Even ivy will have trouble getting a hold now that the tree's been in a while. Can you not plant something about 3 or 4 feet in front of it which will cover it, like a freestanding evergreen shrub such as Euonymus Silver Queen?

Hi,
you need a plant that will thrive in the conditions your offering,
very simple, secure chicken wire around & over your tree stump and buy two honey suckle plant, plant one infront just at the base of your stump and one at the back of the stump,
About 8 inch infront of these honey/suckle plant "Lavender plants all the way around the old tree stump,

Lavender will grow on and likes poor soil conditions and to be dry, But it will encourage "Bee's" and these will help to polinate the honey/suckle as it grows,
Later in the season you'll have a scent off both the honey/suc and the Lavender And both these are perrenial.

Note,
remeber when planting the honeysukle to use a good size well drained hole and ensure you use fish/blood/bone fertilizer to help give the plant a good start and long slow feed.

Good gardening to you and the stump.

Thanks Dungy and Bamboo for your comments and suggestions. Both are food for thought... did think about euonymous... but not silver queen.

I prefer Euonymus aureus (used to be picta), but it does get a lot taller than Silver Queen. Lovely in the winter though and doesn't mind at all being cut and shaped frequently.

Can I cut in on your thread Gralew, with a question for Bamboo - my cutting of what I thought was Silver Queen, grows very slowly. However the bush I took it from, in a neglected corner of an old park now belonging to the Wildlife Trust, was at least five feet tall and I was hoping mine would do the same. Do I have to wait 100 years or so? I haven't time to see it mature in that case!

I can't imagine why its so slow, Steragram. You haven't said how long ago you rooted it for one thing, and it might be just a bit slow for the first year or so. Otherwise, unless its planted in conditions it doesn't like too much, I can't think of a reason, nor predict how long it might take. They're not expensive shrubs to buy potted though.

It was about a year before it grew any roots at all. I took the cutting about ten years ago and the plant is now 18" high and wide - very healthy looking and growing well recently. I took a cutting from it a couple of years ago and that is just starting to produce side shoots. I was told years ago by a nurseryman that for some reason it was no longer possible to propagate this variety by cuttings, so I was very patient and quite pleased that it grew at all.

That's interesting, what the nurseryman said, hadn't heard that myself. So really, you should be giving yourself a huge pat on the back for its not only getting roots, but growing at all, lol! But perhaps the slow and reluctant growth is why its 'not possible' to propagate from it.

True, but if its still on sale in garden centres somebody must be propagating it somehow!