What to plant in our back garden that faces neighbor's house (brick wall)?

[claireynicks]

We have a very small back garden that is bordered by the brick side of our neighbor's house. (Hard to describe -- it looks almost like a courtyard.)

So our view is basically a brick wall! It's not that bad but I'd love to plant something around it to make it look better. (Now it's just grass.) My ideal would be climbers up the wall but I'd obviously have to get their permission to do that and I'm worried about being liable if something went wrong with them. That said, they do have ivy on the front of their house so they may not mind.

Anyway, any ideas for climbers or non climbers that might get big enough to mask the wall? Again, tiny garden, so can't do trees, etc.

I am not a gardener, so feel free to talk to me like I'm in reception :).

Many thanks!

It sounds like it would be fairly shaded? In that case you might try climbing hydrangea (hydrangea subspecies petiolaris). They self cling like ivy, so you wouldn't have to drill into neighbours wall although obviously you would still need permission and be prepared for the fact that one day you might need to chop it back (if they needed to do work on the property rtc). Worth asking nicely - I would 100% say yes if it was my house. The other thing you could do it is get some large pots with an upright panel at the back. Then you could grow a variety of things - it wouldn't go as high up the wall but it would screen the bottom and would mean you weren't interfering with the neighbours wall and they could be easily moved for access etc.

You could consider getting a trough with an attached trellis - so a plant can climb up it without needing anything attached to the wall. It might be more limited in height, but something to consider as an option. How much sun does the wall get? And how large is the garden. The other option would be a large-ish shrub, but that would also take up width as well as height which wouldn't be ideal in a wee garden.

Ah thank you both. This is encouraging! I'll check dimensions but not much room for more than chair and tables, bbq and a small lawn. I hadn't thought of pot with upright panel or even a trellis -- googling now, thank you!

Pinterest has some ideas as well..
Which has trellis in diamond shpes with hedging, roses and clematis.
I love the Hydrangea suggestion.