clmbing plants

New to this gardening lark. Going to try and grow climbing plants up my back wall. Do I need trellis or will they attach to stone themselves. Which plants are good? The wall will be a bit shady!

 

Hi. The only self clinging plants are Ivy and Hydrangea anomalis(also called H. petiolaris). (There is another one with a very long name which is not often available.) Both of these have clinging mechanisms which can damage a wall which is in poor condition, though the 'roots' do not actually get any sustenance from the wall.
Everything else needs something to cling to. It can either be wires stretched between staples or as you say, trellis. Either way, remember that a climber gets quite heavy especially when wet so the supports need to be well fitted and strong.
There are lots of choices from climbing roses to clematis to Campsis and so on.
You say the wall is shady, so Clematis seem to be as good a choice as any. There are 1,000s to choose from.
Avoid like the plague anything which says Russian Vine, it is a THUG!!!!!

 

As Palustris says you will probably need a trellis or wires. If you would like a Clematis, try googling "Clematis".

This site makes suggestions for a shady wall
http://www.saska.demon.co.uk/places.html

This site gives you growing hints
http://www.thorncroft.co.uk/

You do not have to have exactly the right plant for the right place. Plants are pretty accommodating. But if you are only going to do it once you might as well give it your best shot.

My choice would be for a Montana. Barkers recommend it for a north wall with a decent amount of light. It grows quite fast and will reach 20 foot or more. There are lots of different named varieties. I bought mine from Morrisons for �£1.69 - "Maylene". I love it.

 

I agree with Peter - Morrisons have got a load of clematis in at the moment, all at stupidly low prices. I bought three yesterday for under a fiver. Can't be bad!

 

I'm off to Morrisons!

 

Morrisons sell some great plants - a lot of them are exactly the same as you would get in garden centres (RHS certified, same labels etc) but a lot cheaper. The problem is that the range can be quite limited and they generally only have one delivery of each type (i.e. when it's gone, it's gone). I've got quite a lot of my plants (climbers and otherwise) and they've all been very healthy. In fact, my Christmas Rose I put in last year has just started to flower (better late than never)!