I would be as well @AuntyRach. I doubt signs or 'having a word' would ever work - probably make them do it more. I'd agree with the others about something prickly @emjl9891 , but it would take a while to get it to a height where you could let it grow out over the top of the wall, so bear that in mind if you go for that. Berberis or pyracantha are ideal for that sort of site though, and fairly easy to keep at a height you want, and there are smaller varieties of berberis readily available. It's still bare root season [until about March] so that's a cheaper way of doing it if you need quite a lot of plants. The suggestion of something attached to the top - baskets/troughs or similar, might be quicker, but make sure they're well fixed in place. It might not be possible if there's a coping top on the wall though. Possibly a mix of evergreens and perennials/bulbs in it rather than annuals, but a reasonable height of container would hopefully prevent them sitting if you opt for the latter type of planting. It also depends on what time you have for maintaining the containers.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
As you have a bed under the wall what about planting a rambler or climbing rose? Train it along the wall on the inside. It does not need to be hung over it as such. Fixed at intervals just on the top inside. There are so many these days to choose from and they are not all tall or overly large. You can even get repeat flowering ramblers that are small and not too rampant. A consideration for it to maybe successful and not hard to maintain is: What direction does the sun follow? And how long is the run of wall?
Although that is also a consideration for any planting to make it easier to maintain.
But a plant like a rose at the end furthest from the sun so they naturally head along it helps. It might not work as well if you have to repeatedly stop it wandering out of bounds over the wall. Just another idea.
I had imagined the wall to be like the one in the photo below, the plants to be planted in the earth above it. I was thinking, in my earlier post, of the prickly dwarf berberis to be planted along the top of the wall so that it would cover the bit that people sit on.
Could we have a photo please?
@Rubytoo a bed under the wall hasn't been mentioned. @Fairygirl there wouldn't be a coping as people are sitting on it.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
We had many years of people using our front wall as a park bench. Signs did not deter - if anything, it encouraged them all the more. We had the advantage of there being an area to plant stuff. Flowers were no deterrent. Eventually, we forked out on enough hedging plants to make it worthwhile. PYRACANTHA!!
Beautiful flowers in spring and early summer to attract the bees. Colourful berries to encourage the birds, but best of all, long, sharp spikes, sticking out in all directions.
Yes, it took a year to 18 months to make a difference. But what a difference!!
Okay, there was the downside of the need to prune into shape, and the occasional piece of rubbish stuffed in, but the sitting, stopped.
The advantage to wildlife was significant, and the positive comments from passers-by was encouraging.
But, we moved house. I don't regret the pyracantha hedge. It was worth every penny.
Edited to add: I can recommend the hedging supplier if it's an option you wish to explore.
A very annoying problem for you @emjl9891so I hope you can find a workable solution. If you decide to go for planting along the wall then as a temporary measure whilst waiting for the plants to get some height, you could perhaps fix some carpet gripper along the top of the wall. It would certainly stop all but the most determined from sitting on the wall. Just to cover yourself, you could put up a temporary sign warning people or put blobs of red paint along the length which should also act as a warning.
A photo would really help us to help you. At the moment you're getting conflicting advice because we can't visualise your wall. Does it hold up soil behind it, as in @Busy-Lizzie's photo? Does it have soil in front, on the pavement side? How high is it? Which way does it face?
To post a photo, click on the "landscape" shaped icon above the box you type in, and follow the instructions.
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Posts
Could you put something temporary like pots on the wall? I would consider a polite sign like “please don’t sit here as it is my property”.
I'd agree with the others about something prickly @emjl9891 , but it would take a while to get it to a height where you could let it grow out over the top of the wall, so bear that in mind if you go for that. Berberis or pyracantha are ideal for that sort of site though, and fairly easy to keep at a height you want, and there are smaller varieties of berberis readily available. It's still bare root season [until about March] so that's a cheaper way of doing it if you need quite a lot of plants.
The suggestion of something attached to the top - baskets/troughs or similar, might be quicker, but make sure they're well fixed in place. It might not be possible if there's a coping top on the wall though. Possibly a mix of evergreens and perennials/bulbs in it rather than annuals, but a reasonable height of container would hopefully prevent them sitting if you opt for the latter type of planting. It also depends on what time you have for maintaining the containers.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Train it along the wall on the inside. It does not need to be hung over it as such.
Fixed at intervals just on the top inside.
There are so many these days to choose from and they are not all tall or overly large.
You can even get repeat flowering ramblers that are small and not too rampant.
A consideration for it to maybe successful and not hard to maintain is:
What direction does the sun follow?
And how long is the run of wall?
Although that is also a consideration for any planting to make it easier to maintain.
But a plant like a rose at the end furthest from the sun so they naturally head along it helps.
It might not work as well if you have to repeatedly stop it wandering out of bounds over the wall. Just another idea.
Could we have a photo please?
@Rubytoo a bed under the wall hasn't been mentioned. @Fairygirl there wouldn't be a coping as people are sitting on it.
Signs did not deter - if anything, it encouraged them all the more.
We had the advantage of there being an area to plant stuff. Flowers were no deterrent. Eventually, we forked out on enough hedging plants to make it worthwhile.
PYRACANTHA!!
Beautiful flowers in spring and early summer to attract the bees. Colourful berries to encourage the birds, but best of all, long, sharp spikes, sticking out in all directions.
Yes, it took a year to 18 months to make a difference. But what a difference!!
Okay, there was the downside of the need to prune into shape, and the occasional piece of rubbish stuffed in, but the sitting, stopped.
The advantage to wildlife was significant, and the positive comments from passers-by was encouraging.
But, we moved house. I don't regret the pyracantha hedge. It was worth every penny.
Edited to add: I can recommend the hedging supplier if it's an option you wish to explore.
A photo would really help us to help you. At the moment you're getting conflicting advice because we can't visualise your wall. Does it hold up soil behind it, as in @Busy-Lizzie's photo? Does it have soil in front, on the pavement side? How high is it? Which way does it face?
To post a photo, click on the "landscape" shaped icon above the box you type in, and follow the instructions.