which plant will grow up a fence and look beautiful

[FlappertyFlippers]

I am a rubbish gardener.

Luckily I only have a small garden, it's south facing, mainly lawn but on the right there are some paving slabs as a pathway and then various Bush/shrub things growing between the path and the fence on that side.

I want to pretty up the back fence with some lovely zero maintenance climbing flowers. Although the garden is south facing the fence ensures this area tends to be shaded.

Any suggestions?

Clematis is one possibility, but will only look its best for a relatively short time when in flower, and will just be leaves the rest of the year. And it would want a trellis to cling onto.

Ornamental grasses could be planted close to the fence; we have black bamboo, and zebra grass, both about 8ft tall. They might need watering, if rain didn't get to the fence area.

There are also more colourful foliage plants that would do the job, but I don't really know what they are called. Maybe someone else will help in due course!

Climbing hydrangea is self climbing and likes the shade so would be ok on a north facing wall.

Virginia Creeper would work although you'd need to pick one of the less vigorous varieties (some grow to 20 metres). It's the plant with big leaves that turns a wonderful red colour in autumn.

I'd be more inclined to have tall grasses and some of the bamboos that don't spread, as then you'll have year round interest.

Some great suggestions above. I also love jasmine, the blossoms smell glorious. Or there's a variety of willow that's all twirly, if you want something different. The Crocus or RHS websites are good for reference.

I'm not sure that there is a 'less vigorous' variety of Virginia Creeper.

Curly or twisted willow is a tree with roots that will seek out and grow into drainage pipes. Check that there are none close by when planting, also you must not plant trees close to walls as their roots can disturb foundations.

I would suggest something that is evergreen if the fence is quite visible. Some of the deciduous climbers look a bit rubbish in the winter when the leaves fall off (clematis being a prime example). The standard suggestions would be something like trachylospermum jasminoidies or clematis armandii.

Thanks for all the suggestions. My garden is too small to plant some tall grass at the back, so I think I will go for a clematis or a jasmine

Would this be a good option? It's 2 clematis one summer flowering, the other winter flowering.

www.vanmeuwen.com/flowers/flower-plants/climbing-plants/clematis-collection/V16339VM

A smelly honeysuckle,rambling rose or clematis montana would be my choice.
Non climber,but lovely upright shrub is kerria japonica.

Bewarethe honeysuckle. they are not as nice as they sound. They can go kind of rampant and spread everywhere. Clematis or passion flowers are easier to tame.

What Gerbils says is true,so you would need to be vigilant,and looking back at your zero maintenance requirement,then maybe not....

Will jasmine grow on a shady wall? I thought it needed sun?

On my shady side I have garrya (evergreen with tassles in spring) clematis (will need some kind of trellis) and honeysuckles. I also have a climbing rose which is ok in shade, not all roses are, I think mine is danse de feu. A mix of evergreens and climbers looks good all year round and it can be hacked back if it gets out of bounds.

I'm not familiar with those clematis cultivars. Some of the species are not that hardy and catalogues often neglect to mention important stuff like that

It will grow but won't thrive IMHO. Leggy with poor flowering.

Thing is that there is no such thing as a zero maintenance garden, concrete is zero maintenance, and whether plants are low maintenance or not depends on your personal gardening style. I do nothing to my garden except look at it for a couple of years, then attack it with the shears when it starts to look overgrown. To me that is low maintenance (hard effort but infrequent), but to my neighbour chopping things back is far too much hard work and low maintenance is deadheading and watering a few pots (frequent but little effort).

My gardening style suits honeysuckles and clematis montana, I'm happy to wade in with the loppers now and then

I've been converted to the climbing shrub Pyracantha because of the autumn and winter berries and it also has flowers (pretty if not glamorous) in the spring. Google tells me it can cope with shade. Maybe with a colourful clematis for the summer?

mewling my style of gardening sounds similar to yours. Once every 2 years I get the strimmer out of the garage and spend an hour overenthusiastically cutting back the bushes. I like to pretend I'm Rambo attacking the jungle.

I have never watered the plants in my garden, and I don't even know how to dead head a flower. OH has to be bribed with pear cider to mow the lawn every now and then.

Would it be a good idea to plant a selection of around 6 different climbing plants (mixture of clematis and jasmine and maybe a sweatpea, I'm avoiding the honeysuckle) along the back fence to try and just let them grow. That way there should be at least one or two that survive my neglect and I might be able to spread the flowering seasons a bit.

Winter jasmine will cope with a north facing wall, summer not so much.

Some honeysuckles are alright - that would be my choice though it'll need cutting back every year or so eventually.

Akebia quinata is nice for shade.