To ivy or not to ivy.

[league67]

Non-existent pshop skills aside, to hide or not to hide?

Or get a garden designer to hide the hideous wall?

[league67]

Hoofy said:

Week 1:

Looks great.

Week 5:

actual lol, thanks for that

[league67]

skeggysteve said:

If you plant ivy you will soon wished you had the wall back!

Ivy will eat into the mortar, get under the tiles and you will spend hours trimming it.

Then once you've found out the above you will then spend hours trying to kill it and probably fail.

So on balance I say stick with the wall.

Thanks,
yes, it seems like ivy is banned . I want to hide that ugly wall.

[league67]

hidetheelephants said:

skeggysteve said:

If you plant ivy you will soon wished you had the wall back!

Ivy will eat into the mortar, get under the tiles and you will spend hours trimming it.

Then once you've found out the above you will then spend hours trying to kill it and probably fail.

So on balance I say stick with the wall.

What he said; if you want to hide it get some trellis and train something to grow up it, sweet peas or whatever.

hidethegarageelephants thanks for the advice I'll look into those. Could they hide all/most of the wall?

[league67]

KTF said:

I hate ivy and have no idea why people insist on covering their property with the stuff when all it does it ruin the walls and get out of control unless you spend ages trimming it.

Thanks, not set on ivy at all. It came on top of google searches. Anything that can cover that ugly wall.

[league67]

Johnnytheboy said:

Wisteria.

that looks awesome but it doesn't look like evergreen.

[league67]

roogi said:

I'm using wisteria to cover a similar garage wall. It'll need a bit of maintenance and will take a while to cover it, but the end result should be worth it.

Hi roogi,

Would you mind taking the picture so I can have an actual idea how it looks like.

[league67]

Johnnytheboy said:

No, it isn't.

Just seen your profile. Is it possible to have some evergreen climbers as a sort of background and then wisperia on top of it?

Thanks.

[league67]

RichB said:

A few pointers; Wysteria is deciduous and requires pruning twice a year to keep in shape, else you will get a tangled mess. I agree ivy is pernicious stuff but it doesn't do any harm to modern brickwork or mortar so if you're prepared to contain it you could try a variegated variety something like a goldchild. You could try piliostegia viburnoides which is fully ever green, self clinging and has attractive white flowers which attract bees. Also worth a look for a north facing wall is hydrangea petiolaris which although it does drop leaves in winter looks good most of the year round.

Thanks very much. After years of living in flats, think that I'm going to enjoy this new and improved horticultural me.

[league67]

Johnnytheboy said:

Stand by, not my field of expertise but I have passed it on...

Thanks, appreciated.

[league67]

Heathwood said:

I assume the wall is part of your property, rather than a neighbour's OP?

side of my double garage (that actually sounds almost too good to be true 'my double garage' )

P.S. Was really tempted to type that it's neighbour's.

[league67]

Johnnytheboy said:

league67 said:

Johnnytheboy said:

Stand by, not my field of expertise but I have passed it on...

Thanks, appreciated.

My colleague has three questions:

Which way does the wall face?
Are you a keen gardener?
What type of soil is it, if you know?

Thanks very much for taking the time.



So, the wall (green marker) is facing east.
I have no idea, I can see myself with pruning thingies.
I was told that it's clayish (Daventry outskirts).

[league67]

enioldjoe said:

If you get a garden designer in, he's going to have to be a funny size and shape to hide that wall.

What you could do is clad it. Find some wooden boards that you like the finish and colour of then have a go at putting them up. Obviously the thiner the better.

Modern and clean cut or old and rustic.

You could just leave it like that although what will happen is that you will be able to create a more natural backdrop onto which you could plant a wider variety of climbers in different combos and not just ivy!

http://tinyurl.com/otftyzk

Good idea. But I'd definitely want some greenery on top of it.

[league67]

furtive said:

league67 said:

Is your neighbours trampoline big enough do you think?

Lol. I don't get obsession with them. The one in my garden will end up in a skip unless present owners want to take that with them. Are kids really that much into them, or is there a more peculiar side to my neighbours (late 70s).

[league67]

RichB said:

Looks like it's facing west to me.

You are correct. I can't multitask to save my life, or another, more plausible excuse.

Btw those plants that you've mentioned earlier all look amazing, I'm now kinda glad that I have that ugly wall to mess about with.

[league67]

northwest monkey said:

league67 said:

Are kids really that much into them, or is there a more peculiar side to my neighbours (late 70s).

Hmmm. Late 70s you say? Does this look like one of them?

'That' looks like their son. Maybe he's the one trampolining.

[league67]

IainT said:

Is that wall part of you neighbours property? If so, and sorry if it's been mentioned, you might want to ensure that whatever you do have climbing it doesn't do damage to the mortar/bricks that you could be liable for.

No.

[league67]

Shaolin said:

Pyracantha would be good. It's not a climber but a floppy (ish) evergreen shrub that can be treated as almost a climber fix it to a screw eye every 6 feet or so when it starts to get big. It can be trimmed to shape keeping it flat to the wall too. Downside (maybe) big scary thorns, though we have two large ones and other than my having to take care when pruning them, no-one has ever come to and harm. Flowers in spring, berries (loads) in the autumn, red, orange or yellow and the blackbirds love them so they get taken away when ripe rather than fall off and make a mess.

Little one will be playing in that garden so maybe not the best way to go about it. But very beautiful plant nevertheless.

[league67]

Hoofy said:

Why not build something for your child against the wall? Obviously not a swing.

Child 1: Daddy is mean and makes me play on the swing.
Child 2: How's that mean?
Child 1: It rests against a wall.

Stop that now or I'll send you to build fence next to the 'shared' driveway

[league67]

SPR2 said:

Clematis would be another nice climber.

Pretty, doesn't look like it's evergreen.