"Snowman" wrote in
news
Anyway, I would go for the trellis option (I assume it's their fence
so you'd have to ask), and pop in some winter jasmine and some
clematis for next year. I put a clematis montana by my (north-facing)
conservatory and it took off despite the lack of sun


Thanks for those ideas, the only problem I thought with climbers, is
that it would stop the fence panels being lifted out for maintenance.
I agree with you about the hedge though.

Why would they need to lift the fence panels out? They might want to
paint (the wooden bits) with preservative - I presume the whole thing
isn't concrete? - but I've never seen anyone take a fence to bits to
maintain it?

Anyway, winter jasmine is less of a real climber than a flopper and a
drooper. I have had to wire mine to the fence to stop it flopping
everywhere.

You can easily bend the flexible stems away from the fence to get at it,
and if you can't, it will bounce back happily from severe pruning. I
don't know about clematis montana, but a lot of clematis die back in the
autumn anyway - if you could find a reasonably shade-tolerant one of
that ilk, you could cut it down each year in the autumn,have time for a
quick coat of preservative before the winter sets in, and still have the
flowers for the summer.

Willow screening is nice stuff, and makes an attractive backdrop for a
few years, though it drops to bits eventually. But it does arrive all
of a piece, so it's more likely your neighbours will notice it suddenly
appearing in front of their windows, than a plant, which moves
stealthily stem by stem. ;-)

If you think they are likely to make a fuss about the screening (maybe
not?) plants could be a more subtle way to achieve the same end.

Victoria