please help me identify these

What are these 2 plants? 1 seems to be a climber and the other a hedge type plant

Thanks Keith

 

The climber is ivy. Booger to get rid of in the garden!!

 

The climber is Ivy, excellent cover for wildlife, especially birds for nesting. It's also a good dark green background to plant in front of.

The shrub in front of it is Cotoneaster, the bees love the flowers and birds like the berries.

Two good wildlife plants together there and both can pruned to contain them without worrying too much about damage being done, as long as they're not hacked to death lol..

 

Is ivy an evergreen and how do I grow it, how many plants/seeds do i need to cover a 25 foot long fence that's 6 feet high?

Keith

 

Ivy is evergreen and pretty vigorous, so wouldn't have thought you need many plants, but I'll leave it to the experts to advise exactly how many

To give it a bit more interest you could use several different types, including one or two of the variegated ones.

Hedera colchica 'Sulphur Heart' and Hedera helix 'Oro di Bogliasco' are two of the nicer looking ones (in my opinion).

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Keith, I'd be very wary about planting this elsewhere. As Catztail says once you've got it - it is very hard to get rid of. You will see it clinging to many trees in the countryside and has a habit of strangling plants that it raps itself around.

 

Is there an alternative to ivy?

 

Lots of alternatives, depending on what you want, whether you want it to be evergreen, what aspect you are planting in, what type of soil you have, etc.

It would be helpful if you could post a picture of the area you want to cover, along with details of which way it faces, plus where you live (as some plants are hardier than others) and whether you want it to be evergreen.

 

Well I want an evergreen, I will post a picture later when I get home and the fence faces east

 

You could plant an evergreen honeysuckle such as Lonicera Henryi which is vigorous and fragrant. You could plant several different varieties - one at each end of the fence and possibly one in the middle, so that when they meet they will mingle and look very pretty.

 

This is the fence I want to cover, its about 25 foot wide and 6 foot high facing east, I would like and evergreen that totally blocks so you cant see through it, and maybe a nice bed with colurful flowers

 

If it faces east it will get the morning sun for several hours, so there are lots of things you could plant there. Possibly some evergreen clematis - two or three types, and let them all intermingle, or some honeysuckle as mentioned above which will flower and smell lovely all summer long.

If you want it covered right down to ground level, then you need to train the climbers along it. To get the effect you want (so that the plants climb horizontally as well as vertically), run some heavy duty garden wire across and fasten with screw eyes, then when the plants are growing, train them in the direction you want them to go.

I wouldn't plant Ivy because it would pop up all over the flower bed (and on your neighbour's side as well) and then it's a pain to get rid of.

Alternatively, have you considered planting some evergreen shrubs along there? With climbers you are obviously limited to the size of the fence but if you plant a selection of shrubs you could keep them at 6ft high and they would provide a much thicker screen.

Anyway, just my thoughts on the subject, I'm sure others (far more experienced) will share theirs too

 

I'm with merleworld on this, 'if' its a privacy issue then I would plant evergreen shrubs and then they can be 'kept' at 6ft; there are quite a few to choose from that are quite quick growers once they've got their roots down.

 

As a quick option, you could always install a roll of willow screen/reed screen or similar.
Roll it out, pin it to the fence and you have a nice panel whilst waiting for the plants to grow.
I would suggest though, if you are going to grow climbers up it, that you use cross wires for additional support.

 

Thank you for your help, no not really considered shrubs, I did think about firethorne but decided it would take forever to grow and was too expensive, what shrubs could I plant, I prefer shrubs the more I think about it, its just to block the view of next doors caravan and garden, I am going to gravel the lawn for car parking, how many shrubs will I need and what type?

Thanks Keith