On Fri, 8 Jun 2012 07:38:48 +0000, dllive
wrote:


Hi, this is my first time here so please be gentle with me!

Ive recently started gardening. I have a very small garden and would
like to make the most of the space with evergreens (perennials?), a bit
of colour and some veg/herbs. I bought a great book recently which
showed tips on how to best utilise small space for veg/plants/flowers.

On one side of the garden is a a white wall measuring 4 x 4 metres. I
dont like this white wall and Im thinking of putting up some trellis and
having some climbers or something that will be green all year round and
flower in the summer. However (and this is why I havnt got into
gardening before) Im impatient and want something fast growing so that
within the year that wall is covered in foliage. Does such a thing exist
and is this achievable? Shoudl I buy a plant that is already well
matured? What should I look for when buying trellis or is it all teh
same? In my little front garden I have a nice honeysuckle climbing wall,
but that goes dormant in the winter. I want foliage all year round.

Thanks
PS
the wall is south facing, but the garden is cold because its exposed and
gets battered by the elements.

First things first - check the wall. Paint (I assume it's painted
white) can hide things like failing pointing. You don't want to cover
the wall with trellis and climbers only to have to chop it all down to
repoint later.

When choosing trellis, avoid the diamond pattern stuff which is
usually weaker. Go for the square pattern. Most trellis I've seen on
sale in sheds and garden centres round here is "dipped" which means
you need to treat it annually with preservative to stop it rotting
(which is not good for evergreens as you need to detach them from the
trellis). Specialist fencing suppliers will sell (they do here anyway)
"pressure treated" trellis. This lasts longer without treatment.

Mount the trellis "off the wall" rather than tight to it - this will
allow plants to twine all around it.

Advice on choosing plants is a little more difficult. It will help if
you let us know where in the country you are (and do you mean
"coastal" when you say "exposed"?) and what your soil's like - e.g.
sandy and well drained or clay and soggy. Plus, patience is a virtue
when it comes to gardening - spending big bucks on a larger plant
isn't always the answer; a smaller plant may not flower this year but
it might be a lot better next year and in years to come.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from Swansea Bay. Dave's at that
end; I'm at this end. Bill's in the middle.