Creeper growing advice

[Medea13]

I am in the process of trying to redo the garden. I realise I've left it much too late (or early) to do most of the things that need doing (returfing, plus the back and south fences need replacing but that project needs to wait till autumn as a large portion of the garden is inaccessible due to a bees nest). However, the north side fence is in good nick so i was planning to paint it and then plant some creepers. I was thinking some ivy and some virginia creeper or chinese virginia creeper.

1)would these be suitable on a north facing fence?
2) if i were to get some tallish (say 2ft) plants to plant them later this month or early July, would they do okay?
3) are there any other tasks i could do in the garden between now and autumn, besides preparing the ground as best i can for turf/seed come autumn? Will try to attach a pic of the current (sad, barren) garden...

TBH your garden isn't really big enough for Virginia creeper. My partner has one in a garden the same size as yours and it's always nearly bringing the fence down. It needs a taller wall to climb.

Honeysuckle would work well in your garden - there's one called 'Halliana' that is happy in part shade, and many others are too.

You could always pop some grass seed down and water it for a few weeks (it's bound to start raining soon anyway).

Don't worry about buying plants that are big, they tend to take ages to root and are more expensive. Hardy geraniums are great value and they will come back every year.

Hmm, what about Chinese Virginia Creeper instead? I am really after darker colors and autumn/winter interest. Eventually planning to put in a black lace elderberry, and maybe a smoke bush, towards the back. And black fences...

Have you thought of evergreen clematis? They have lovely flowers in the spring. They like their roots in the shade and grow their flowers in the light.

I disagree about the Virginia creeper. I have one on a north facing wall and I think it would be ideal to cover your fence. The secret to keeping it from pulling down the fence is to shear it back to the wall each May. Not into,the growing stems but just the heavy leaves protruding to the front . I used to let mine grow for years without doing anything to it. Then I saw a gardeners programme about getting ready for Wimbledon tennis. They were shearing the Virginia creeper in middle May and by June it was all back.