Forum home› Problem solving
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

Ideas for this space please.

RobmarstonRobmarston Posts: 338
in Problem solving
This is the view out of my bedroom window. It shows the kitchen roof below, the wall to the side and the west facing gap between the houses. The main aspect is north facing. I’d love to grow something up the white wall and some pots to take my eye away from the ugly roof. I know I need to be careful of weight, so considering that and the aspect, what would you suggest? P.s. I can easily climb out the window to get to the roof. Pps sorry about the sideways photos.  Third photo seems best. 


Posts

  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    A clematis that is OK in shade and not too big. Have a look at Taylors Clematis or Thorncroft.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    edited March 2023
    I think the main issue is likely to be the weight of suitable containers and growing medium. Most climbers either don't do well in containers or at best need a large deep container and a fairly hefty loam-based growing medium. Annual climbers might do OK in the summer in smaller containers and lighter types of compost. For anything heavy it would be best to double check that there's a wall directly under the part of the roof where you're going to put it.
    If you just want foliage, ivy might be the best bet (if the white wall is sound for it to cling to), maybe the smaller-leaved variegated kinds.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • didywdidyw Posts: 3,573




    Is it this view you are hoping to hide? (I resized the pic slightly - they load the right way up when you do that). 

    Anything you put on the roof which is large enough to block a view will also block the light into the room.  But I think I would put an assortment of pots (plastic, to be lighter) out there with some grasses, light and airy perennials like guara and perhaps an evergreen something or other, like mahonia or fatsia.  But you would need to be sure that the roof could take additional weight.
    Gardening in East Suffolk on dry sandy soil.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    I was assuming it was the wall to the right of the window that @Robmarston wanted to grow something up.
    For the other (open) side of the roof, I would avoid anything top-heavy that might catch the wind and blow over or even off the edge. Airy grasses might work, maybe mixed with airy flowers like Verbena bonariensis ("lollipop" is the shorter variety). Low-growing alpine-type plants or sempervivums in troughs would cope with the likely exposure and not need too much compost, but wouldn't do much to hide the view of the house next door.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • bédébédé Posts: 3,095
    Can you plant in the ground below?  If so I recommend Hydrangea petiolaris.  Eventually it will grow out, which few climbers do.
     location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand.
    "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
  • RobmarstonRobmarston Posts: 338
    @didyw
    that view is just to show where the sun comes in from the west. 
    @bede. Can’t grow from below, all concrete. 
    @JennyJ
    I like those ideas, especially grasses. I’m not too worried about blocking out the houses, I just want to lift my eye from the roof.  The bottom of the window is about 3ft from the roof and the outside windowsill is sloping, so I can’t put anything directly on it. 
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    You could adapt a container for a sloping windowsill using wedge shaped doorstops or something similar. This would provide faster, taller screening of your view.


    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


Sign In or Register to comment.