Which Climbing Plant for garden wall?

bren1916

Registered User
Messages
379
Hi,

I do not have any green fingers whatsoever but have reched the stage in life where I'd like to start planting a bit.

We have a 5ft side wall which I have fixed some trallis to all the way along (circa 10m) and now I'd like to plant a creeper/climbing plant to hide the wall in effect but which is also low maintenance.

The wall is east facing so the plant would gain from the sun from am to afternoon.Not too pushed on colours/flowers etc but have always liked the wine colour our Ivy used to turn in Autumn years ago..although I don't want Ivy.

Any advice much appreciated!

Brendan.
 
Virginia creeper is great for coverage and grows fast. It's green from March to August and then turns a glorious red for September and October. Unfortunately it sheds through winter but if you dont mind that, it's a definite winner.
 
You could also check out [broken link removed] to see if you can get any further advice there.
 
Hi, I love virginia creeper too, especially in autumn. Another suggestion would be cotoneaster horizontalis. It's got flowers, berries and reddish leaves in autumn.
 
Clematis, passion flower and climbing roses might be nice if you want flowers instead of just foliage?
 
Thank you all for your advice - I like the look of the Virginia and don't mind it shredding annually, think I might leave the flowers/pruning etc until I get a bit more knowledgable

Brendan,
 
Would seriously recommend Passion Flower. It grows quite quickly, but can be kept under control. Nice flowers and lovely green leaves. Very easy to grow, have it in lots of places and never had any probs with it.
Go for it!!!
 


Trellis frame is rather flimsey and held together with stupid little staples.It soon rots and when it rots and falls to bits,so too will the climber is it relies on the trellis to grow on and support it.Often the weight of an established climber will pull the trellis down in time too as the trelllis frame degrades

Best advice is to install a galvanised wire climbing frame system on the wall.Then the climber will be free to climb on this and the wire system wont rot or fail over time.

OR

Take the trellis frame down and plant a self clinging wall climber that will climb the wall on its own.

Hydrangea Seemanii is a lovely and unusual self clinging climber,evergreen with lovely scented white flowers too.Its slow to establish,but when it does it puts on good growth and spread.Its well worth it in the end and you will have a lovely climber that not many other gardens will have.

Or any one of the ivy species.

I love ivy as I thinks its a wonderfull versitile climbing plant and it doesnt need that much care at all.It has wonderfull shades of greens,browns yellows and whites (depending on variety) and has white flowers that then turn to berries and food for birds in wintertime.Its also very easy to take some ivy cuttings and to grow new climbing plants from these cuttings.I have quite a liking for large leaved Ivy Hedra (Sulphur Heart) as I like the large cream white and green coloured leaves.I have 2 garden walls and 1 side wall of out house covered with this lovely ivy and it doesnt take much looking after.A quick clipping once a year and it looks splendid.The blackbirds,sparrows and robins also love it too