Bevan Price wrote:

"Curiosity" wrote in message
...

Well that's what my gardening books call it, a cross between a fence
and a hedge.

I want a boundary between my open plan front garden and my private
rear garden however I do'nt want it to put up a solid fence and make
the place look like a fortress.

My gardening book suggest a trellis covered with Ivy .

How long would this take to become established, are there different
kinds of Ivy, are there any other suitable climbing plants apart from
Ivy, any advise on the trellis or should I use wires/fencing ?

The fedge will face NW .

TIA


Paul D

Although wooden fences or trellis generally looks better than wire, remember
that a wooden fence will eventually rot and possibly collapse, and also you
will need to coat it with preservative every few years before then. If you
use wood, you need to ensure that you can access the wood between the
plants, in order to apply the preservative without damaging your plants. Ivy
& other climbers may also trap rainwater next to the wood, which will hasten
the rotting.

An invalid point as with ivy, by the time the fence rots, the ivy will
have replaced it and be self supporting.. Esp if you use some stout
posts within the fence. The whole POINT of a fedge is that it does not
need maintainance other than trimming or whatver.. If you are gonna
piddle abut painting it every few years, then sorry. Its not a proper
fedge, its just a fence with a few plants trained against it;-)

The trellis 'based' fedge I mentioned previously is solid and doesn't
get painted with anything.. I'll see if I can get a piccy if you really
want;-)

I'd use timber lathes to make you're trellis. PRetreat them with
preservative before construction and give an extra coat once finished if
you want to, for a 'proper' job.. This way you have a well built
customised trellis and tougher than some of the lightweight stuff they
seem to try and flog at the garden centres these days!

Just an opinion;-))

Jim

Bevan