Plants to disguise a fence

[fulltimeworkingmum]

I live in a terraced house and both garden boundaries are ours. The garden faces directly north and the boundaries are marked with wooden panel fencing.
I would like to disguise the wooden panels with some kind of quick growing climber (or other attractive perennial) but have not really found anything which fits the bill in my research. The soil is clay based but well worked with rotted manure and our own compost. We are on the south coast so the winters are not too grim (this last one excepted!)

I would be grateful for suggestions - thanks in advance

Evergreen clematis, honeysuckle, ivy, jasmine?

Honeysuckle doesn't mind shade and will grow fine in clay soil. There are so many types, and it grows fast. Smells lovely too.

How desperately do you want to cover the fence up? I would (and did!) go for clematis for just this problem! I have clems all round my garden, chosen so that there's one in flower just about all year round.

Clematis montana is a bit of a thug: gorgeous for a week or two in May, grows like stink after that and can easily get to 15/18' or three fence panels.
Clematis Armandii are evergreens and have the most lovely scented flowers in very early spring. Can be put on E and N facing panels. Alpina and macropetala are spiky blue/purple small flowers and have fantastic seed heads the rest of the year. Then you've the major league ones: the big classic sideplate-size flowers in midsummer. Finishing off are the viticellas - purples and texensis - burgundys and pinks, both of which grow each year from the ground upwards and can put on 10' in a year. I've given up trying to get my viticella out of a hazel tree. It likes it up there! But to keep them on a fence panel they need to be viciously chopped! Good for areas which might get strimmed accidentally!
Oh and there's also the C. cirrhosa bunch - freckly cream bells which flower in winter.

Whatever you do try and avoid ivy. It will cover up the fence but is really hard to keep in check, will spread everywhere and is only really interesting in the winter when everything else is brown. It will also grow through the fence and make it fall to bits.

I too would go for clematis as they have lovely flowers and can also be mixed with climbling roses. Another nice thing for the summer is everlasting sweet pea which has pretty flowers.

Passion flower covers well but can go berserk. Or you could do things like train espaliered apples along it?

DOn't do a honeysuckle - they are absolute thugs. I am battling with two in a small garden which we inherited - and they rampage over everything. It makes me cry. I think they are gorgrous in a huge garden where they can be left to roam but in a small one, they are disasterous. Go with a well behaved clematis.