Climbers to dress up Colorbond fence

[royq]

Easy little project at my brother-in-law's place a couple of weeks ago. Took about 5 hours and cost less than $100. Really makes a difference.

The fence is all you can see from one of the bedroom windows, so it needed something to make it less bland. However the fence is very close to the house so we wanted to do something that wouldn't take up too much space.

I made a quick video with a time lapse camera just for fun

BeforeAfter

Thanks for checking this out, happy workshopping.

Cheers, Roy

[Baretta11]

@Louisecomau 

Hi there Louise is it?

Yes the star jasmine is lovely but what you have to know about the plant you choose is just how vigorous or not it grows as it could initially look lovely and then you find it has gone mad and the weight of the plant is nearly bringing your fence down!! I'm a bit skeptical that this won't be the case for most creepers grown like this but I would humbly stand corrected if others in Workshop haven't experienced this?

I planted a lovely ornamental passionfruit on an ugly old fence that went around an old brick electrical sub station near the road at the start of our rural driveway. I had a bit of a cactus garden bed out from the fence about 700mm and I am constantly struggling to uncover the plants from all the excessive growth to the point that I'm considering removing the garden as I cannot extend it further and the cacti and other plants are almost always completely burried under the branches and tendrils.

My suggestion for a fence and to have a plant that is managable might be a rose?

They can be espaliered and roses don't tend to grow miles of branches except perhaps for the banksia rose which is very pretty, has a small flower about 25mm, yellow or white and has no thorns. Perhaps others on the forum will make suggestions but you could also google "espaliered plants" to see what other plants could be suitable for your situation.

You must also be careful that your plant doesn't cause a headache for your next door neighbours either as such things can make for silly squables?

[Noelle]

Hi Louisecomau

Climbing Fig (Ficus pumila) would not work on a wire support - it climbs by attaching to rough surfaces like render, brick, etc without damaging the surface. It doesn't twine so would require a major effort on your part to cover the fence.

Not sure of your location but you could look at Wonga Wonga Vine (Pandorea pandorana). As well as the white species, there are several named varieties with flowers ranging from cream and yellow to pink. Bower Plant (Pandorea jasminoides) is related and also available in many varieties with flowers from pink to white.

Sarsaparilla Creeper (Hardenbergia violacea) in either its natural mauve or selected white form is spectacular when in flower.

Other suggestions include Pink Trumpet Vine (Podranea ricasoliana), Trumpet Bush (Tecoma), the white flowered Potato Vine (Solanum laxum) and Bignonia.

Just a few suggestions to get you thinking!

[Louisecomau]

Thanks Jason, Bareta, and Noelle for your expertise. Lots of food for thought.
Im in northern Melbourne and the plant would be in full sun / part shade covering about 1.5m of a 6m fence.
Most of the good climbers are the flower power sort which rules them out unfortunately.
If i tweak the design a bit it may open up some options (different climbing surface, or just settle on some prefab screening)
Have lots of thinking to do!
Thanks again

[MikeHH]

Hi Roy, I have an almost identical situation.  Qu: what hardware did you use - e.g. screws / wire and how did you tension the wire?

MikeHH

[Jason]

Many thanks for joining in the discussion @MikeHH.

Let me tag @royq so he is alerted to your questions.

Welcome to Workshop. We are looking forward to seeing your own project come to fruition. Feel free to post anytime you need a hand with something around the house or garden. 

Jason

[royq]

Hi @MikeHH, I used a roll of stainless steel cable, probably around 3mm diameter (ordinary fencing wire would also work), and some small type 17 self tapping roofing screws. To get the cable to tighten I wound it around the screws in a clockwise direction so that as the screws tighten down they grab the cable and pull it tight. Hope this helps. Roy

[MikeHH]

Thanks Roy - most helpful. Will let you know how I go. MikeHH

[kporter34me]

Hi @royq 

This inspired me so much that I went straight to Bunnings and asked for assistance in getting the products to do this. I too have Jasmine but the guys talked me out of this style telling me it is too spread and to use the flower mesh which will cover the fence, then allow the flowers to feed through and spread entirely. Are they telling me the right thing, because I really love this look you have created and worry that my entire fence covered in Green wire sheets may detract the look a little?

Would love your thoughts on this. Have attached image of what I ended up purchasing.

[royq]

Hi @kporter34me , glad you were inspired. I went with the wires to create a larger mesh, my idea came from a photo I found on houzz of a similar thing done on the front of a house and once all grown in you can still see the house through the growth. I guess it depends what you're more into, the mesh would definitely be easier, but it will hide the fence entirely. Horses for courses, there's no correct answer

Cheers, Roy 

[Jason]

Fantastic to see you were so inspired by Roy's great work @kporter34me. We are looking forward to seeing what you achieve in your garden. Please share some photos soon!

Feel free to post anytime you need a hand with anything around the house and garden. We have loads of helpful members like Roy sharing advice and inspiration every day. 

Welcome,

Jason