Originally Posted by kay

Ah, I see! You basically have a garden with a pleasant sitting out area, and what looks like a warehouse down one side ;-)

I think what you need to do is break up the expanse a bit. A couple of feet of trellis wouldn't come right to the ridge of the roof, but you could grow clematis up it, some of the tendrils will wave above trellis height, and in summer flowers will most definitely attract your eye towards your garden and away from the roof.

You've already got a couple of shrubs breaking up the line. I think you'd get away with not bothering with the trellis and having a couple more verticals. Think of something that's either slender/columnar or not too heavy. Rather than aim for the roof to become invisible, aim for it to become unimportant background.

Ideas include a columnar flowering cherry like Amanagawa or pyramids of sweet peas (or even runner beans or, say, purple podded french beans). If you used an attractively shaped support rather than simple cane pyramids, it would still function as a distractor during the winter months.


A hamamelis (witch hazel) would look good in winter, with yellow flowers on bare stems - and remember that with some choices of plant the roof is a positive bonus, in giving a dark background to show up the flowers better.

If you go too heavily on the screening, the garden will feel closed-in.

Very good sketch, by the way. I'm impressed!