Plants growing over a wall, fence or pergola add a whole new dimension to the look of a garden. They also take up little soil space. So you can ram yet more plants into your plot. They can be wonderful for wildlfe. And if you’ve got something unsightly to cover, they’re the perfect solution. But finding the right climbing plant can be easier said than done. I’ve made my fair share of mistakes with this. So I thought I’d outline some of the good climbers for walls, which I’ve come across and the things to consider.
Climbers for Walls – The Things to Consider
Before jumping into the fun bit and choosing a climber, you really do need to think about three boring practical things.
- your light conditions
- the size of plant you can cope with
- how much work you are prepared to do
1. Sun or Shade?
First up has to be whether your wall or fence is in the sun, shade or partial shade. It is so frustrating to have a plant in the wrong conditions. It really doesn’t matter how much you love a particular climber, if it is sun loving and your wall is North facing, (and therefore in shade) it will not perform for you. That plant you once loved will become your biggest enemy.
Also don’t fool yourself. This can happen if you have say an open style fence, which the sun streams through. Although you may feel there’s sun in that spot, in reality if the sun is coming through from your neighbour’s side of the fence, it’s their side that’s in the sun. Your side is not really facing it. So if you plant a climber with flowers, all the flowers will grow to face their garden not yours.
I speak from bitter experience here! I’ve an old, metal style fence between my garden and my neighbours Clive and David. It’s scruffy but I like the open fence as it extends our view and makes our garden seem bigger than it is. It’s also nice to see our very nice neighbours. However in reality our side of the fence is in deep shade, it’s their side which is facing the sun. So when I planted a clematis, it grew happily scrambling to the top of the fence only to then do all its flowering facing them in their garden! They love it of course – I hate it – although in reality the clematis has done nothing wrong. I’m the one at fault for being an idiot!
Some Climbers for Shade
If you have shady conditions, don’t despair. There are plenty of good climbers for walls that are shaded or semi shaded. These include ivy, Honeysuckle Serotina, Star Jasmine (it likes a bit of sun so an east facing wall) and Clematis Alpina. If you’ve a big north facing area, the rambling rose ‘Wedding Day’ is ok in shade and I believe ‘Rambling Rector’ also likes partial shade.
I have the climbing rose Madame Alfred Carrière’. She’s growing in a very shaded spot against one of our truly ugly sheds. She grows pretty tall (about 5 metres) and produces lovely, very fragrant, creamy-white flowers. The books say she’ll flower continuously in Summer and Autumn. But mine has stopped flowering. I think that’s because she’s in solid shade. Grown in a bit of sun you might get that longer flowering period.
If you want a rose but your wall or fence is smaller, the shrub roses Claire Austin (creamy white) and Graham Thomas (yellow) actually make good climbers for walls and will flower in a north facing space.
Virginia creeper is also happy in shade. Though take care with this last suggestion. It’s a fast grower and grows big – so it’s not suitable for a small garden. Which brings me neatly onto my next consideration.
2. How Big Will It Get and How Fast?
When you buy a plant you will usually be given advice on how big it’s going to get. When you are buying climbers for walls or fences it is double important to read that advice. You really don’t want to be forever up a ladder having to chop back a monster which you bought to cover a 12 foot fence but which in reality wants to grow 20 metres or more! You also don’t want those plants you bought to cover a small fence getting so large and heavy that in a gust of wind they bring the whole thing down!
Also this think about the speed with which something grows. Some plants can take quite a while to get going. For instance Wisteria looks wonderful once it’s established, but it can take 8 years for it to first flower. Similarly I planted a climbing hydrangea petioliaris for my north-facing shady fence. Ultimately it should bear huge, white lacecap-style hydrangea flowers, almost completely covering its stems. Perfect in this area which has only white planting. However, it’s known to be slow to get going. It has barely grown in its first year! I’ve got to be patient.
Quick Growing Climbers
If you don’t want to hang about while your plant gets going, you may want to try a perennial sweet pea Lathyrus latifolius. They come back year after year, unlike the sweet peas we grow up wigwams of canes every year. The perennial sweet pea mostly comes in pink and unlike its annual cousin it doesn’t have a lovely scent. But on the plus side, it will romp over a fence or wall in one season and though it dies back in Winter it will come back each year.
If you want a quick grower that doesn’t die back leaving that fence or wall completely exposed, and you don’t have the space for a vigorous rambling rose, there are smaller climbing roses. For instance, ‘Blush Noisette’ (a pale pink) and ‘Buff Beauty’ a (peachy apricot) are lovely options. Both of these have a gorgeous musky fragrance and bloom low down so that means you get to enjoy them!
Clematis montana is fast growing and so will cover an ugly shed or wall fast, smothering it with wonderful flowers. But it’s a big old plant. It will grow 10 metres tall! It likes moist but well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade. The good news is that like all early-flowering clematis, Clematis montana falls into Pruning Group one. That means you only have to remove dead or damaged growth after flowering. Checkout my blog on how to prune clematis
Virginia Creeper as already mentioned, is fast growing, and provides incredible Autumn colour. But it’s big. It’s only really suitable for training over a house or large wall and will need annual pruning and maintenance to keep it in check.
3. How Much Work?
The amount of pruning, support and so forth is a key consideration when choosing climbers for walls and fences. Wisteria, for example, may take a little while to flower but once established it’s a quick grower. It will pile on metres of growth every year. The one on our little cottage ends up climbing into our bedrooms unless we keep it in check! That means pruning twice a year. And you have to do it with care. You can see how I prune our Wisteria here.
With wisteria you also need to provide wires for the plant to grow up over. That’s due to the way it climbs. Indeed how climbing plants climb can have an impact profound affect on the amount of work you will need to do – particularly at the start. So let’s think about that for a moment.
How They Climb?
There are broadly three types of climbing plants. Those which ramble over a structure and need initial training and tying in. Climbing and rambling roses fall into this group.
Then you have those which entwine themselves around a structure – they need initial tying in but after that, do the entwining for themselves. Things like honeysuckle and clematis fall into this camp.
You then have the third group, those which self-cling, such as ivy and climbing hydrangea. They need no support at all and can support themselves.
Most climbers aren’t like this hydrangea or ivy. They can’t do it all by themselves. The vast majority will need to be tied to some support to begin with. Some after this will twine around the support. While others will need to be regularly tied in. So, when selecting climbers for fences and walls, you need to factor this in to your plans. Ask yourself how much pruning and tying you are up for.
Low Work Climbers
‘So which are the really low work climbers?’ I hear you ask. Ivy, you can pretty well leave to its own devices. It clings without support and in terms of pruning. The one I have covering my potting shed (pictured above) simply needs a once a year tidy up to stop it becoming too wild.
I have a hydrangea petioliaris growing on my north-facing shady fence. I only planted it last year, so it hasn’t really got going, but as you can see, it is already naturally clinging to the fence. It won’t need the wires, which are on the fence for my roses.
Similarly Actinidia kolomikta is not a lot of bother. It does need initial support but rewards you be being a most unusual looking and easy care deciduous twining climber. It doesn’t seem prone to disease and has distinctive, heart-shaped foliage which becomes painted at the tips with silvery-white and pink splashes. I don’t actually grow this plant but one of my neighbours does and luckily for me it comes over our side of the fence next to our patio. Sadly the photo I have of it was taken a bit late in the season, so you only get a tiny taster of the loveliness of its leaves.
A climbing rose just needs a bit of tying in and an an annual tidy up. So that’s a nice low maintenance option.
Honeysuckle is pretty straight forward and wonderful for wildlife.
I’ve the variety Rhubarb and Custard growing against a stone wall. The wall is relatively low which makes this variety ideal as it only reaches about 2 metres in height. We put in wires to give it something to grow around and gave it a bit of initial training, and now it’s happily looking after itself – and smells wonderful – and of course its flowers look good enough to eat.
A Little More Work
Although it’s tempting to avoid climbers which involve pruning and TLC, if you only go for the utterly easy options you could miss out on some beauties. For instance the exotic looking Passion Flower will need cutting back after flowering to keep it in check. You may also need to provide over Winter protection. And it will need wires or something to cling to. But it’s self clinging once it gets going. So there’s no tying in. And any effort is rewarded by the most wonderful, large, unusually shaped blue and white or pure white flowers from July to October. These look incredible against dark green leaves. You may also get orange fruits after a hot summer and it’s happy in full sun to partial shade. I don’t have a spot for one, but if I had a whitewashed sunny stone wall it would be my first choice.
Conclusion
So these are the three key things I think you need to think about when choosing climbers for walls or fences. Once you’ve got clear about these factors, then look at the plants that tick the boxes for you. When it comes to climbers for fences, it seems to me that the sky’s the limit!