Good climbers for house frontage?

[Pannacotta]

I'd like to plant some climbers to go up the front of the house (Victorian town house), which faces North.

I would have loved to plant a Wisteria as they look great on Victorian houses but I know they need plenty of sun to flower.

Which climbers look best against old, tall houses, with dark grey brick?

The planting against the house is quite simple/architectural, eg Viburnum davidii, hellebores, quince, ferns, liriope etc.

Our neighbour has Hydrangea petiolaris on the front wall, but it looks quite sad and scruffy in the winter so would prefer to avoid this.

TIA

I think a honeysuckly would look pretty on an older house. Or passion flower?

We have a chinese virginia creeper which is very pretty unfortunately is deciduous but we've grown a honeysuckle up through it that keeps its leaves all year. The house faces North-West & it gets a little sun on summer afternoons. The chinese version is a lot less rampant than a traditional virginia creeper.

Thanks, I love the scent of honeysuckle but think they can look a bit messy when they are big. Was planning on putting one somewhere close to the house, for the smell, but not the front wall which you see all the time.

Chinese V Creeper is a good idea, they do look very good on house walls, real shame they aren't evergreen...

I can't think of anything at all that is an evergreen climber suitable for north facing walls that won't damage your brickwork - except perhaps clematis armandii, which I'm sure you've thought of already.

So, on a random note, how about training a morello cherry tree up the front?

G'sMum it doesnt need to be evergreen, just find P henryana bit late into leaf so not great on its own for covering walls, also am looking for more than one climber.

The house facade is lop sided - bay window on one side and not the other and I have a feeling that by putting lots of greenery up the walls it will make it look less wonky.

Dont think there is room for a cherry, lovely idea though...

Do you have a photo of the house, Pannacotta? It might trigger off some ideas...

Clematis 'montana' would probably do well. purply leaves and masses of small pink flowers

I think firethorn, although quite common a nice neat plant for the front of a house, you're bound to get a nest in it too. You need to avoid anything that gets messy looking.

Could you have Hydrangea petiolaris for its sturdy north-loving habit with some winter jasmine for when it gets scruffy?

I spotted a lovely handkerchief tree outside someone's house on my way home this evening - north facing front garden, so I thought of you...

Thanks all.
Clem montana a bit too wild for here I think and not that keen on Pyracantha, I dont like the flower smell.

I don't have a good photo as its hard to get one of the whole house as there's a large tree in front.

It's similar to the house on this link priced at £495,000.
www.hadleytaylor.com/houses-for-sale.htm
It has the same frontage, ie double fronted with two storey bay on one side only. But we're a semi and our house is a bit taller. The brick is the same colour, ie khaki-ish.

I do have a small Loquat planted in one corner and a quince under the bay window so its not totally bare. Have put a clem armandii on the fence between us and neighbours for e/g scent.

Our house looks quite imposing, not in a good way! I'd like to try and get more planting in, as I think it makes a house look much friendlier, if that makes sense.

How tall's the loquat going to get? I think that when it's taller, it may well have the same softening effect as a climber?

Or, to be more in keeping with the age of your house could you go for window boxes on the upper windows with plants swagging down?

Was thinking I'd keep the Loquat quite compact, say 2-3m as they don't mind being pruned. The house is about 10m tall so there is lots of bare brick!
I am thinking of Holbelia or Pileostegia (plus Parth. henryana) but haven't grown either before so may be a bit of trial and error...

Window boxes are a nice idea but bit high maintenance for me (am not great at watering!)

Gosh, that holbelia looks nice - not something I've seen before, and so does the pileostegia. You may not have learnt much from this thread, but I have!

Holbelia does look good, what I don't know is how well it behaves when trained against a wall.
I have one in a pot (bought a while ago on a whim!) and the growth is quite entwined/twisted, so it may look a bit of a mess. Pileostegia looks good and quite "smart", but have heard it is VERY slow!

Just sad that I can't plant a lovely Wisteria as that would look great and sort out the funny house angles...

As it's a town house and the other planting is quite architectural you could do worse than a pyracantha. It's a very sturdy dark evergreen. not fussy about aspect, can deal with lack of moisture being up against a north facing wall, grow quite fast, and they can be clipped to look very smart, trained over porches etc. Nice white flowers in spring and lovely red, orange or yellow berries autumn/winter (though to get the best berries they need to be left a bit wild). It may not seem a wildly exciting choice at first, but it will be like the perfect Little Black Dress! We have a house near us with a very mature one, clipped really well, and it looks really great all year round.