Due to constant high winds in the winters we have had to reduce the height of our dividing rear garden fence to about 5' (it was originally 6') and now when out in the garden I feel that my privacy is exposed.

Can anyone tell of a suitable plant that could be grown up the fence and along the top in order to give us a few more inches of privacy, something quick growing if possible.

I'm not a great gardener and all I can think of is Ivy but I'm sure there's other plants.

Only drawback is that if it has to be grown from in the ground it will have to be a plant that is not harmful to our two pet bunnies. I was thinking that if the plant is dangerous for them, could it be grown from a wall basket part way up the fence?

Many thanks.

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:48:37 +0100, KarinB
wrote:


Due to constant high winds in the winters we have had to reduce the
height of our dividing rear garden fence to about 5' (it was
originally 6') and now when out in the garden I feel that my privacy is
exposed.

Can anyone tell of a suitable plant that could be grown up the fence
and along the top in order to give us a few more inches of privacy,
something quick growing if possible.

I'm not a great gardener and all I can think of is Ivy but I'm sure
there's other plants.

Only drawback is that if it has to be grown from in the ground it will
have to be a plant that is not harmful to our two pet bunnies. I was
thinking that if the plant is dangerous for them, could it be grown
from a wall basket part way up the fence?

Many thanks.


Honey suckle grows well in Ohio and grows wild in Tennessee. It grows
fast and thick during the summer months and draws bees and
hummingbirds. The house where I grew up had a honey suckle bush next
to the bathroom window and it gave the bathroom a nice fragrance. The
yellow flowers seem to have a stronger aroma. For some reason robins
liked to build a nest there every year and we had a close up view of
the progress. Do you need the extra privacy in the winter?

In article , wrote:

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:48:37 +0100, KarinB
wrote:


Due to constant high winds in the winters we have had to reduce the
height of our dividing rear garden fence to about 5' (it was
originally 6') and now when out in the garden I feel that my privacy is
exposed.

Can anyone tell of a suitable plant that could be grown up the fence
and along the top in order to give us a few more inches of privacy,
something quick growing if possible.

I'm not a great gardener and all I can think of is Ivy but I'm sure
there's other plants.

Only drawback is that if it has to be grown from in the ground it will
have to be a plant that is not harmful to our two pet bunnies. I was
thinking that if the plant is dangerous for them, could it be grown
from a wall basket part way up the fence?

Many thanks.


Honey suckle grows well in Ohio and grows wild in Tennessee. It grows
fast and thick during the summer months and draws bees and
hummingbirds. The house where I grew up had a honey suckle bush next
to the bathroom window and it gave the bathroom a nice fragrance. The
yellow flowers seem to have a stronger aroma. For some reason robins
liked to build a nest there every year and we had a close up view of
the progress. Do you need the extra privacy in the winter?

Great choice for some places but if you're including Lonicera species
honeysuckle, it looks like Tennessee might be TOO friendly to
honeysucikles. If you're talking "honey suckle bush" that's not going to
cling to a fence, but the Tennessee native honeysuckle bush you refer to,
Diervilla lonicera, yes, very nice shrub, not a fence climber however,
very like the twinberry bush (*Lonicera involucrata), both great shrubs
though the flowers are tiny (berries and bracts are showier than blooms).

It might indeed be a lot easier to hide a fence with thick shrubs than
with slender vines, but vines can be good in a mix, but possibly NOT
honeysuckle vines if living somewhere like Tennessee.

Many Lonicera introductions have proven invasive. For Tennessee in
particular, Lonecera maackii, L. fragrantisima, L. morrowi, L. x bella
'Zabel,' all cultivars of L. salicana, L. tatarica, L. xylosteum, L.
japonica -- some of these alas the easiest obtainable in nurseries, but
they're on the Tennessee list of "extreme" dangers among exotic invasives.
None of these should be planted and if encountered should be dug out and
destroyed, despite their incredible beauty. (I've never been able to
destroy my own L. japonica; mine are purpurea cultivars not noted for
invasiveness in my particular region, so I indulge myself keeping them.)

Possibly some North American NATIVE Lonicera species would be okay, like
L. sempervirens (wlhich can be as showy as the invasive japonica), or L.
candensis (but that one's another bush, not a vine). But Tennessee's
Exotic Pest Council recommends the following vines, natives of Tennesee,
as preferable to any Lonerica species. A couple of these (like the
crossvine or trumpet creeper or virginia creeper) are as aggressive as any
vining lonerica, but being native, not a threat:

Dutchman's pipe (Aristolochia macrophylla), crossvine (Bignonia
capreolata), trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), leatherflower (Clematis
viorna), virgin's bower (Clematis virginiana), climbing hydrangea
J(Decumaria barbara), Carolina jasmine (Gelsemium sempervirens), Virginia
creeper (Parthenocissus quinquifolia), Atlantic wisteria (Wisteria
farutescens). If there's not a nursery nearby attending to the needs of
native plant gardening, then contact a local native plant society, most
such societies do some salvage, or have someone involved who is providing
native plants started from seed gathering.

Our own native plant society here on Puget Sound has GREAT field trips,
super events, and if you volunteer during plant salvages you can keep
some, usually taken from ground slated for bulldozing and construction.
Every state seems to have such an organization with numerous chapters, &
Tennessee's has a first-contact at www.tnps.org -- there'll be similar for
Ohio, or wherever anyone's from, seems to be pretty good activist coverage
throughout the nation.

-paghat the ratgirl
--
visit my temperate gardening website:
http://www.paghat.com
visit my film reviews website:
http://www.weirdwildrealm.com

In article , Charlie wrote:

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:48:37 +0100, KarinB
wrote:


Due to constant high winds in the winters we have had to reduce the
height of our dividing rear garden fence to about 5' (it was
originally 6') and now when out in the garden I feel that my privacy is
exposed.

Can anyone tell of a suitable plant that could be grown up the fence
and along the top in order to give us a few more inches of privacy,
something quick growing if possible.

I'm not a great gardener and all I can think of is Ivy but I'm sure
there's other plants.

Only drawback is that if it has to be grown from in the ground it will
have to be a plant that is not harmful to our two pet bunnies. I was
thinking that if the plant is dangerous for them, could it be grown
from a wall basket part way up the fence?

Many thanks.

Moonflowers are what I use in the summer to extend fence height.
Lovely large fragrant flowers at night, large leaves fast growing and
easy to train horizontally on a string or wire. I've had them run
twenty feet and more.

I've grown them in large pots as well.

http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/showthread.php?p=755468
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/893/


Charlie

I tried it last year and it did just about nothin' not even a flower.
Grew about 6" high and quit. Maybe it was somethin' I said.
--

Billy

The Murder of Rachel Corrie
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1248.shtml

"KarinB" wrote in message
...

Due to constant high winds in the winters we have had to reduce the
height of our dividing rear garden fence to about 5' (it was
originally 6') and now when out in the garden I feel that my privacy is
exposed.

Can anyone tell of a suitable plant that could be grown up the fence
and along the top in order to give us a few more inches of privacy,
something quick growing if possible.

I'm not a great gardener and all I can think of is Ivy but I'm sure
there's other plants.

Only drawback is that if it has to be grown from in the ground it will
have to be a plant that is not harmful to our two pet bunnies. I was
thinking that if the plant is dangerous for them, could it be grown
from a wall basket part way up the fence?

Many thanks.




--
KarinB

You have to reduce the height of the fence due to high wind - presumably the
fence is not holding up too well. But you are going to growing things up it
to give privacy, so that you will not have reduced the area exposed to the
wind much at all, maybe even increasing it unless you are very regular with
pruning. On top of this the fence will have to take the weight of whatever
you grow on it , possibly including hanging baskets both hanging off the same
side. Incidentaly baskets dry out very quickly in windy exposed positions and
unless you are going to water them regularly you may have trouble getting
anything to grow.

Have you considered that remedy could be worse than the current problem?
Perhaps it would be easier in the long run to just strengthen the existing
fence.

David

Thanks to everyone who has replied and sorry for this delay in returning.

We cannot do anything to strengthen the fence. It is a very long fence and is battered by the westerly winds. There are only so many times we are prepared to keep repairing it and last year we had had enough and cut a foot off the top of it. All the other gardens have low fences and so don't stop the winds coming down towards our fence and our fence used to take a real hammering.


I would prefer something which could be on the fence all year long, not necessarily flowering but giving us some privacy would be nice. Flowering in the summer would be a bonus.

The weight is not a problem as we now have three fence panels which we can remove when the winds are high to allow the wind to pass through rather than knocking our fence down.

I am not into gardening in anyway shape or form and so a lot of what some replies have been on about have totally gone over my head (with all due respect).

I live in UK - if that helps.