason, since I've started using Internet Explorer I can't pull a web address into the URL box (the one you get by clicking on URL down next to the gremlins)where I can rename it something shorter. I can only pull the web address into the original message box.