Fence Coverage

Hello all, new to this so hope I am doing this right. No doubt someone will tell me if not.

Took up gardening last year when my dear dad and gardener passed away, leaving no instructions on what he did for hours out there.

Anyway, have a tiny patio type garden which is mostly paved. Had an adjoining trellis type fence fully covered with Ivy that blocked out next door beautifully but was about to enter my house and strangle us in our beds so hacked it all down, Am now looking for something, fairly vigourous, to grow in pot(s) to cover this fence (NOT IVY)

Am looking for something that stays fairly thick and green in the winter as the Clematis was great last summer but went all woody and dead looking over the winter (how was I supposed to know !!) Anyone got any ideas of something I can train along the trellis in a spot that only gets sun in the very middle of the day and is shaded at all other times.

I hope someone has some ideas.

 

Hi Jan welcome to the forum I'm sure you will find your 'green fingers' in next to no time at all! :D

Clematis Armandii it's an evergreen climber and has an added bonus of being fragrant too!

It might be suitable for you although I'm not really sure if it will like the shaded area but I'm sure others who have grown this cute plant will be able to put you right on that point.

Below is a picture of this smashing plant.Hel.xxx.

 

Many thanks I will check it out.

Would one plant be enough to cover a 4' x 3' trellis or would I need a couple, also can I train it through the Clematis already there ?

Thanks so much, this gardening thing is so complicated and there are very few places where you can get information in non technical terms and aimed at those with a gardening IQ of -10 !!

Again really appreciated.

 

Hi Jan welcome to GC. I agree with Helen that C. armandii would be fine. I love mine which only gets the sun in the morning but seems OK with that. so i reckon mid-day sun, which is far more powerful will be OK. And yes, it will co-exist with the present one but they may compete for food so do feed it in the growing season. Tomato food is as good as anything.

 

Thanks a lot, unfortunately, now I have the undivided attention of some people "in the know" and i know NOTHING, I feel I am in danger of becoming a nuisense.

I know about the Class 1, 2 3 pruning thing but I'm a bit confused. On the ones that grow on last years growth and flower in the Spring. My question is:

If I prune it back I have a bare trellis all Summer but if I leave it, won't I end up with ever increasing woody centre from other years growth and only have the front of the plant green or in flower ? Hope this is not a silly question.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Jan I'll let you into a secret. Most gardening is easy as long as you don't do anything silly. Leave it for a few years and then if you need to then just take out ugly bits. Some clems (my jacmanii) I cut hard back every year after flowering. Some I just prune to keep manageable (montana - Helen's the expert on that :D ) but my armandii I just tidy up as I need to.

 

Another evergreen Clematis, Jan, is the cirrhosa species, these are also winter-flowering. So you would have some interest there virtually all year. You could also use an evergreen honeysuckle.

 

Thanks so much you do not know how helpful you all are. I have 2 Clematis Growing together which are both of the Montanna variety so it would seem I do not have to do that much (thank God). Don't suppose you have a distant photo of your Montanna do you Sarraceniac as I only planted them last year and I am not sure what I am aiming for in shape and size etc.

Am going to research the Cirrhosa (doesn't that sound more like a nasty disease !!!). I thought about Honeysuckle but as it is only a small piece of trellis on an adjoining fence I am afraid it will run away from me. (or maybe with me)

Many thanks again, and tomorrow I am going to start troubling people about a rambling rose I inherited that looks more like a multi pronged fork in the sky, and how to prune it.
!

 

Jan, cirrhosa is in fact named after Cirrhosis of the liver because the flowers are speckled. The evergreen honeysuckles are a lot slower growing than your 2 Montanas. :D :D

 

Jan - you were looking for a photo of a Clematis montana. This is a five years old plant. I expect it will be bigger when it is mature! Other than a little encouragement to go left and right along horizontal bar, I have done nothing. The only pruning I have done it to cut away the loose bits that hang down. The reason is that they get whipped about in the wind and can get damaged. And damaged areas can let infections in.

 

Oh! that is so beautiful I just know mine is not going to look like that. Am going to take a photo of mine and try to work out how to put it on this thread so you can see how sort of sad it looks compared to that. I did only plant it last year in a large pot so I guess I cannot expect too much. Trying to learn this thing all gardeners seem to possess called 'patience'.

Mine is a Montanna Rubens.

As for the Cirrhosa Clematis named after that disease, that must have been named by someone with a real sick sense of humnour !!...... Maybe the NHS should give them out to smokers as a reminder lol