Could anybody give me some advice. I have recently moved to a new house. On the side of the house we have a slated fence. I was considering planting an ever green climber('s) for privacy purposes. I would like something that needs relatively little maintenance and can put up with the Scottish winter. Very new to gardening so any advice would be appreciated.

In article ,
pat1 wrote:

Could anybody give me some advice. I have recently moved to a new house.
On the side of the house we have a slated fence. I was considering
planting an ever green climber('s) for privacy purposes. I would like
something that needs relatively little maintenance and can put up with
the Scottish winter. Very new to gardening so any advice would be
appreciated.

It depends where in Scotland. In the colder parts, the answer is ivy
(Hedera helix). In slightly warmer ones, you can add H. colchica,
followed by Clematis armandii. In the warmest locations, there are
quite a lot of other evergreen climbers.

There are many different varieties of H. helix, and almost all are
dead easy to grow. When they get too big, you prune them back as
hard as you like. Just avoid a 'bush' variety.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
[...]
There are many different varieties of H. helix, and almost all are
dead easy to grow. When they get too big, you prune them back as
hard as you like. Just avoid a 'bush' variety.

At the height of my ivy craze, I took cuttings from the arborescent
phase of a few I liked the look of, assuming bush forms would result.
I believe that's the standard practice. I kept only one of them, and
it behaved courteously for about five years (I think, but don't make
me affirm), and then sent out climbing shoots. Does this always
happen in the end?

--
Mike.

In article ,
Mike Lyle wrote:
Nick Maclaren wrote:
[...]
There are many different varieties of H. helix, and almost all are
dead easy to grow. When they get too big, you prune them back as
hard as you like. Just avoid a 'bush' variety.

At the height of my ivy craze, I took cuttings from the arborescent
phase of a few I liked the look of, assuming bush forms would result.
I believe that's the standard practice. I kept only one of them, and
it behaved courteously for about five years (I think, but don't make
me affirm), and then sent out climbing shoots. Does this always
happen in the end?

A very good question. My understanding is that it often happens,
but not always - however, that is based entirely on what I recollect
of what I have read!

I have tried to find out what is known about the mechanisms by which
ivy converts phase, and failed dismally. It is possible that recent
research has got somewhere, and I should be interested to hear from
anyone who knows more than I do. Otherwise, I shall continue to
assume that it is still a mystery.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
pat1 wrote:

Could anybody give me some advice. I have recently moved to a new house.
On the side of the house we have a slated fence. I was considering
planting an ever green climber('s) for privacy purposes. I would like
something that needs relatively little maintenance and can put up with
the Scottish winter. Very new to gardening so any advice would be
appreciated.

It depends where in Scotland. In the colder parts, the answer is ivy
(Hedera helix). In slightly warmer ones, you can add H. colchica,
followed by Clematis armandii. In the warmest locations, there are
quite a lot of other evergreen climbers.

There are many different varieties of H. helix, and almost all are
dead easy to grow. When they get too big, you prune them back as
hard as you like. Just avoid a 'bush' variety.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

We have a Clematis Armondii and they are great . It grows quickly has
lovely shaped leaves and has survived teh very harsh frost we have had
and the really hot weather we had last year.

It should i believe be planted in sun of partial shade , although we
have it in a predomently shady spot and it grows well (although don't
get many flowers)

Other things would be honeysuckle or jasmine

In article .com,
"Gardening_Convert" writes:
|
| Could anybody give me some advice. I have recently moved to a new house.
| On the side of the house we have a slated fence. I was considering
| planting an ever green climber('s) for privacy purposes. I would like
| something that needs relatively little maintenance and can put up with
| the Scottish winter. Very new to gardening so any advice would be
| appreciated.
|
| It depends where in Scotland. In the colder parts, the answer is ivy
| (Hedera helix). In slightly warmer ones, you can add H. colchica,
| followed by Clematis armandii. In the warmest locations, there are
| quite a lot of other evergreen climbers.
|
| We have a Clematis Armondii and they are great . It grows quickly has
| lovely shaped leaves and has survived teh very harsh frost we have had
| and the really hot weather we had last year.

Boggle. Where do you live? Most places in the UK haven't had any
very harsh frosts in years, and last summer was definitely not a
hot one. C. armandii can take moderate frosts, but not hard ones.

| Other things would be honeysuckle or jasmine

There are no honeysuckles or jasmines that are both reliably hardy
and reliably evergreen in the colder parts of the UK. Sorry.

Note that -10 Celcius is NOT a very harsh frost by the standards
of even Cambridge, let alone the colder parts of Scotland.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.