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Climber for garage wall
Hi all!
Down here in deepest Kent I'm looking to cover an ugly north facing concrete garage wall. It does get some sun late afternoon / early evening but is in shade most of the day. Ideally I'm looking for something that is fairly drought tolerant, self-clinging with some spring and / or summer flowering and a fairly vigourous climber. Am I asking the impossible or do I have to compromise? Any suggestions will be gratefully received & acknowledged. TIA -- Clive in Kent |
Climber for garage wall
In article , "Clive in Kent" writes: | | Down here in deepest Kent I'm looking to cover an ugly north facing concrete | garage wall. It does get some sun late afternoon / early evening but is in | shade most of the day. Ideally I'm looking for something that is fairly | drought tolerant, self-clinging with some spring and / or summer flowering | and a fairly vigourous climber. Am I asking the impossible or do I have to | compromise? Any suggestions will be gratefully received & acknowledged. You are asking the impossible, unless someone can think of something I can't. Can you drill small holes, insert some wall eyes and connect them by wire? If so, you can drop the self-clinging, and the impossible becomes possible, with quite a lot of options. There aren't many self-clinging climbers - the most common have negligible flowers, Campsis isn't suitable for that, and I don't think that Hydrangea petiolaris and allies are drought tolerant. Alternatively, drop the flowering and grow an ivy or "Virginia creeper". No problem there, except hacking them back at the top! Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Climber for garage wall
"Clive in Kent @hotmail.com" cliverholdenremove wrote in message ... Hi all! Down here in deepest Kent I'm looking to cover an ugly north facing concrete garage wall. It does get some sun late afternoon / early evening but is in shade most of the day. Ideally I'm looking for something that is fairly drought tolerant, self-clinging with some spring and / or summer flowering and a fairly vigourous climber. Am I asking the impossible or do I have to compromise? Any suggestions will be gratefully received & acknowledged. TIA -- Clive in Kent Whatever you do, don't go for ivy! I've been left loads of the stuff by previous owners and it's a nightmare! It's very fast and aggressive and needs constant cutting back - I also understand it can damage brickwork, roof tiles and spouting. Barb |
Climber for garage wall
In article , "Barb" writes: | | Whatever you do, don't go for ivy! I've been left loads of the stuff by | previous owners and it's a nightmare! It's very fast and aggressive and | needs constant cutting back - I also understand it can damage brickwork, | roof tiles and spouting. It doesn't damage sound brickwork, let alone concrete, and doesn't damage tiles or spouting if trimmed at least annually. But it DOES need at least that! Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Climber for garage wall
You are asking the impossible, unless someone can think of something I can't. Can you drill small holes, insert some wall eyes and connect them by wire? If so, you can drop the self-clinging, and the impossible becomes possible, with quite a lot of options. There aren't many self-clinging climbers - the most common have negligible flowers, Campsis isn't suitable for that, and I don't think that Hydrangea petiolaris and allies are drought tolerant. Alternatively, drop the flowering and grow an ivy or "Virginia creeper". No problem there, except hacking them back at the top! Regards, Nick Maclaren. More or less agree with with Nick, I would go for wire on the wall, Parthenocissus henryana which is colourfull all season with an autumn climax and a good rose, something along the lines of Alberic Barbier or Madam Alfred Carrier for the summer flowers. You will need to water the first summer but both plants will cope with dry once their roots get going. -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea Thanks for your suggestions guys. Reason I was hoping for something self clinging was that the concrete seems to be laced with granite or diamonds judging by the number of drill bits of mine its chewed up!! Guess I'll persevere and go for for Charlie's suggestions. Clive in Kent |
Climber for garage wall
Barb wrote:
"Clive in Kent @hotmail.com" cliverholdenremove wrote in message ... Hi all! Down here in deepest Kent I'm looking to cover an ugly north facing concrete garage wall. It does get some sun late afternoon / early evening but is in shade most of the day. Ideally I'm looking for something that is fairly drought tolerant, self-clinging with some spring and / or summer flowering and a fairly vigourous climber. Am I asking the impossible or do I have to compromise? Any suggestions will be gratefully received & acknowledged. TIA -- Clive in Kent Whatever you do, don't go for ivy! I've been left loads of the stuff by previous owners and it's a nightmare! It's very fast and aggressive and needs constant cutting back - I also understand it can damage brickwork, roof tiles and spouting. Barb I'm trying hydrangea seemani on a shady fence and it's progressing upwards in an orderly fashion without support. Haven't seen any flowers yet, but that would be a bonus. |
Climber for garage wall
In article , "Clive in Kent" writes: | | Thanks for your suggestions guys. Reason I was hoping for something self | clinging was that the concrete seems to be laced with granite or diamonds | judging by the number of drill bits of mine its chewed up!! Guess I'll | persevere and go for for Charlie's suggestions. Flint, I'll be bound .... Very common, and a real pain. There are glues that will stick steel to concrete, so you could stick some lengths of perforated angle-iron on and tie wires between them. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Climber for garage wall
"stuart noble" wrote in a reply: I'm trying hydrangea seemani on a shady fence and it's progressing upwards in an orderly fashion without support. Haven't seen any flowers yet, but that would be a bonus. I know a house with a north facing front that has Hydrangea petiolaris smothering the wall. That's the one with creamy-white flowers. Given time, it would easily cover Clive's garage wall. MD. |
Climber for garage wall
Mike Derby wrote:
"stuart noble" wrote in a reply: I'm trying hydrangea seemani on a shady fence and it's progressing upwards in an orderly fashion without support. Haven't seen any flowers yet, but that would be a bonus. I know a house with a north facing front that has Hydrangea petiolaris smothering the wall. That's the one with creamy-white flowers. Given time, it would easily cover Clive's garage wall. MD. Not sure why it has to be drought resistant though. IME soil at the base of a wall is usually quite wet underneath. If there's a bed there, putting stones or something round the base of the plant would keep it damp. |
Climber for garage wall
In article , "Mike Derby" writes: | "stuart noble" wrote in a reply: | | I'm trying hydrangea seemani on a shady fence and it's progressing upwards | in an orderly fashion without support. Haven't seen any flowers yet, but | that would be a bonus. | | I know a house with a north facing front that has Hydrangea petiolaris | smothering the wall. That's the one with creamy-white flowers. Given | time, it would easily cover Clive's garage wall. It's the drought resistant that makes me doubtful of it, though a Web search indicates that H. anomala ssp petiolaris may be. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Climber for garage wall
"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message ... In article , "Clive in Kent" writes: | | Thanks for your suggestions guys. Reason I was hoping for something self | clinging was that the concrete seems to be laced with granite or diamonds | judging by the number of drill bits of mine its chewed up!! Guess I'll | persevere and go for for Charlie's suggestions. Flint, I'll be bound .... Very common, and a real pain. There are glues that will stick steel to concrete, so you could stick some lengths of perforated angle-iron on and tie wires between them. Regards, Nick Maclaren. Thanks for the suggestion Nick. Must be easier than the drilling! Clive in Kent |
Climber for garage wall
In article , stuart noble writes: | | Not sure why it has to be drought resistant though. IME soil at the | base of a wall is usually quite wet underneath. If there's a bed there, | putting stones or something round the base of the plant would keep it damp. Depends on the direction of the rain. It can be very dry. I grow Passiflora incarnata and Cyclamen coum in a complete rain shadow next to a wall, which enables them to overwinter happily. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Climber for garage wall
In article ,
says... "stuart noble" wrote in a reply: I'm trying hydrangea seemani on a shady fence and it's progressing upwards in an orderly fashion without support. Haven't seen any flowers yet, but that would be a bonus. I know a house with a north facing front that has Hydrangea petiolaris smothering the wall. That's the one with creamy-white flowers. Given time, it would easily cover Clive's garage wall. MD. Its not good in dry conditions -- Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall www.roselandhouse.co.uk Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and Lapageria rosea |
Climber for garage wall
In message , Clive in
Kent writes Hi all! Down here in deepest Kent I'm looking to cover an ugly north facing concrete garage wall. It does get some sun late afternoon / early evening but is in shade most of the day. Ideally I'm looking for something that is fairly drought tolerant, self-clinging with some spring and / or summer flowering and a fairly vigourous climber. Am I asking the impossible or do I have to compromise? Any suggestions will be gratefully received & acknowledged. TIA My garage is a concrete sectional one, with a sharp pebble-dash finish you wouldn't want to fall against! The wall faces North East. I just fastened some trellis to it, with nails which jammed into the cracks between sections. It was enough to hold the trellis, and then I planted two Honeysuckle shrubs, which became self-supporting after a short time. Last year I had the garage re-roofed, so I had to hack the very woody honeysuckles to a 6" stump, and planted two more adjacent to them in Autumn. The funny story is that the "dead" stumps have thrown up vigorous growth again, so I needn't have "replaced" them. I sometimes wish I'd planted Ivy, which would have probably attracted nesting birds. -- Gordon H |
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