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Help! How to cover up ugly fence panels

MorrisminorMorrisminor Posts: 3
in Garden design
Hello, I’m desperately hunting for inspiration on how to cover up the mismatched fence panels on one side of my garden. They take up the whole length of the garden and back on to our decking/seating area so they are in full view. I have asked the neighbour (whose fence it is) if I can repaint it but he has declined (for risk of paint dripping through which I’m understanding of, a bit!). 

So, I need cost effective ideas for how to cover them up. I can’t wait for climbers etc to grow over them, I want a solution that will be in place in the next couple of months. We also rent so I don’t want to spend loads replacing the fence etc. 

So far my ideas are 1) stick artificial grass on the most mismatched panels (the middle dark brown is the most offensive) and make it a feature wall. 2) put bamboo up along that whole side but I worry that goes all gross after a while. 3) but expanding trellis panels with artificial plants on to cover.

I do plan on planting a lot of climbing plants there this year anyway, but need something to cover it this summer. Any advice, or pics if things people have done is much appreciated! Also, that bedding area below the fence has been renewed and will soon be full of gorgeous plants and flowers! 
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Posts

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    If you plant climbers you'll need to a) ask the neighbour's permission to attach supports such as trellis or tensioned wires or b) invest in your own posts and wires or trellis to support them.

    A better bet would be to widen that bed under the fence and plant things that will grow tall and disguise it.  They could be annuals like sunflowers or perennials like tall ornamental grasses, verbena bonariensis, helianthemum Lemon Queen, tall phloxes.

    For the fence along that paved section you can buy rolls of cane or willow screening that will cover and soften it or you could do something whacky like buy a length of plastic tablecloth in a vivid jungly pattern and staple it on like a mural.  You could also invest in some big pots and grow plants in front of it.  When you move you can take the pots with you so it could be a good investment.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    edited January 2022
    A shame this thread has attracted spam advertising plastic grass fence panels 🤢 
     

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    I don't think the fence is that bad.  I agree with Obelixx on widening the border with climbers/tall plants at the back and lower growing plants at the front. 
    I think tacking plastic grass to it would look gross!
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    @Morrisminor has never been back so we may never know @didyw.

    The spammer- @twelfth1212  resurrected the thread - like they do.   ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573
    Oops @Fairygirl - I didn't notice the date.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • MorrisminorMorrisminor Posts: 3
    This was a surprise to get replies a year later!!

    the fence is still looking awful as ever. However we are now buying the house so this year I really want to find a solution so I can make the garden a place to be proud of! 
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    didyw said:
    Oops @Fairygirl - I didn't notice the date.
    Easily done   :)
    This one thinks it's funny as it's posting an 'empty' after the initial spam post. Aye - hilarious....don't give up the day job eh?  ;)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Morrisminor said:
    This was a surprise to get replies a year later!!

    the fence is still looking awful as ever. However we are now buying the house so this year I really want to find a solution so I can make the garden a place to be proud of! 
    Well you won’t be wanting to cover it with panels of plastic grass as advertised by the spammer then … 🤣 

    I hope you’ll be very happy and have a home and garden that you really enjoy. 😃 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    The fence isn't the most beautiful thing in the world @Morrisminor, but hopefully you can do something with plants to make it better. 
    Or bite the bullet and get a more attractive one  ;)
    You could always make a decent border at the grassed end, and use a selection of shrubs [evergreens mainly] to hide some of it, and then get something more bonny at the patio end, so that it's less 'offensive' -for want of a better word  :D
    If the posts are sound, you could even take the panels out and put in some horizontal battens - very popular just now, especially if you paint them in a colour you like. Or have broader planks at the bottom and battens higher up. It's not an expensive solution either. A few nice pots and Bob's yer uncle, Fanny's yer aunt.  :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • Papi JoPapi Jo Posts: 4,254
    @Morrisminor Since you are now buying that property it's certainly worth taking the time to create a permanent fixture to hide that fence. Although I am not finding it particularly ugly, there are worse sights!
    You do not give any clue as to the overall size of your garden, but if you can spare at least one meter of your grounds alongside that fence, here's the scheme I have implemented in my own garden.
    All along the existing fence (or most of it) I have established a "counter-fence" made of trellis, about 50cm from the fence to allow easy access for maintenance. In front of that "trellis counter-fence" I have planted a number of shrubs and climbers, plus herbaceous perennials etc. That system keeps all the plants on my side well clear of the neighbour's fence (actually ours is a shared fence, but it's even more important in your case of not owning the fence to strictly refrain from touching that fence in any way!)
    The "masking effect" is not immediate, of course, but with the right choice of plants, you will get a pleasing result in a few years' time.
    The narrow passage between the shared fence and my own trellis fence I call "the wings" of my garden. I regularly inspect those wings, clean the ground of any weeds and also clip any climber shoots which want to reach over the shared fence.
    The trellis itself consists of various types and heights, as you can see on the photos on my site referred to in the links below. At regular intervals I have also established perpendicular trellis. Of course I could only do that because I have enough space.
    Links to photos on my garden site:
    The North border in 2020 (the trellis is now invisible!)
    A view of the "wings": shared fence on the right; trellis with Trachelospermum jasminoides on the left.
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