Evergreen climber for light wire fence

Hi everyone,

Hoping someone might have some suggestions for me! The back of my garden is bordered by 3 large hawthorn trees, a very low stone wall and a light (but sturdy!) wire mesh that stretches between the trees.

There is an ivy that I didn’t planted rambling happily over the wall, up the trees and on the fence posts but it won’t climb the wire. Looking for any ideas for something else that would be happy to climb the wire and create an evergreen screen or else suggestions for any ways to entice the ivy to do the same!

The site gets some sunshine during the winter but is quite shaded for a lot of the day once leaves start appearing on the hawthorns. I would love something with flowers but realise this might not be possible given the shade.

Will attach some photos.

Thanks in advance!
Claire.

 

Hi Armandii,
Thanks for your reply! The ivy is well established all around the fence but refuses to spread onto the actual wire. I might try tying some tendrils on and see if that encourages it to cling on by itself...

I will look into the honeysuckle too. Will it tolerate a shady spot?

 

Now I wonder if the Ivy would be encouraged by twining some string or similar organic matter on the wire part? Straws or thin saplings perhaps? Ivy likes to attach itself with suction cups rather than twine around the wires. With time the initial support matter would rot away but by that time the Ivy would probably already be firmly in place.

That's just a thought, never tried it as I'm also swamped with mature Ivy. It's a wonderful plant for wildlife but in favourable spot can get a bit out of hands

My favourite evergreen Honeysuckle is Lonicera Henryi, it's vigorous, reliable and does just fine on a shady spot. It tends to get top heavy so some underplanting might be nice after a few years.

 

Thanks for your replies! Apologies, I thought I had email alerts turned on and didn’t realise there were more messages on the thread! I think I will try a honeysuckle to cover the fence. Now to choose one! I had almost decided on Lonicera Japonica but having read that it is considered an invasive species in some areas I’m not sure how advisable planting it is?