How to Hide a Horrible Fence!

I'm no expert, but I'm thinking the cheapest and easiest way to hide the lower 4 feet (or more, up to say 8 feet) of this ugly fence at the side of a grassy area at the front of our house is to scatter a row of ornamental tall grass seeds. Which ones would do the job? How long would it be before the fence is obscured? Has anyone got any cheaper/easier solutions?

 

hi why dont you plant a honeysuckle / clematis / climbing hydrangea ////or if you want grass Pampas grass would be ideal but may make the neighbours gossip lol

 

It looks like those three suggestions would all need a trellis. Are there any other suitable tall ornmental grasses? (my wife won't entertain 'Pampas' )

 

Hi @Brian Worthington , welcome to the forum!

Is the fence yours or can you grow a climber on it without upsetting the neighbours? How much light does it get and what's your budget? £0-£5, £5-?

If you want to grow anything well, you are off to a better start if you dig the ground and put some compost or similar in it.

Ivy covers anything quickly, is evergreen and does well in shade. It also clings to the wall so mowing next to it is easier than if you grow anything that leans towards the lawn. Ivy can easily be a zero cost solution if you walk around and find wild growth where you can discreetly snip a bucketful of cuttings to root.

If plain Ivy as a background seems boring, some flowering climbers such as Clematis should ramble happily through it. Again, now it's the best time to beg for some cuttings or pop into Morrisons to buy some very economically.

It's not a horrible fence, it's an opportunity to grow something you like.

 

I like it - it's not a problem, it's an opportunity! One section of the fence is ours and the other section belongs to a neighbour who probably wouldn't mind it being crept on. It all gets a good amount of light. Minimum budget is preferred, mainly because I don't like waste and whatever I touch in the garden seems to die on me, so if I haven't spent too much then all I've done is bought some experience with my time I guess Clematis would need a trellis so that's not ideal. Ivy seems like a good option but would it not risk damaging the fence? Any other ideas? Are tall ornamental grass seeds a bad option?

 

Hi Brian, although Miscanthus would fit the bill height-wise, it's not really an all-year-round solution. It has to be chopped down in spring to allow the new growth through, so leaving you with a bare fence meanwhile. A cheaper solution than trellis would be reasonably sturdy wires stretched from post to post at 12" intervals horizontally. Or even chicken or sheep netting wired to the posts. If you choose the right plants, evergreen climbers like Trachelospermum or Lonicera halliana for sun or ivy for shade, the netting will soon disappear.

 

The fence is angled with north north west and north north east facing sections, so there's some sun but mostly shade. If I wire it up I guess it'd be fairly easy to keep Ivy off the fence itself? Would that be English Ivy or something else?

 

@Brian Worthington Depending on where you are you could consider a Holobellia latifolia or H coriacea "Sausage vine" Vigorous grower, shiney evergreen leaves, hardy to -5°C, flowers in spring time sweetly scented. Or Eccremocarpus scaber "Chilean Glory Vine" In mild areas grows all year round; Lincolnshire in the 70's it was a perennial coming back every year in late spring, orange flowers and easy from seed. Also from seed Dactylicapnos scandens was Dicentra scandens yellow flowers more of a perennial disappearing with the frost coming back in spring.
Ivy will grow through the mesh and stick to the fence as well as twining up the wire.

 

Some good options coming in thanks. I'm favouring an evergreen vine on wire now and will look into the suggestions

 

Have a look at Hedera 'Gloire de Marengo' or H. 'Sulphur Heart'. They're both vigorous ivies with beautiful variegations...

 

Ivy absolutely will damage your fence in time. It'll take a while, of course, but the end result is inevitable. If you're going to be in the house for the next 10 years, and especially if half the fence isn't yours, then definitely don't do it.

 

Thanks everyone, w went for something really cheap and quick to do - 10 laurel plants for £4 each, half an hour for me to plant them. We can scatter some wild flowers eeds for £5 as well