escallonia hedge disaster

in the autunm the leaves developed white spots and there was a  white fungusey looking going down the middle of the stems. its an evergreen and now there are no leaves and no new sign of growth so will i plant climbers to grow up through it. its well developed and is leaving us very exposed now that there are no leaves!! what do you think i should do it will take too long to plant new shrubs

it will take too long to plant new shrubs

We planted 4' high copper beech last year. Not cheap, but not exspensive either - bare rooted plants, so only Nov-Mar planting season.

Then there is Instant Hedge - about £200 per metre 

Personally I don't think using it is a climbing frame is a long term prospect - the dead wood will start off before very long. But in the short term how about Morning Glory?  Very showy, and grows like bindweed (without the bit about being impossible to get rid of though!)

If there is something noxious in the soil you may have to sort that out first though - I don't know if Honey Fungus would upset Morning Glory? (I think of it as a tree disease, but that could well be wrong)

Ah, good point. A Clematis would get some fairly substantial stems over a few years and whilst I don't think it would be self-supporting it would probably not put as much strain on the old hedge plants.

Climbing / Rambling roses are floppy - so almost self-supporting.

probably others that are even better suited.

Could you get some straining wires, and some decent posts, into the hedge to provide extra support for the climber?