Lovely climbers!

[w33blegurl]

Morning all! We have had new neighbours move in next door and they have just put up the most enormous trampoline in their garden. It's closest to our boundary (v small child and it means it's in their sightline from the house, so I get why it's gone there) but to be honest our gardens are not that wide so with a trampoline of this enormity (did I mentioned the damn thing is huge - and has very bright orange trim!!!!) you'd see it wherever it went! So....I thought it was high time, we grew some climbers up the fence (something I've contemplated for ages and just not gotten around to anyway) and we can either put a bit of trellis atop the fence or I've seen a kit that you fix some metal posts to the fence posts and put tensioned wire across. I'll probably do the latter as it will not block either their sun or ours no will it fall foul of the 2m limit on fences.

Anyway...the point of my post (and I promise I will get there !) is to ask for ideas of lovely climbers to grow! I've ordered a not too vigorous rambling rose which is scented and I'm thinking a couple of clematis as well. But wondered what else you might suggest! I should say there is probably about 15m of fence so lots of scope for things that are not too rampant. Scent would be nice (but not essential) but definitely wildlife friendly if possible! I know ivy is great for wildlife, but have discounted it, as other neighbour had some on their fence and it destroyed the fence and was terribly thuggish. I like the idea of jasmine, but not sure if it would be hardy enough (we are in Kent so reasonably mild most of the winter) - will it survive with a good mulching? Any ideas gratefully received!

Thanks!!

[w33blegurl]

Should also say, we do like the neighbour, just don't want to see the trampoline as it rather draws the eye!

[annie8]

I am trying to cover a north facing fence in my garden with climbers. Along with clematis I have bought a climbing hydrangea as it will be ok in shade and also evergreen.

[Purple Primrose]

For a quick fix (and to give yourself more time to decide on which perennials would suit you best) you could plant some annual climbers such as sweet peas, nasturtiums, black-eyed Susan or morning glory. Runner beans or tall peas would give you nice flowers and something to eat too. All are readily available from garden centres and online.

Whether your fence is sunny or shaded will affect which perennials would grow well. The RHS website would give you advice on this. Honeysuckle is a favourite of mine as it looks beautiful and smells so lovely. There are evergreen and deciduous types and birds love the berries.

You might want to consider growing fan-trained or espaliered fruit trees. Column-shaped fruit trees are also available. The apple/pear/plum/cherry blossom would look lovely and the fruit would be an added bonus. None of these would take up much space and would grow flat against the fence. All are available online.


Avoid mile-a-minute vine: I remember it from a garden we had when I was a teenager and it grew at an astonishing rate. Kept coming in through the vents in the kitchen window and it seemed like it needed cutting back daily!

[nickdub]

One thing to be aware of with a lot of climbers is that they climb :-) I planted an armandii clematis to screen off my oil tank from the house. Evergreen, beautiful white scented flowers, there are a ton of on the plant now, unfortunately all the flowers and leaves are about 3m up in the air scrambling over a fruit tree. The part near the ground is just a bare brown stem about 5 cm wide, so not much of a screen.

You could try a grapevine which would be more amenable to training in to a shape, but obviously it would be deciduous. If the site is warm enough jasmines are evergreen and though they are climbers, they are the bushy sort of climber. I have one against my house wall which is just coming into flower now.

[Containergardener]

I have a pink jasmine. It really twines into itself so if you go that route you need to keep on top of tieing in.
I'm alot colder here and its very hardy.
Honeysuckle gives evening scent and responds to good hacking downs .
escalonia ?

[w33blegurl]

Thanks all - should have said, its a fence that gets a lot of sun. Had not thought of honeysuckle, but will definitely look at that now, also love the idea of the espalier fruit tree, that's a fab idea! Some great ideas here to get me started (will now be spending hours browsing retailers' websites!!) Will definitely also be using the idea of annuals to cover it for this year, have some sweet peas on the go, so will get some of those up the fence!

Thanks all!

[Nicos]

Have a look at clematis Montana and clematis Alpina. We have grown both.
https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/3919/C...alpina/Details

https://www.rhs.org.uk/Search?query=Clematis%20montana

One along the top of a fence and the other along a barbed wire/sheep netting fence.They look nice with perennial honeysuckle to keep it green throughout the winter.

Have a look at these too..
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=466

[DannyK]

Some montanas are scented. They can be rampant though.
Armandii are nice but are expensive.
Actinidia arguta ‘Issai’ fruit are supposed to taste better than usual Kiwis. I'm looking forward to mine fruiting this year.

[Babru]

White scented jasmine is hardy enough to grow in Edinburgh. There is also a cream one which is supposed to be a bit less vigorous - a house near me has them in a south facing front garden.

Clematis montana is beautiful, and you can chop it back easily every year to keep it under control. I've planted Freda, which is supposedly slightly less large. It's only been in 18 months, ask me again in a couple of years how big it's grown.