What can I grow on a fence to act as a privacy screen?

[Cguk81]

I am absolutely clueless about gardening and plants so hoping for some tips from wiser minds than mine. We only have a low 3 ft fence between us and the neighbours. We can't afford to replace the fence with a higher one so looking for alternatives. There is already a couple of 6ft trellised panels nailed on to the fence and we were thinking of adding more along the length of it (it's about 20ft long) and then using the trellis to tie on some tall/climbing plants that would act as a privacy screen. Does this sound like a good idea? What plants should we use? Thanks!

[Cguk81]

I think I've attached an image...sorry for the poor quality.

[shovetheholly]

Hmmm. how sturdy is that existing fence? My concern would be that nailing stuff to the top of it, and then adding weight in the shape of climbers, could really up your wind load and cause you more problems in the long run, particularly if the original structure isn't very strong (it looks fairly old from the picture, but that might just be the way the files are compressed by Mumsnet). You might be better off widening your border in front of the fence and planting in some taller evergreen shrubs, e.g. viburnum, photinia, mahonia etc.

In cost terms, buying large plants is expensive, though - if you can afford to be patient, you can put in much cheaper but smaller plants and wait for them to grow.

[Cguk81]

@shovetheholly thanks for your reply...I only just noticed it! Instead of attaching the trellis to the top of the fence we would buy a full 6ftx6ft lattice panel like this www.forestgarden.co.uk/shop_product.asp?category=Fencing,%20Trellis%20and%20Gates&subcategory=Trellis%20and%20Lattice&product=Wisley%20Lattice%20180%20x%20150cm to nail onto the fence from the bottom so that it is attached more securely than just adding a 3ft trellis on top of the existing fence. Hope that makes sense. The existing fence is quite old but feels strong and robust. I'm hoping having the lattice would still allow the wind the travel through enough to reduce the risk of the fence getting blown over.

[Cguk81]

The link didn't work. It's a panel like this...