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Clematis for low fence (Scotland)
Hello all,
We have a fairly grim, black wire-mesh fence around our front, north- facing strip of graden in Edinburgh. We decided to plant some clematis to climb up this to give us some colour and screening... Since they were cheap at the local garden centre, we got 4 Warsaw Nikes and 2 'Miss Bateman'. I'm interested in opinions as to how suitable these might be for climbing a tight mesh fence (grid is maybe 1cm x 1cm). Also will they provide much screening in winter? I know neither of these are evergreens but do they leave some kind of foliage? I have discovered via google that different varieties need different pruning methods so I suppose I'll have to find out which these are... Oh, and how widely spaced should the plants be? Other suggestions for good evergreen climbers are welcome, usual criteria: low maintenance, north-facing, (probably) poor soil, suitable-for-idiot-gardener... Many thanks in advance, cam |
Clematis for low fence (Scotland)
cam wrote:
Hello all, We have a fairly grim, black wire-mesh fence around our front, north- facing strip of graden in Edinburgh. We decided to plant some clematis to climb up this to give us some colour and screening... Since they were cheap at the local garden centre, we got 4 Warsaw Nikes and 2 'Miss Bateman'. I'm interested in opinions as to how suitable these might be for climbing a tight mesh fence (grid is maybe 1cm x 1cm). Also will they provide much screening in winter? I know neither of these are evergreens but do they leave some kind of foliage? I have discovered via google that different varieties need different pruning methods so I suppose I'll have to find out which these are... Oh, and how widely spaced should the plants be? Other suggestions for good evergreen climbers are welcome, usual criteria: low maintenance, north-facing, (probably) poor soil, suitable-for-idiot-gardener... Many thanks in advance, cam Good evergreen climbers, north facing, Edinburgh? Well, let's see. You have a choice of ivy, ivy, or maybe ivy. And even then you may find they don't like the cold, easterly wind. If you have a little more room, then you might like to consider some evergreen shrubs instead of climbers. The shrubs could be pruned somewhat to keep them flat against the fence. Alternatively, you could have something like a beech hedge, which although turning brown in autumn, keeps the dead leaves on until growth begins again in spring. It's screening of a sort. -- Jeff (cut "thetape" to reply) |
Quote:
I believe that both of these clematis are group 2 which generally means that they need only light pruning (deadwood etc) in late winter/early spring. If they are like my group 2 clematis they will provide very little cover in the winter as they lose all their foliage. You might want to check out Clematis Armandii which is evergreen and often recommended for north facing fences. |
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