Plant recommendation - south facing exposed fence

felicity.r.auld74075 · 27 February

I'm looking to grow a climber along a fence that boarders our deck. The fence is south facing but we are at the top of a hill so also quite exposed (it gets very windy!). I can either grow from pots on the deck or from the flower bed just off the deck and then train it along.

Keen to have some foliage all year round but struggling with what to grow in this sunny and exposed spot.

Any suggestions?

Plantminded · 27 February

An ivy, Hedera colchica sulphur heart, might suit those demanding requirements @felicity.r.auld74075! It would be better growing in the ground, assuming you have reasonable free draining soil. Depending on the size of your fence you may need more than one plant. Bear in mind that as it grows the weight could compromise your fence. Using some large planters with trellis or obelisks in them would avoid damaging your fence. Not the most exciting of plants but an excellent host for wildlife!

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/93685/hedera-colchica-sulphur-heart-(v)/details

Fairygirl · 28 February

It's always difficult to find evergreens @felicity.r.auld74075 , but ivy is pretty easy in most areas. S. Heart is certainly nice. The main thing to watch is how large and spreading they eventually get, so it also depends on what else you have around the planting area ,and what time you have for maintenance.
Your location is a factor too - a south facing site here where I am isn't as hot as a south facing site in the south of England. Some clematis are evergreen, but again - it depends on just how appropriate the site and conditions are.
If you want to plant in containers, they'll need to be big enough to ensure they don't dry out - wind and sun combined dries soil out very easily. It's often easier to have purpose built ones for any plants, but especially climbers. That means you could have a combination - an evergreen for all year round privacy, and then some others for seasonal flowers. Roses, clematis or even annuals - they will all cope in good, spacious containers

I'd agree about the fence. Have you got a photo or two? That will give us a better idea of the general layout of the site and the best approach

Tanty2 · 29 February

Jsminum Trachelospermum? I used one to cover a fence in a south facing site. It does get woody and as mentioned, you'll have to think about potential damage to your fence. I attached mesh to my fence (5cm gaps) and tied it onto that so it wasn't pushing between fence slats. Worked a treat

felicity.r.auld74075 · 4 March

Thanks for your replies.
@Plantminded and @Tanty2 good tip about the fence. We can definitely add trellis or mesh if needed.

I'm not 100% sold on ivy but it's also a difficult spot being so exposed... we do get howling winds out there especially in the winter.

@Fairygirl I have added some photos. We are down on the south coast so definitely warmer. The main reason for evergreen was to bring some softness and natural life to something that could look a little bleak in the winter... a mix of plants sounds interesting. I had wondered about a winter flowering clematis but it's perhaps too exposed... unless I plant in the bed off the deck and train up and over?

The area is not yet finished - railing to go up on the deck and tip run pending! We have a total of 3 fence panels running along the deck - it's the 2 furthest from the house I'd like to have something on.

t

Fairygirl · 4 March

I know the situation well @felicity.r.auld74075 - re doing landscaping overhauls and trips to the tip!
You could certainly plant into your bed running along the deck, and then train along the fence in both directions, but line the whole area before filling it with soil etc. You can use any plastic you have around, stapled on, or something like pond liner is really good, and not too expensive for a small area. You can check out the online suppliers - Bradshaws etc. if you fancy that. You'd need some wires or similar for support for them, and yo can train them horizontally to get good coverage and therefore more flowers. You can then add other perennials, bulbs and evergreen planting to give you interest through spring, summer and autumn as well. I had a similar site many years ago, and we had a narrow bed along the deck, which then spread into an upper area, but I had Yarrow and Sedum spectabile [Hylotelephium is the new name] and various bits and pieces in the narrow bit.
Re the clematis, I think many people can successfully grow those winter ones in the south - they don't do very well here just because it's usually too soggy for them. Wet cold is always more difficult than dry cold. The early, small flowered ones [not a montana though] can manage in raised beds though - I have a couple of those, and they do very well - C. macro. Lemon Dream and C. alpina Constance are 2 that have worked nicely for me, and give decent coverage. You'd probably get a decent 2nd flush on them too, as they'll flower earlier where you are. They aren't evergreen, but Constance starts into growth early in the year, and you have the framework all year round, so that would break the expanse of fence up nicely. If you take a look at some of the reliable clem. suppliers, you'll get some ideas - Thorncroft, Taylors [now under new ownership] and Hawthornes are a few of the best known.
A nice sheltered spot is ideal for the evergreen ones though. I know @Dovefromabove grows one or two, so if she sees my tag on her name, she might be able to help. She's in Norfolk, so has much drier conditions than me. I know she had C. Freckles. You could have one evergreen and one of the other types to give you a succession.

Dovefromabove · 4 March

Yes @Fairygirl 😊 i grow C. ‘Freckles’ here . but while we’re in a drier area than you, my Freckles is in a northwest facing spot, sheltered by high walls to the south and east so mainly shady, and doesn’t get long hours of sun, and unusually for this garden that bed is humus-rich and quite moisture retentive … even so it can suffer during a dryish summer and benefits from a good soak every few days.

I wouldn’t try it on a south facing fence in the south of the UK.

felicity.r.auld74075 · 4 March

Thanks @Fairygirl - lots of food for thought!

Fairygirl · 4 March

Thanks for that @Dovefromabove - I'm never sure of how those winter ones perform.
Perhaps you could contact one of the suppliers @felicity.r.auld74075 for a bit of advice.

I think the wind could be the biggest problem for you, and that's very drying too. The other ones I have manage that no problem - they're both in south west facing sites, and get all the weather there, as it mainly comes from the south and west here, but it's usually accompanied by the wet stuff too, which makes a difference. Plants often surprise us as well, but avoiding expensive mistakes is always a good idea!

Now I've gone and looked at these again @Dovefromabove ....sigh...

https://www.thorncroftclematis.co.uk/evergreen-winter

Lizzie27 · 4 March

Just goes to show plants don't read the books. I planted C. 'Freckles' many years ago on a south facing trellis high up on our terrace (I didn't know any better then!). It's in a tiny 1 foot x 2.5 feet bed and I don't honestly know how deep the bed is, it could be concrete 2 ft down for all I know. I do know it's roots are creeping under our adjoining paving as one shoot has popped up over 20 ft away. It's also climbing through the mortar in an adjoining wall so it's definitely a survivor here. We had temps of up to 38-39c last summer and to my shame I didn't water it much. I had thought it was a goner, but no, it's roaring back now after it flowered from November to February and needs a good prune.

I'm probably just very lucky.

Plant recommendation - south facing exposed fence

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