Plants to cover a small (4ft high) wall?

[funstuie]

Outside the back of our house I a raised deck area which was completely falling apart. I recently had it redone with wooden decking and had it underpinned etc so it's safe for the kids and looks nice. But there is small 4ft high wall which we have to look at through the French doors. It's horrible looking. My neighbour has spent years growing a rose vine on he side which looks beautiful. I bought a Russian vine to plant in a pot on he deck but in red online that it will grow like mad and I am worried it would kill my neighbours rose.

So any suggestions for nice plants to cover the wall? They will be planted in pots on the deck at h bottom of the wall

[rustylady]

Got any pictures of your wall Stuie? I'm finding it a bit hard to envisage. Russian Vine is a beast, it will smother everything but I doubt it would do well in a pot.

[taff]

I think I'd go for something useful, like fruit, fig or apple, or something smelly and pretty, like honeysuckle...

[kentishgal]

honeysuckle or jasmine would be nice...your neighbour might even appreciate it growing amongest their roses!

[Glutton4...]

I'd suggest a rambling Rose, Clematis, or both! You could always hide the wall behind trellis first, or some of that attractive woven willow screening. Then grow the climbers over and through it.

[WendyC]

How about something like Euonymus Silver Queen. Will grow free standing but put it near a wall or fence will behave like a wall shrub. Can be close clipped.

[veggiechicken]

I'd go for something that was evergreen too, so that the wall is still covered in winter - like clematis armandii.

[rustylady]

Remember folks, the OP wants to plant stuff in pots.

[veggiechicken]

In that case, I'd choose VERY BIG pots!!

[Glutton4...]

Remember folks, the OP wants to plant stuff in pots.

In that case, I'd choose VERY BIG pots!!

Alternatively, cut a small hole in the edge of the deck, and plant underneath. You could always put a circular barrier around the stem (plastic pot with the bottom cut out), to stop it from spreading underneath the decking.

[funstuie]

hey all

thanks for the advice so far. Here is a pic of the wall/area:



As you can see I can't cut a hole in the deck as it's concrete underneath. My other option would be to plant in the garden below the handrail (about 6 foot down to the garden) and trail it up but I imagine this would take ages.

[veggiechicken]

Paint the wall for a start! Lighten it up a bit. Then put some bright pots in front of it with whatever you fancy.

[Glutton4...]

Like I said in post five, if you cover the wall with a section of woven Willow or split Bamboo screening, that's half the battle. Anything you put in front, in pots will be a bonus. I would suggest several different sized pots; two big ones with climbers/ramblers in, or an obelisk with a climber up it, and some smaller ones with something lower but colourful. Don't forget to contrast colours and leaf shapes, and add something trailing in at least one of the pots.

Oh, and don't forget an 'after' picture for all us nosey wotsits!

[tamsin]

Definitely start by painting it to match your house, that will improve the look loads, I wouldn't go for a rose if you've got youngsters as they're a bit prickly at kid height. By the time you've got 10-12" of pot you don't actually need much height to cover the wall (I'm presuming you don't mind seeing your neighbours roses) so you could just go for tallish plants rather than climbers (if you wanted) or a mix of both.

I'd definitely be tempted by a clematis, the smaller ones are fine in pots, or you could stick a bigger one or something like a grape vine in the ground at the bottom - it would probably get up there by next year! For this year, throw in some annual climbers in pots -maybe some dwarf sunflowers and they'd hide it whilst you waiting for the growth.