Dear All,

I am in the process of erecting an 8 foot high concrete post and panel
wall between my house and the nearby road. Once it's complete, it will
need something to cover it completely as it's not particularly
attractive. I was originally thinking of covering it with closeboard
fencing, but then thought that Ivy or a similar wall climber might look
a lot nicer.

The wall runs approximately north to south, the east facing side is
towards the road, but is hidden from the road by a 14 foot high beech
hedge. The westward side faces the house, but the house shades it from
the sun. It does get a bit of sun each day, but is predominantly shady.
There is about 10 feet between the house and the wall, and the area is
brick paved. I intend to take about 1 sq. foot of the brick paving out
at the bottom centre of each fence bay (10 bays, each 6 foot wide) so
that I can root a plant into soil. The soil in the area is mainly clay,
although curiously, we seem to have a fairly decent loam in our garden.

So - what varieties of Ivy would fairly quickly cover the entire wall
and look good? Or is there a similar climber I should think about.
Ideally, I want something that is fully self supporting so I dont have
to string any support wires. I would like it to reach the 8 foot top of
the fence, but then would prune it from going any further otherwise it
would interfere with the top of the beech hedge.

Any ideas? Also, if I go with Ivy, once it is established, could I
plant a climbing Rose with each Ivy plant and let the Rose climb
through the Ivy?

All opinions gratefully recieved.

Thanks,


Alasdair