Fence Greening with Climbing Plants

Here you'll find tips for greening a fence, partition, railing, or enclosure (i.e. for rubbish bins). This kind of greening not only beautifies but also can serve as a privacy screen. Some fences are intended for greening right from the start and are planned accordingly. Others are greened years later, often requiring additional climbing-plant support systems. Below are three possibilities for mounting trellis cables.

Fence greened with climbing plants, Wilhelm Trübner, 1912

Which climbing plants for a fence?

Many climbing plants are compatible with fence greening (see photo gallery below). Even espalier fruit and grapevines can be trellised here-- the latter usually trained as horizontal cordons, vertical cordonsgarlands, or in vineyard style. Low-maintenance wild vines are suitable, and mixed greening (greening with various climbing plants simultaneously) is also a possibility. Additional recommendations can be found in the section dedicated to plant privacy screens. Vigorous climbers and strong twiners like wisteria and silver lace vine can only be used to a limited extent; if they grow unchecked, structural damage can be expected -- these plants are known to bend even iron railings! Wire mesh and metal netting would, of course, then be even more vulnerable.

Wooden fences

Additional climbing aids are recommended when greening wooden fences. Horizontal ropes with parallel rope guidance are particularly suitable; see photos below. 

Granite steles with wire rope

This is a modern but daring combination. Horizontal wire ropes are susceptible to being climbed, which can then cause them to sag or be ripped from their mounts, or cause the fence steles to tip. But for private gardens, this arrangement can really work.

 

Fence with sweet-peas as privacy screen
Fence with sweet-peas as privacy screen
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Suitable Climbing Plants

Fences with various climbing plants-- please click on the photos.

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Tangential Cable Guidance

Climbing aids are often attached 'tangentially' -- that is, to the outside or side of the fence, as if the fence were a wall. Horizontal wire rope arrangements similar to system 1060 are usually used.

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Axial Cable Guidance

When ropes are used to fill in the space of a fence, they usually run along the central axis ('axial') of wooden or metal posts (viewed from above)-- in the same way as wire frames or rope system 0050.

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Interrupted axial cable guidance: post to post

Some fence posts cannot be drilled through, in which case the ropes run axially from post to post on small sealed-in eyebolts (WM 06030) per system 0040.