Climber to hide ugly pipes?

Hi

Please see the attached photo of our (unfinished!) porch.

I want to hide the ugly waste and drain pipes on the left. While there is a bed in the foreground it finishes about 3 feet away from the bottom of the pipes so I'm guessing a container?

But, I don't want anything which will damage the brickwork...

thanks

 

If you're planning to grow something in a container, one of the smaller clematis would be nice, although admittedly you wouldn't have much to look at in the winter.

Clematis texensis 'Princess Diana' has bright pink flowers which have an unusual tulip shape. It flowers fairly late, from August to October.

I have Clematis 'Arabella' growing through a fig tree in my garden. It's a smaller growing variety which would be idea for a container. It has purple flowers right through the summer months from June onwards. It doesn't have the clinging habit of most clematis and so would need tying in - but then you would need to do this with most things.

 

PS I don't know what aspect your porch has - but both of these will cope with sun or partial shade, although they won't enjoy permanent gloom. They prefer to have cool roots which are out of the sun. This is easily achieved by planting something around them in the container.

 

Thanks Clare

That's really useful. I forgot to mention this part of the house faces due East so gets sun from the minute it's up but is in shade for most of the day. Would the Clematis you recommend still be OK?

 

I think they would probably both be ok. There's shade and shade. I live in a very urban, built-up area so unfortunately there are rather a lot of dank airless places which are permanently in shadow from buildings. These are difficult areas for plants. If, however, your porch gets a bit of early sun it is likely to be a better bet. A lot of gardening is trial and error. If your clematis sulks a bit and refuses to flower well, you can always move it somewhere else and have another go with another plant.

 

Make sure you get a large pot though, so your choice of clematis has room to grow in it, therefore negating the need to transplant it in a couple of years!

I have a clematis growing up the front of our house - it faces east so gets the sun, in summer until about midday and after that is in shade, but has no problems growing and is currently covered in buds, ready to flower later.

 

Thanks all...

I think I'm sold on the idea of the Arabella - it's the pot that's the pricey bit though isn't it?!

 

Well worth investing in a nice one, though, especially if it's going to be right by the front door all year!

Having said that, I've just bought a large (17 inches in diameter at the top) terracotta pot from Homebase for just over a tenner. It is an absolutely plain, bog-standard pot but I'm not particularly into frills and terracotta ages nicely. (Although I should probably add that plants in terracotta pots need more watering than those in plastic and clay sometimes cracks in cold, icy weather.)

 

An instant fix, would be to make a "box trellis" around the pipe and the column, just big enough to contain both. Then let any plant you choose grow up it.

 

Even cheaper is wrapping netting up the pipe and allowing the climber to climb up it. I use hard plastic fence rolls that sells for about £10 (and you get a lot for that) as 'trellising'

 

Forget the container, plant a Clematis or Honeysuckle in the bed lean a cane between the bed and support, train plant across and enjoy.:gnthb:

 

Thanks - loads more food for thought!

I have to say I like the box-trellis idea as gives me an excuse to get the power tools out!

 

If the space between pipes and ground isn't too great, they'd be happier growing there and as Dai says, just train/encourage them in that direction. They'll get the idea eventually, especially with some tying in and training towards the pipes and a trellis.