Quote:
Originally Posted by Brooklyn1
Hypatia Nachshon wrote:
Brooklyn1 wrote:
Jeff Layman wrote:
Hypatia Nachshon wrote:
I was also going to suggest a vine for the brick wall. A brick wall
is a valuable thing! Depending on your climate, even just plain ivy
would do well, if not too much sun exposure. But if you'd like a
flowering vine --that might grow quickly -- your local nursery is the
best place to ask. Having viewed your brick wall in pic, I'd
strongly endorse the vine option.
I assume the OP is in the UK. That brick wall is not his property, and,
without the permission of the owner, he cannot do anything to it without
risking legal action. He might get away with planting ivy or, another
self-clinging plant at the base of the wall, and hope they grow up it,
but that's all. No hooks, wire, trellis, or even paint. In any case,
it would take years for any self-clinging climbing plant to cover a wall
of that size.
If not the poster's wall I'd suggest doing nothing to it... attach
nothing without permission, not even a vine... find out if the
property line allows enough land to grow a hedge or a row of some sort
of conifers that would hide the wall... but I don't think a brick wall
is so visually offensive... besides it was probably there all along so
it it offends the poster he shouldn't have moved there. I would
simply accept it until such time as one can move elsewhere, the wall
ain't going anywhere anytime soon.
This whole megillah about UK wall/property/access is hardly comprehensible to this Yank.
The only other contribution I could make to a situation which I cannot even begin to visualize has to do with the aesthetics of the brick wall. If, as some here aver, you cannot make any changes to it, e.g. even attach a vine, you could still consider the following:
Construct or acquire a large redwood structure -- trellis-type thingie -- to harmonize with the wood fence (is fence redwood?), and place it so as to mask the brick wall (which is not particularly attractive).
If you then construct a platform for your outdoor dining area out of the same material, you could end up with a harmonious whole.
Good luck!
HB
To plant anything to hide that wall we'd need to know what direction
it faces, if north facing no sun would strike that wall making choices
very limited... if south facing receiving direct sun will heat those
bricks to temperatures that no plants nearby can survive. Without
photos of the back yard showing all the pertinent features it's not
possible to offer advice other than wild speculation... for all we
know that brick wall is a six foot tall structure as a fence between
properties or the wall of a four story apartment building.
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Thanks for all the replies. There's some very nice ideas - hadn't considered breaking up the concrete and planting in the cracks, not sure I've even seen that before so will look it up and investigate.
The posters above who confirmed that the wall isn't ours are right. For the record, I didn't have a choice about it when I moved here, it is my husband's property, he chose it before I married him! I'm not so keen on it unfortunately. We are considering asking the homeowner's permission to add a trellis, but perhaps if we can't do that, we are better off putting in railway sleepers and planting high plants in them as they shouldn't require building against the wall as such.
It's a northeast facing garden so there is some sun in the morning but not in the afternoon. I am quite happy to investigate plants that we can plant there (the plants in the borders were all planted by me, based on the environment, soil etc). I'm no expert but they are still living after two years!
It's the hard landscaping bits that I'm struggling with (sorry to the poster who feels that this isn't gardening, but surely you need the right structures in place such as trellises etc in order for the plants you choose to thrive in your particular garden)? It's still part and parcel of gardening in my opinion.
The poster who mentioned the side access is right, unfortunately we live in a Victorian terrace house (or rather, fortunately, because it's a lovely building, but unfortunately because it means all access to the garden is via the house). I'm reluctant to do anything too messy but I may just have to bite the bullet on that front I think.
Thanks again for all the great ideas.