Climber advice needed please!

[KatOD]

Hello, we're looking for a hardy climber that we can train over a trellis at the front of our property. It would be West facing and right by the road (country road no pavement).

I'm not a hugely skilled gardener and don't have much time between work and 18mo DD so would like something easy!

I was thinking about honeysuckle, maybe the "darts world" variety that somebody told me was nearly indestructible. DH wants clematis but I don't think that will be nearly hardy enough on its own, could maybe think about training that up something else?

What are your thoughts? Wise people?

[quoteunquote]

I would put in a few, a potatoes vine (heavily scented), slow growing, but worth it, as in the long term you get lots of cover, and the most heavenly scent,

a couple of clematis , a couple of roses I love himalayan musk rose but have fun deciding,

a wisteria, slow but worth it, or and a german grape vine.

[bella65]

First question is do you want evergreen or deciduous? And how high is the trellis and do you want it to stop at the top, or are you planning on it going across the top, like a pergola, from one side to the other?

You need to consider the total height you want. Many climbers can grow to 20 feet unless severely pruned back.

Honeysuckle is okay but you will get depth as well as height- so have you room? I have 2 trained on fences and they have a depth of about 3 feet. i think a trellis would be pushing it space-wise. And during the winter they look pretty drab.

Clematis armandii is evergreen with scented white flowers- it can be a bit temperamental if it gets cold winds though and you need to keep it under control.

Other clematis will have to be cut ( in the main) to 1 feet high or given a tidy up each season so you won't get much enjoyment in winter. Clematis montana ( white or pink) is a monster and will grow to 30 feet and is semi evergreen

There is another winter clematis called Freckle which is pretty..

Potato vine- solanum- is nice but I removed mine because it was getting too big and out of season is not very exciting.

If you aren't fussed about winter foliage then yes, think about a rose- Albertine is a rambler that has lovely peachy flowers, and Madame Alfred Carriere is beautiful and hardy. Or a jasmine with winter or spring flowers..

[KatOD]

Wow thanks quote and Bella. I'll probably go for the "few" option. I won't do roses as we have to walk along it to get to our car and I don't dd (or me!) scratching ourselves and the deer will prob eat them anyway.

Depth isn't a problem too much as it's a trellis on a fence which isn't against anything. The trellis/fence is about 9m (w) and 1.5m (h) so I was hoping I could train stuff along it rather than up it! Was thinking of going for a mix of evergreen and deciduous so the front of our house has something there all the time.

Really appreciate the advice, thank you so much!

[MyDarlingClementine]

what about passion flower.

it is rampant but you can always just lobb and slash off what you dont want and shape it.

thats what I have done, two years and we have a beast on our hands!

[Rollmops]

For easy, healthy (ie disease resistant) and very fast growing climber I would definitely recommend Compassion climbing rose. It also has rather good size anti-intruder thorns . Very large salmon pink blooms, goes on til first frosts.