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

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.

In article ,
says...

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.

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

"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

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.

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

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

"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

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.

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

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