How to train climbing plants on fence?

[ALimestoneWall]

Hi,

I'd like to train my neighbour's Bougainvillea and Jasminoides to cover my side of the fence.

I'm wondering what the best approach would be? As shown in the second photo, the metal capping of the hardifence/super 6 does have a lip where I could hang something, but I'm not sure which products would fit under there, or how well it would take the weight of the plants.

Cheers.

[Jason]

Hi @ALimestoneWall,

My suggestion is to have some screening trellis that is independently secured to the ground to hold the weight of the plants so you're not going to compromise the fence. 

Let me tag some of our experienced members such as @mich1972, @Dave-1 and @DIY4Knuckleheds for their approach. One of our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. experts will also be happy to assist as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience in the meantime. 

Jason

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @ALimestoneWall 

Vines are powerful things... Bougainvillea vines are nasty!!! I tell you they will jump out and stab you with their thorns! Beautiful flowers but about the fastest growing thorn thing I know of... (I had to prune my grandmas Bougainvillea for years almost every fortnight as the sappers? would grow fast)

Id also suggest a stand alone trellis option as @Jason has and mostly because the vine will pull the fence out of true and shorten the life span (not joking at this point) by adding a large overall weight to it. Jasmine also has the weight and strength but not the thorns...

Three posts (90*90mm or 100mm * 100mm) in the ground by 600mm min with some steel mesh spread across the 2.4m ish would be a good idea to start planning

One last Bougainvillea story.... I had to go to the docs after treading on an old dried out Bougainvillea vine and had a 24m long thorn curled out of my heal..... yes he put my foot to sleep first (I was around 14 at the time..... lol)

Dave

[DIY4Knuckleheds]

Mate, l have a very similar situation at my place where l have Bougainvillea trained on a fence kind of like yours. I installed heavy duty Stainless Steel Eyelets to the top and bottom metal channels and then strung heavy duty stainless steel wire in a criss cross pattern from Eyelet to Eyelet. The Plants have really taken to it but you need to keep it trimmed so it doesn't get out of control.

[JacobZ]

Hi @ALimestoneWall,

I'm in the same boat as @Jason and @Dave-1 in that you should keep the support structure separate from the fence.

Partly because of the additional weight to the fence, but mostly because there is no guarantee your fence is not asbestos. There is a chance it is not, but the only way to confirm this is to have it tested. When there's any potential for asbestos, I'd always advise leaving it alone. Adding weight, or fixings to the fence, even if it is not in the actual panel, has the potential to cause breakages, so it is better to just keep things separate and not risk it. 

I'd suggest putting in some posts in front of the fence like Dave has mentioned and then attaching some trellis or wire mesh to them.

This will give you a separate supporting structure meaning the fence is left well alone.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob