What would you plant on a chainlink fence...

[LeeMiller]

... to give you year-round privacy, fast coverage, and flowers? DH wants to just use ivy but I’m worried it’s too invasive, and a missed opportunity for flowers and interest. Ideally I’d love climbing roses combined with an evergreen climber (honeysuckle? Star jasmine?) but this might be a wildly impractical idea. Has anyone tried mixing climbers and vines?

Fence runs both sides of garden, on the other side it’s a private road/ communal courtyard so we can access to prune. Garden is narrow so we have ruled out a bushy hedge and hoping to keep but beautify the existing chainlink.

Is it sunny or shady? Maybe look at a mix of climbers?

For sunny areas, I like passiflora - very vigorous and lovely flowers but is not evergreen.

Honeysuckle - again vigorous, lovely scent but not all are evergreen.

It’s sunny most of the day.

I love honeysuckle and will investigate evergreen varieties. We have passiflora on a trellis currently but it is rather straggly and seems to lose leaves at the slightest gust of wind.

Are there rules about what to combine?or classic combinations? And is combining roses and vines a bad idea?

Chilean potato vine. It has small evergreen leaves, tiny white flowers and tiny bluish black berries.

It can make a hedge, which blackbirds nest in.

How strong are the fenceposts? We used to have honeysuckle on one, but it tended to mainly grow towards the top of the fence, got topheavy and started making the fence sag. Also bindweed got into it and took over somewhat. We replaced it with a wooden fence in the end.

DH thinks the posts are strong... how do you prevent top heaviness... pruning? Horizontal training?

The potato vine is very pretty.

What about this?

www.gardenersworld.com/plants/clematis-armandii/

I love clematis but am worried about the cool roots requirement of the plants are in full sun. Would planting something like lavender at the base be enough, or do they need to be in proper shade?

I can't think of any suggestions but just wanted to agree with you that ivy is too invasive. I have spent 4 years since I moved in tackling the ivy growing around my small garden, which the previous owner apparently planted and/or encouraged. It is horrific. It has its place, but not in a small garden because it really does just take over.

Thanks @BewareTheBeardedDragon yes I’m worried about ivy also being groundcover and swallowing up atop much space.

I think evergreen honeysuckle and star jasmine are the current front runners, maybe a blend. We also have a potted winter jasmine which could perhaps go into the mix.

The move would be late spring so I was also wondering about growing some annuals from seed now (morning glory, thunbergia etc) to plant alongside the jasmine/honeysuckle for quick coverage the first season while they get established... does that sound like a good idea?

The Rose Banksaei lutea is perfect for,a,chain link fence. It is ever green and has clusters highly perfumed flowers. It is thornless and really easy to train and grows a mile a minute.

I have Jasmine which after 3 years is now 6 foot and going along the trellis of my west facing full sun fence nicely. Smells nice in the summer, green all year round, nice flowers, bees like it. Definately a good option. I have 2 12 foot apart. And can grow other things underneath to get floor cover and interest.
I've never kept a clematis alive yet!

I also get sweet pea growing each year to 6 foot, again nice flowers.

In hindsight I should have settled on two nice complimentary climbers to have some variety without being too cluttered.

can I just ask.
Are the fences yours?

If not, then you are not supposed to plant on them.

This is one of those things which is quite different in real life to on mn, but the actual legal line is that you can only plant your plants to grow up the fence if it is yours. If not, you should plant your own supports.

clematis montana is stunning and will cover it quickly.
You do have to be firm with it, chop it down regularly, as it grows so much, but it is worth it for the incredible show in the spring.

Yes, the fences are ours, there's a small road on one side and the communal courtyard on the other rather than it being a fence between our garden and the neighbours' gardens.

Rose Banksaei lutea is lovely, thornless is a good idea too, my favourite rose is a potted Munstead Wood which is insanely spiky and has to be kept well out of DS' reach. I'm still not entirely clear on how well roses would intertwine with an evergreen vine in terms of coverage, of if I'd just end up with big bare patches in winter.

What kind of Jasmine do you have that is green year-round @Rollercoaster1920, star jasmine or a 'real' jasmine?

Virginia creeper is nice can take a while to establish tho

Passiflora loves a full sun position - I have it growing through a rambling rose - the rose was very established before I introduced the passiflora so currently no issues but keeping an eye on it.

I think annuals in the first year is a good idea too to give more coverage until the perennials catch up.

Cotoneaster franchetii - not a 'climber' as such, but as it grows you can weave the shoots in and out. We've done this in MIL's garden and it looks lovely. You get flowers and berries.

I like the look of berries but worry about toddler DS eating them. I was wondering about shrubs though, we have a winter jasmine which I think could intertwine with other stuff.