Pyracantha (firethorn) is evergreen, with beautiful white flowers in spring followed by vibrant red or orange berries in fall. It lends itself easily to espalier--ing. You can make as geometric/formal (and flat) a shape as you like -- or leave it to a natural bushy habit. If you choose to paint your wall first, I'd whitewash it so that it blends in with the neighbor's house. Together they will create an innocuous, even shabby chic backdrop for your planting.

aaah ! makes sense now - hey any one can grow parsley, basil or thyme ! you can buy them in pots in the supermarket when (and if) you kill them !!! my husband thinks I have green fingers because our herbs always look great !!! little does he know I replace them monthly !!! lol !! and a sprig looks great on tinned soup, that you can then claim you cooked from scratch too !!!

Well we live in a flat on the 4th floor in Edinburgh city. So we loved the thought of being able to expose the original stone walls of the flat. You can see from the pictures that we had it done for the kitchen and lounge. Since everything of ours are modern, the stone wall really brings an edge to the design. And in the lounge, we painted it the Farrow & Ball Downpipe which we think really sets it off next to the stone. Especially with the mouldings on the window, the lounge has become quite a grand looking space even without any furnishings. And we didn't even get to varnish the walls as we liked the way it looked now. There doesn't seem to be any problems with the dust coming off the walls.

We will have oak trusses also. I want to have a lot of natural materials inside.