Garden And Gossip Forums

Our kitchen widow looks out onto next door's wall.  They are no longer gardeners, so to improve the view I plant, with their permission, some marigolds in the very small dry border underneath the wall.  Their ivy was getting out of control so we chopped its stems and it is now dying off.  We will in time remove the ivy from the wall, and dig out the roots hopefully leaving the existing trelllis.  Next door blithely says they would like a climber up the trellis, but it is I that will have to source, water and maintain this climber    so I want pretty or pleasant to look at, low maintenance and able to survive dry conditions.  W

I'm asking for plant suggestions.  Paul would like something good to look at while he washes up.  I have thought variegated ivy which is less thuggish than wild ivy ( plus I can take cuttings of some I already have), clematis but their flowering period is relatively short and can look tatty.  Not virginia creeper it is messy ( I think) .  If annual, it will be me that has to propagate it so easy ones please.

Here's pic of site it faces NW

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What about honeysuckle or a nice climbing Rose. You could grow your runner beans up it every summer   .

i agree with SC a nice honey suckle or maybe 2 different ones inter twining.

There doesn't seem to be much room between the door and the wall so you wouldn't want anything too bushy or spikey or too vigorous that you have to keep pruning it.

How about a cotoneaster - wall hugging, loved by bees and birds, ?evergreen or leaves change colour in autumn.

All good suggestions. Neighbour has vetoed variegated ivy! She already has two honeysuckle on he back walls, so she not keen there, and alongside the front door to the left is already a cotoneaster. Rose is a maybe but might be too much depth, Veggie is right about the restriction there. Back to the drawing board. Sweet peas perhaps

Most roses have thorns so you might not want them close to the path.
How about a passionflower?

Passion flower.... now there's a thought. Of course this all presupposes that the trellis survives the removal of the the ivy. Maybe stick with tagetes and marigolds. To tell the truth the neighbour isn't too keen on yellow flowers either

What about a variegated euonymus? It's not a climber but will hug the wall closely. it is rather slow growing if you wanted instant cover you'd have to plant climbing annuals till it got bigger. On the plus side it looks sunshiny even on the gloomiest days, it's evergreen and not fussy about soil etc.

That's a good idea Moth, I even have one somewhere I could transplant. I would have to make sure it didn't bulk out too much, being so close to their front pathway.

Well if it was me I would think again on the clematis. I've had a couple this year that have flowered for months. If you get a viticella all you need to do is chop it down in Spring and watch it grow.
Jasmine? Would smell gorgeous along the path.
I love roses but as it's a neighbour I'm not sure I would want to prune and tie in etc but that would be my next choice.