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.
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 cordons, garlands, 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.
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.
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.
