PM2 - Just outside the arbour gate, the neighbours' wooden privacy fence extends out 6' or so. ND is running along there too - I put up a couple of big hooks, dropped the canes into the hook part and tied them there. You should have no problem getting the canes to go around the corner. Hopefully, there is solid wood that you can screw in some hooks to support and control the canes at the 4' level. I used the ones in the link below. That is also what is used to support the swag chains on the posts - the links in the chains fit neatly over the hooks. I can live with a delay on the tuteur. Mario and family are dealing with a lot of stress because of his wife's health and the effect it has on the care of their adult mentally disabled son. I don't want to add to their stress so, if at all possible for Mario to build and install it this year, I'd rather wait for him to do it. I have to think through the pruning issues if I combined group 3 clematis with honeysuckle on the swag. But I already grow group 3 clematises - including one on the arbour - that I don't prune back. They do just fine. The flowers are higher up - but that's not a problem for the top of the arbour. It would be more of an issue on the chains perhaps though so I have to think about what is best. I could do what I do with Paul Farges - which is strip off all the old growth except for thicker central stems, which I sometimes leave long and sometimes cut back, depending on where I want the flowers to be. If I did that, chose shorter varieties, planted one variety per support post for the swag chains and then trained the vines to grow towards the next post and from the lower chain to the top, I think I could produce a wall of flowers. I would probably try having the colors change in a sequence along the swag - e.g. start with a white one, shade to a pale blue one, end at a dark blue/purple one or something like that. A honeysuckle might confuse the issue. Maybe I'll put honeysuckle on one side of the alley and clematis on the other. Lots of possibilities to think about... White Moth is my favorite hydrangea in the garden! I'm not keen on the mophead type of hydrangeas but like the cut-it-down of arborescens. White Dome gives me that but with a flower style I find more attractive. Since I have hydrangeas combined with group 3 clematises, I wanted hydrangea types that bloom on new wood. The clematises get cut back when/as much as the hydrangeas they are entangled with are pruned in spring. The Vanilla Strawberry looks interesting in pictures. I'll probably look for that one. alisande - yes, Copper is a Briard (not many people recognize the breed!) but she's not ours. We do a lot of dog-sitting for friends. Copper's 'parents' are on vacation, so we just have her until the 19th. She's 4 now and has calmed down a lot - she was one rowdy puppy and juvenile!! Misty, our little dog, is 12 now and is not so keen as she used to be at having a big goof bouncing all over her! Copper has very strong herding instincts and used to try to keep Misty from going off the patio when they were outside! There are some cute pictures of Misty and her buddies, including more of Copper, at: http://www.picturetrail.com/gid21205312 How old was your Briard when she died? I know the breed is prone to bloat, amongst other things so we're careful about feeding and no vigorous play before or after meals and such. She's certainly a 'character'! Here is a link that might be useful: hooks

Your local code should account for a normal amount of snow.  If you can an EPIC amount of snow for where you live, you'll want to shovel.  Use a plastic shovel.  My neighbor didn't shovel his, though, and while the snow pile up above his deck railings, his deck was fine once it reappeared in April or May.

Japanese maple cultivars often need some shelter. New spring growth can be prone to frost in exposed positions, summer foliage may burn or fade out on some kinds in hot locations. Also dry, sun-baked soil may cause some top die-back. Bacterial blight is promoted by cool and damp conditions during fall. If a site has the wrong atmosphere or climate for these plants then there is nothing you can do. Except maybe cover the shrubs in fall or spray for bacterial blight every year. I once saw one Oregon producer talking on their web site about moving their Japanese maples into well ventilated houses while still in leaf during fall to prevent bacterial blight. Spraying copper on ones that have been damaged by the sun would not seem to serve any purpose, unless you are thinking bacterial blight might enter the wounds.

Carol, I think Cosmic Clouds would do fine trimmed as a free standing shrub at around 4-5 ft, Ithe stems are quite thick and sturdy. I’ve seen Lavender Crush trained successfully that way. and they’re quite similar . Besides, with your growing season you can be assured it won’t be morphing into New Dawn! Forever, I thought Lavender Crush had rather sturdy petals and lasted decent, esp. for a true purple rose. Cosmic Clouds might have more petals and more an OGR look. Both are rather small blooms and super fragrant.