Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated. I'm in Douglas, Isle of Man by the way. The garden is south facing :-)

First time buyer dealio with the local government means I'll lose a big chunk of change if I leave the flat within first ten years - so guess I'll be here a while!

Think I'm leaning towards the climber option...

So would I need to staple a mesh or something to the fence first, or would a climber just scale the fence regardless?

Which is the best climber? Don't like the sound of ivy getting out of hand, and I guess it would be good to have something that actually looks nice. Although the suggestion of just stapling temporary shading sounds like a quick fix that's within my limited capabilities!

While the fence thing is a necessary chore I have to deal with, growing vegetables/fruit in the garden, on the other hand, sounds like fun - something I've always wanted to do. Not too sure I want to dig up my new turf though so might invest in a veg box thingy :-)

Apologies if my garden banter is below par, as mentioned, I'm a complete novice.