North facing fence - What to plant to cover it?

To be honest I do like the look and idea of the ivy, which will be happy there. Just had a good read of the RHS guidelines on it and just figuring out which one to go for and how to plant it. I would like to protect the fence if at all possible so guessing that some cheap trellis infront of the fence should allow the ivy to grow without impinging the fence. Anyone done anything similar?

 

What about the Hydrangea seemannii? This looks like it might do the job too?

 

The one thing with climbing hydrangeas, including seemannii, is they can get huge. I love them but they aren't great for fences, even with massive supports and they would need heavy prunning in the future to keep it in check. The prunning is simple enough but you have to do it correctly if you want to maintain flowering. I think seemannii comes from central America and isn't completely hardy, so would need some protection when it was young at least.
Hydrangea/pileostegia viburnoides is a similar but hardier version. The downside is both get massive and are slow to establish.

 

Can you add your location to your profile @machtucker? It saves having to do what @Plantminded says re looking back through lots of previous posts, and means people can instantly offer good advice - or not, if their conditions are different, hence my earlier post.

 

It would certainly help if members included a location in their details. Just a county or region would be useful. @Fat Controller is it possible to mention this in a note please, including details of how to do this as it may not be obvious to new members?

 

Thank you @Loofah, that's fully understandable. I'm not suggesting making it a requirement but new members may benefit from knowing how to do this if they want to. It saves having to explain your location in every note. (The poster in this thread mentioned their location in their earlier posts.)

 

I grew a large specimen Garrya elliptica in heavy clay soil on the North end of a bungalow in Berkshire for many years with no problems. I am guessing it would not be happy in poor soil in full sun but there may be someone who can say otherwise.
Location in the UK has determined what will do well in gardens although with the climate changes going on that is now questionable.

 

Done! Thanks very much for that!

 

So... I've decided to for a Hedera helix and I prefer a dark greener one like the one in the images below. I found the image online but can't seem to find a variant pn the RHS site. Any ideas?

Also, I've now had a play around with some ideas around the corten steel water bowl. This will be viewed from entry to the steps and also the top patio so I've gone for Ajuga Reptans, Lamium Maculatum and Hakoneachloa Macra at the front. Hosta, Athyrium filix-femina (Lady fern), Astilbe, Digitalis, Heucheras, Stipa Tenuissma and Calamagrostis - Karl Foerster.

Any comments/recommendations on the choice of plants or design. It takes me ages to fiddle around and this design business doesn't come easy for me so any help appreciated. I've just concentrated on the area around bowl at the moment so there is still quite a space that needs to be designed.

I'm slightly concerned I haven't got much shrub structure in there which will provide some interest in the winter

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That looks fine to me. Your grasses and the Heuchera will still provide structure and interest during winter. If you feel you also want an evergreen shrub, Euonymus Green Spire is an attractive option which can be kept quite compact. I wouldn’t introduce anything larger in that space.

 

As posted above A friend did this very successfully. Even better if you get on with your neighbours as they can control any stray shoots creeping through.

 

Re your earlier post about adding trellis to help the impact on the fence, Hedera helix will just grow through it to the fence anyway, so the trellis would be pretty pointless. That variety of ivy is a very, very vigorous grower.
With shrubs, I'd wait a bit to see how all the other planting pans out, and to see what room you have. Shrubs are mostly slower to reach maturity than perennials are, so it's usually better to put those in first in a bare site, but the eventual sizes will always depend on the space you have, the climate and conditions, and the species/variety. Some will be happy to be pruned but others might not.
If you feel you need more winter interest, it could mean removing some of the perennials in a particular spot so that you can put a shrub in.

 

Sorry but I hate Ivy after having a couple of bad experiences of this evil plant.