No matter what you plant in that miniscule, dust dry, sun baked strip, it will outgrow the space because plants always grow towards the light, away from the fence and drop dead leaves onto the decking, requiring constant sweeping up to avoid build up and becoming slippery. I would use decorative fence panels to cover the tatty fence and forget about plants as you say sitting space is a priority. There are some very attractive fence paint colours around, soft lavender is good or a soft green. If you are desperate for some plants, one or two in large ceramic containers might be a solution but would need to be kept watered. Clump forming bamboos look good in containers but they would reduce your sitting space. The black stemmed or golden stemmed bamboos would be my choice, already have a black stemmed bamboo in a large pot. Be very fussy about your choice of plant if you go down that path, many of the coloured stm plants are of poor colour quality. Look for good strong clear coloured stems.
@jamesunsworth As others have said, that area is going to be too difficult for anything I can think of. It might be worth considering some screening on the wall, such as reed, bamboo etc. screening panels which are widely available. These days you can even get rolls of artificial 'ivy' or even 'acer leaves' if using plastic doesn't worry you. Some examples here (no connection but have used this supplier):
Maybe I've missed it, but is the fence yours or your neighbour's? If it belongs to your neighbour , you'll need their consent before attaching trellis or wires to it or even growing self clinging plants onto it.
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I would use decorative fence panels to cover the tatty fence and forget about plants as you say sitting space is a priority. There are some very attractive fence paint colours around, soft lavender is good or a soft green. If you are desperate for some plants, one or two in large ceramic containers might be a solution but would need to be kept watered. Clump forming bamboos look good in containers but they would reduce your sitting space. The black stemmed or golden stemmed bamboos would be my choice, already have a black stemmed bamboo in a large pot. Be very fussy about your choice of plant if you go down that path, many of the coloured stm plants are of poor colour quality. Look for good strong clear coloured stems.
If it belongs to your neighbour , you'll need their consent before attaching trellis or wires to it or even growing self clinging plants onto it.
A big thanks to everybody for taking the time to respond.
I've got some good ideas and going to try out a few different things!
I'll post the results in time to come to show what I did with the space.
Thanks again!