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Climbers for pots

DedekindDedekind Posts: 172
in Plants
Hello

Our house has a South facing external wall, all white, next to a driveway. The driveway is fully paved all the way so there's no soil at all. It is also shared so lifting a portion of it or something along those lines is not a possibility at the moment. 

However there is some space for some pots there. In an ideal world I'd like to grow ivy to cover this wall.. is that even a possibility for a pot? If not, do you have any other suggestions? Self-clinging like ivy would be perfect and it's OK if it doesn't cover the whole wall (two storeys).. thanks 

Posts

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Many  ivies would be ok in pots, but as  always - it depend on the size of the pot for any climber.
    A nicer alternative would be one of the many clematis. You'll need a support though - trellis or similar, for it to cling onto.
    Take a look at specialist sites - Taylors, Thorncroft and Hawthornes. Make sure to check if the ones you like are suitable for pot culture- not all of them are.  :)

    There are annuals which you can grow in pots too -sweet peas and morning glory for example. Too late for this year, but you could do those next year. Easy from seed, and lots of good suppliers in the UK if you need help finding them. Chilterns Seeds is one   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • debs64debs64 Posts: 5,184
    I would definitely get the very biggest pot you can afford for climbers. Lots of food and water too. You will probably need to consider some sort of trellis or wires too. An alternative may be tall plants in pots and maybe wall baskets? Easy to plant up with bright annual plants? 
  • mikeymustardmikeymustard Posts: 495
    Fairygirl said:
    A nicer alternative would be one of the many clematis.  :)

    I was going to suggest that too (ok I admit it - I do have an addiction to clematis 🙂).
    Clematis Montana would tolerate a pot for a few years, as would most of the macropetala/ alpina varieties for spring flowers.
    Early summer there's plenty of group 2 clems, and for later there's several types of viticella that would cope with being "containered".
    There's always wisteria too: grown with Montana makes a good show, but it's quite slow growing.
    All of these would require some form of support


  • DedekindDedekind Posts: 172
    Thanks everyone. I like Clematis and have some in the garden, but really was looking for more of an ivy style climber, creating a green wall (at least some section)
  • BorderlineBorderline Posts: 4,700
    If you are looking for something similar to Ivy that self clings, take a look at Euonymus Fortunei. Provided you plant it in a large container, I would say minimum of 50cm deep. You would need to plant it in a loam-based compost and be prepared to water during the summer months.
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