What would you plant to screen trellis?

As far as I know it's our fence as we have the posts etc on our side.

 

This is the size sorry picture isn't great.

I can squeeze the pots up a little closer.

I'm not sure how the soil is I added so many bags of soil, compost to build it up over the years before doing drainage etc.

I wish I'd cut the end patio slab near the house in half now, which would let me plant it there. There's not much room for another pot due to the rattan furniture

 

Sorry @DaveyB but are you wanting to plant something instead of having the pots there? There doesn’t seem to be any space between the pots in your photo - it can be difficult to interpret the scale properly from photos

 

No we were trying to figure out how and where I can plant something like a jasmine or clematis anything that we could grow along the trellis to help screen the houses out behind, there's a small gap picture 1 I can move the little bleeding heart plant elsewhere but it doesn't leave me a lot of space.

 

Agree with @Victoria , Evergreen Lonicera would fit the bill, they are very tolerant so if you can get their roots in the ground they'll find their own way with the roots. They tend to get top heavy which might actually be good in your situation to have the lush growth in the trellis and bare stems closer to ground, not taking too much space.

If you can't get them in the ground, try a good size container. I have successfully grown L Henryi in a 50cm container for years.

But hat's off for planting in ground, watering is the least attractive part of container gardening. If you can get one slab out, that would probably be good enough- just dig down as much as you can and fill with soil.

A small plant will establish better if the planting hole in the ground is small. Lonicera is also dead easy to propagate for spare parts in case first attempt fails.

The seating area will look lovely with a lush climber

 

As @Butterfly6 says though - we still don't know how you intend planting any climber @DaveyB .
If you want a climber in a pot, the pot has to be suitable, and you'd have to move some of the existing ones to get enough room.
Most climbers are far better in the ground, but again- it isn't clear how you'd intend doing that. I'm not sure moving a slab would work well if it's been mortared into place, unless you can dig down far enough and spend a fair bit of time improving what will be poor soil. That could be more work than getting, or building, a large container.
Alternatively, you'd move that first large square pot, and do the same there in terms of soil improvement, because, if you want it covering the fence beside that furniture, it would be better planted as near to that site as possible, so that it can be trained in that direction. Many climbers are big enough to cover that whole fence, so it'll depend on what you choose.

 

Yes that's the plan so far moving the smallest pot out and moving the others down a little which would hopefully free up a space for us to plant, although the salix tree in the corner seems to be needing a good trim atm.

We nipped garden centre today and picked up a Lonicera henryi and some compost,would it be best to add some support for it or will it be OK climbing on its own?

 

They're messy, scrappy plants, and best for covering sheds/buildings etc rather than fences, but they need a strong support for growing up anything.
Bear in mind too that there will be concrete footings for fence posts, so avoid planting near one. You really need to plant a decent amount away from a fence to ensure enough room for a honeysuckle, and to ensure adequate rainfall getting in. They don't like drying out. The advantage of a more northerly facing site is that they don't dry out so easily, but that also isn't the normal direction for rain getting in throughout the UK, so you'll have to be vigilant about that until it's established, which will be next year. It's easier at this time of year for planting though.

 

I might move our water feature out the corner, against the house currently and buy a nice pot or planter, for it to grow in. Ideally I'd like to plant it but it's such a struggle for space.

 

A honeysuckle won't do at all well in a pot, unfortunately. I think you may be able to get away with an evergreen clematis like 'Freckles' if the pot was large enough.

 

The container would have to be very big for a honeysuckle, as we've said, and I'm not sure you have adequate room there.
Perhaps a rethink on the type of plant. The evergreen clems aren't ideal where I am, but might be ok for you.

 

I think I've enough space here. I'm determined.

Also is this horsetail? I've had to kill a few shoots with sbk over the past year.

 

My messy, scrappy Henryi was a lovely one up my tall birdfeeder. Planted as an afterthought on the gravel in the drainage sump hole I dug, it quickly found it's roots into the heavy clay soil under the lawn and climbed the pole in the first summer.

Much loved by the bees and birds, sparrows in particular I don't have any distance photos but I just wrapped about 30cm chicken wire around the pole and the rooted cuttings got the idea, twining up the pole and finally arching quite gracefully all along the feeder arms.



The mother plant of these cuttings lived indeed happily for years in a 50cm pot. Pots need watering though so ground planting is a bonus.