I'd appreciate advice on choosing a climber; the requirements a
1) Evergreen
2) Self-supporting
3) North wall - only late afternoon and evening sun - I am in Devon but not on the moor

Thanks for any help,
Jerry

On 15/10/07 16:06, in article ,
" wrote:


I'd appreciate advice on choosing a climber; the requirements a
1) Evergreen
2) Self-supporting
3) North wall - only late afternoon and evening sun - I am in Devon but
not on the moor

Hydrangea seemannii or petiolaris but make sure they're watered and plant
them - or anything else - 2' out from the rain shadow of your house so that
rain can fall on them. As you plant them, lean them in towards the wall you
want them to climb. Both take a while to get going and then suddenly leap
away. Various ivies. Pileostegia viburnoides. Ercilla volubilis. If it
doesn't *have* to be self-clinging, your range will extend tremendously.
Presumably you never need to paint or point the walls?

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In article ,
Sacha writes:
| On 15/10/07 16:06, in article ,
| " wrote:
|
| I'd appreciate advice on choosing a climber; the requirements a
| 1) Evergreen
| 2) Self-supporting
| 3) North wall - only late afternoon and evening sun - I am in Devon but
| not on the moor
|
| Hydrangea seemannii or petiolaris but make sure they're watered and plant
| them - or anything else - 2' out from the rain shadow of your house so that
| rain can fall on them. As you plant them, lean them in towards the wall you
| want them to climb. Both take a while to get going and then suddenly leap
| away. Various ivies. Pileostegia viburnoides. Ercilla volubilis. If it
| doesn't *have* to be self-clinging, your range will extend tremendously.
| Presumably you never need to paint or point the walls?

Isn't Hydrangea petiolaris deciduous? It is here.

The range would also be increased enormously by dropping the
evergreen; dropping both the evergreen and the self-supporting
would give a huge range!

My experience with climbers is that the 2' isn't necessary if there
is a clear run of deep soil from the wall out, but you have to keep
them watered long enough for them to get their roots established
where there is water. And, of course, it depends on the overhang
and wind direction whether the rain reaches the wall in the first
place. I have a lot of things within 6" from the walls, but they
mostly get rain to their roots - and, of course, 60% sand is a soil
that positively encourages roots to run.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 15/10/07 23:26, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article ,
Sacha writes:
| On 15/10/07 16:06, in article ,
| " wrote:
|
| I'd appreciate advice on choosing a climber; the requirements a
| 1) Evergreen
| 2) Self-supporting
| 3) North wall - only late afternoon and evening sun - I am in Devon but
| not on the moor
|
| Hydrangea seemannii or petiolaris but make sure they're watered and plant
| them - or anything else - 2' out from the rain shadow of your house so that
| rain can fall on them. As you plant them, lean them in towards the wall
you
| want them to climb. Both take a while to get going and then suddenly leap
| away. Various ivies. Pileostegia viburnoides. Ercilla volubilis. If it
| doesn't *have* to be self-clinging, your range will extend tremendously.
| Presumably you never need to paint or point the walls?

Isn't Hydrangea petiolaris deciduous? It is here.

You're right. My brain was certainly not switched on to the evergreen bit
there.

The range would also be increased enormously by dropping the
evergreen; dropping both the evergreen and the self-supporting
would give a huge range!

My experience with climbers is that the 2' isn't necessary if there
is a clear run of deep soil from the wall out, but you have to keep
them watered long enough for them to get their roots established
where there is water. And, of course, it depends on the overhang
and wind direction whether the rain reaches the wall in the first
place. I have a lot of things within 6" from the walls, but they
mostly get rain to their roots - and, of course, 60% sand is a soil
that positively encourages roots to run.

But you're an extremely experienced gardener. I don't think one can assume
everyone who asks such questions is in that position, even though the OP
might be, so I thought I'd tack that bit on. As he lives in Devon, I'd be
quite interested to know if he'd consider growing the non self-clinging
Muehlenbeckia complexa because it seems to be pretty undemanding and is
certainly unusual. It makes wonderful swags of greenery when left to
itself. And it's evergreen and not fussy as to aspect. BUT what part of
Devon he's in will matter as it's not bone hardy, though it has lived on the
south facing wall of our house for several years and we're 3.5 miles from
Dartmoor.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Thanks for your replies.
I am not a keen gardener and am looking for the easiest option to disguise (year-round) the ugly lines of my house.
I don't want to get into putting up support, I just want to plant well and leave alone.
Maybe in ten years I'll pull it all off, repaint and start again, maybe not.
Sacha, you'll know where I live, it's up North Street, past Westabrook, so it's closer to the moor than you and it is a north wall.
I am prepare to go with ivy if necessary.
Jerry

In article ,
writes:
|
| I am not a keen gardener and am looking for the easiest option to
| disguise (year-round) the ugly lines of my house.
| I don't want to get into putting up support, I just want to plant well
| and leave alone.

Bluntly, you are on to a loser. Ivy would do all that but, unless
you trim it when it starts to get out of hand, it will remove
tiles and do similar damage. Anything that won't, will need more
attention.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , Nick Maclaren says...

In article ,
writes:
|
| I am not a keen gardener and am looking for the easiest option to
| disguise (year-round) the ugly lines of my house.
| I don't want to get into putting up support, I just want to plant well
| and leave alone.

Bluntly, you are on to a loser. Ivy would do all that but, unless
you trim it when it starts to get out of hand, it will remove
tiles and do similar damage. Anything that won't, will need more
attention.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


Agreed. If the poster doesn't want to put up any support, then any
climbers would need to be self clinging e.g. Virginia Creeper but the
issue then is that the plant doesn't know it is supposed to stop growing
when it reaches the eaves :-)

If however, supports were attached to the house and provided they were
left sufficiently lower than the eaves, then a suitable climber would
not invade the gutters and roof space. E.g. Clematis Montana would
easily cover a house wall (It did at our last house).
--
David in Normandy.
(The free MicroPlanet Gravity newsreader is great for eliminating
rubbish and cross-posts)

On 16/10/07 14:06, in article ,
" wrote:

Thanks for your replies.
I am not a keen gardener and am looking for the easiest option to
disguise (year-round) the ugly lines of my house.
I don't want to get into putting up support, I just want to plant well
and leave alone.
Maybe in ten years I'll pull it all off, repaint and start again, maybe
not.
Sacha, you'll know where I live, it's up North Street, past Westabrook,
so it's closer to the moor than you and it is a north wall.
I am prepare to go with ivy if necessary.
Jerry

There are some really lovely ivies but they can take a while to get going
and then they romp away. We have a large leaf one here on a wall and it
seemed to take forever to decide to climb but now it's looking lovely.
That's a big leaf one called Paddy's Pride but there are ivies to suit every
situation and IMO, they're very under-rated. If you see someone peering at
the outside of your house, you'll know who it is and why. ;-) Officially,
you're within the Park, aren't you?

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

Officially, yes.

Looks like ivy is the only complete answer then.
I would, of course, cut it back before it reached the eaves.

Thanks, everyone, for your help.
much appreciated,
Jerry