Climbers for pergola

[SheWoreYellow]

Any ideas? We have a naked pergola!
Ive had one before and we grew a grape vine up it which was beautiful, but now we have dogs so that doesn’t seem like a good idea.

Maybe a mix of evergreen and not? I can’t picture what would look good.

I should add that we’re in Scotland, with soil that tends to be very dry.

Clematis? There are some evergreen ones. Jasmine? Passion flower?

Japanese Wisteria is pretty

Climbing or rambling roses....David Austin generous gardener or Adelaide dorleans.

I have had two pergolas fitted this year. I added both Jasmine and Clematis.

The clematis is nice but slow growing. But the two Jasmine I planted have doubled in size in just a few weeks. So I’m glad I have them both.

I didn’t go for wisteria as my sisters dogs come over and the flowers are supposed to be dangerous to them. And my dh wasn’t happy about how invasive the roots could be.

IMO it depends on the location of your Pergola, how big it is and the aspect of where you want it. The right plant in the right place.

Funny timing because I have a naked Pergola and am considering the very same thing! PPs slow growing Clematis Vs Jasmine might be due to location and ground conditions and the right plant thriving in the right spot. If the pergola is in a shady location, a climbing hydrangea might be good. I'm also considering Clematis, Jasmine, grape and passion flower which is also evergreen. Elsewhere I have a climbing fuschia which has been vigorous and long flowering. You can grow multiple climbers, summer and autumn flowering.

I would love to add a climbing passion fruit next year.

Wisteria crows fast, as does honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is a favourite of mine as it smells so sweet. Climbing roses look nice.

I bought some climbing roses earlier this year from David Austen and they have made good progress already.

I would go for a Star Jasmine . They are pretty hardy and I have one that I have been growing for a year and it is already almost at the top of the arch I have it growing over, it smells lovely all through summer and is pretty low maintenance all round.

Thanks everyone. I’d forgotten about roses so am definitely going to include one of those.
Crocus says Star Jasmine is only hardy down to -7, do you think they are being over cautious with that?

I'd do a few different things, up each leg. Are you going to sit near it? If so, I'd do a honeysuckle (I think they like poor soil?), jasmine and a heavily scented rose (or two, if you have 4 legs).

If it's more of a visual focal point, then passion flower is gorgeous. And still a rose, because I love them. But with a focus on a long flowering season and how it looks rather than scent.

Rose "Zepherine Drouhin" is one of my favourite climbers. It has beautiful pink flowers, repeat flowering, gorgeous scent and thornless.

We will be sitting near/under it. Good thoughts.

And that sounds like a lovely rose, Fuzzy

Chocolate vine (akebia quinata) is beautiful on a pergola.

@CatChant can u tell me more about that. Never heard of it. Just looked and the flowers look gorgeous.

Oh we’ve got a couple of them elsewhere - very fast growing which is good!

Oh happily, @Paranoidandroidmarvin but I don’t claim to be an expert. However, I have grown it in three different gardens - two clay, one chalk - over arches, a pergola and on wires over a fence, and it always behaves beautifully and grows very quickly with minimal attention. And it’s very easy to keep under control because it never seems to object to being trimmed to your preferred size.

The flowers are very pretty, though small, and some years you get weird sausage-shaped fruits too. But I love it for its lovely, unusual, bright green five-lobed leaves. They are deciduous but in mild winters (which is most years where I am in the South East) the leaves stay all year round. I can’t recommend it enough.