Lattice Fence

Hi there... I asked a similar question to this a while back but unfortunately got tied up with other garden projects and was hoping you could help again before I go out and buy the plants.

I have a 14mtr fence running along my boundry. I have built a lattice which i have fixed to this fence and now want to plant some good climbers to brighten the fence up.

There are two concerns though, one is that the fence is north facing, it isn't really shady as there is nothing else around blocking the sun, although the fence does stop the sun getting to at least the bottom third of the fence. My other concern is that there is concrete on the ground, it isn't too thick so I am going to dig up enough to plant the climbers and enable enough water to get to them but I don't know the quality of the soil.

I also would like some all year round colour.

I was looking at a few different clematis but was worried about the sun aspect.

I know Ivy is a safe option but have quite a lot in the garden already and was hoping for something different.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

clematis like having their bases shady, so that's a good start!! If you go to the plant selector on the rhs site http://www.rhs.org.uk/rhsplantselector/default.aspx

you can enter the details of your situation, and type of plant you're after - they'll give you some suggestions, with details of the plants, and pictures, of course. Have fun playing with it!! :D

 

cheers dendrobium... will have a look

 

gavlap - try these for north facing Clematis

http://www.saska.demon.co.uk/places.html
http://www.climbing-plants.info/Clematis.htm

 

cheers PeterS.. thats great. Will have a look through them all and pick a few out.

 

Clematis can certainly take some shade. The other good thing about them is that they like an alkaline soil (it's likely that the concrete will have raised the pH of the soil in the surrounding area).