[Zippy]

I have a breeze block partition wall which hides the compost bins from the rest of the garden. Along with a two foot trellis on top of this the area i want to cover is about seven square feet.

Two feet to three feet (diagonally) in front of this wall is a garden bench seated on two short granite pillars. I don't want to move this seat so this is a limiting factor.

At present this wall is covered by a mature Summer Jasmine, but it grows rapidly covering the seat and romping down the length of the garden every year despite being hard pruned every late summer.  I don't like the smell (toilet cleaner) or having to cut it back every year and i want my garden seat back.

I am drawn to replacing this monster with one or two old English roses, but do I plant climbers and limit their growth to seven or eight feet square and train them to the wall and trellis, or plant bushes and limit their depth so they don't encroach over the seat?

Importance is fragrance which i would like to be strong and old fashioned as I sit on my garden seat. I would like the growth to cover the seven or eight feet I have but they would need to flower lower down the stems if I were to stop vertical growth at eight feet - can I do this with a climber?

I'm not too fussy about colour; maybe a peach and a red or burnt orange.

Any suggestions most welcome.

[JayG]

Don't actually "go" for men but despite that I have to say that my "Graham Thomas" old English rose from David Austin has performed fabulously as a climber; most of DA's English roses have been bred to be grown as shrubs, but some, GT included, can be grown as short climbers, which means they don't ramble more than about 8 feet (not entirely sure anyone told mine though!)

Like most "English roses" it has two big flushes of flowers per year (June and Sept/Oct where I am) and has a wonderful, but not overpowering scent.

It is such a strong performer that you could easily also grow a honeysuckle up through it to make sure your socks remained permanently knocked off!

Mine was bought as a potted plant for £7.95 from a garden centre, which is much less than the "official" price:

 http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english/showrose.asp?showr=426

[Zippy]

Thanks JayG - that sounds just right.