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

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)

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.

In article 3b940d16-0e74-4753-9d25-
, says...
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

Both those clematis are deciduous, and should not be hard pruned in
winter but can be pruned/tidied in June.
For evergreen screening (chain link is always tough for plants) Ivy and
the evergreen honeysuckles are the best bet, but roses would be ok and
all those would offer some shelter for the poor clematis which otherwise
are going to be struggling.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea