I'm taking license and guessing what paving does to the left off the picture. What I'm trying to illustrate in the sketch is placing the two cherry laurels, balanced (and centered as a group) in the bed space created by the paving. A plan view that accurately shows the pipe location would be useful. If the irrigation pipe is still exposed as shown in the picture, I'd move it as necessary... rather than plant the most major component of the landscape unbalanced and off center. If the pipe can't be moved then I'd try to fudge things as close to correct as I could get them. Can't see how the pipe lies in plan view, but c. laurels might work out in front of it. (Would need to see plan view to know.) Keep in mind that these plants are trees & will get big, unless you keep them rigorously sheared. If you don't, you'll need to limb them up to keep them from eating up the patio space. If they're limbed up as they grow so canopy is overhead, they could be closer to the walk without being in the way. Unless you plan to let the Lady Banks heap over the top edge of the fence, I can't really see how it's going to fit in that spot. It's a big, huge heaping thing. Think half the size of a car.

Thank you for the replies. Poet's jasmine is Jasminum officinale, and is a vigorous plant. That's a good point about reducing air circulation. I think what I will do is plant the jasmine and see how it does in my situation. That way I can get a feel for it. What a wonderful picture of the banksia! And the doubles are fragrant? Hmm. The idea to run a cylinder around the tree I like, spikes in the tree were worrying me a bit, even though I think it's big enough to handle some injury, there's always a risk. Douglas firs tend to have kind of a starfish pattern to their roots, I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to dig between the roots fairly far out and have reasonable moisture. I've notice that our ground tends to stay moister in the summer under the trees than way outside them; perhaps because I have sandy soil? I don't know. I was actually more worried that the water for the rose would be too much for the tree's roots! I'll have to go dig some holes to make sure there's room for the roses; but I don't anticipate a problem, I planted some Japanese Maple seedlings on the other (slightly shadier north) side of it, and the roots didn't interfere there. I'll take a look at Treasure Trove, what a wonderful name; and the Gardenia thread makes it sound promising too. Plus, the amusement value of telling unsuspecting people that I have a Gardenia growing into a tree is immense!

Glad to help! If you're happy with how the rose looks there's not usually a wrong way to do such things. In my yard, I probably am not as enthusiastic about cutting my laterals way back unless they're actively annoying me, since I want to keep the laterals as the blooming canes when convenient. I just bend those laterals sideways like I bend the main cane sideways, and then the laterals put out more laterals that put out more laterals...and the climber starts building that fan shape. You don't have to do that, but it helps increase the blooming over time. Those skinny lateral canes will fatten up if you leave them, rather than making that cane start over to produce new blooming canes. Not wrong to remove them if they bug you, but there's a tradeoff in blooming profusion and frequency. I also don't cut back canes where the leaves are unsightly since you want maximum canes to support more leaf and bloom development. If you can't stand the sight of the leaves it's OK to remove them, but the plant still benefits from the leaves even if there are holes. There's some sort of formula for maybe 35 leaves to support one bloom to keep in mind to increase blooming. Not set in stone of course, but I like to leave as many healthy canes and tolerable leaves as possible when pruning. Sounds like you did a great job getting things tidied up. Having a garden that brings you joy is part of the point of the activity and it sounds like you were getting tired in a good cause. Cynthia

I live in the greater Toronto area and my zone is also 5b according to Canadian ranking. Eden is not cane hardy in my garden and I lost her two years ago. However ND is but not a monster yet. I do have a few canes and I am currently training it against the wall. I use a tall tomato cage but I am also fortunate that the main canes are sturdy and self supporting. The thinner canes I use bamboo stakes for now but if needed I can attach to the wooded fence.