Using climbers in your garden design is a great way to utilize your space, particularly in a small garden, as well as bringing in design elements such as texture and colour to create a more three dimensional space. Also, by growing climbers up fences you can make your garden feel much bigger as the leaves of the climber will absorb light, rather than the light bouncing off fence panels which tend to make a garden feel smaller.
Climbers are plants which grow vertically whether that be through trees or shrubs or up vertical surfaces like cliffs or walls. These plants can do this by special features they evolved to have such as twining stems, tendrils, stem roots and sticky pads. Climbers come in many different varieties, such as those that produce flowers and berries and different coloured leaves (Actinidia). Clematis is a popular climber which produces an abundance of coloured flowers. It needs some kind of support whether that be a shrub or some kind of a trellis to allow its fragile stems to twine around and secure itself, and they often do need tying to a support. You can get different ones for all seasons. However, Ivy has aerial roots along its stems which attach itself onto things like walls, anchoring itself to allow it to grow on vertical surfaces. People dismiss ivy too often in my design experience- it’ berries are wonderful for nature, it’s evergreen and can survive quite harsh conditions.
Due to their vertical nature, there are a range of places you can grow climbers, such as over sheds to improve their appearance or on walls of your house to act as insulation, warming in the winter and cooling in the summer. Growing wisteria or climbing roses across your garden fence or along the back of your house leans into a more traditional style of garden, but exotic gardens can also benefit from climbing plants. The amount of times I come to a garden where the paving runs right to the brick wall of a house. We will often take out the odd paver to plant exotic climbers. Passion flowers, Abutilon and Muelenbergia complexa bring a tropical feel to a space especially if paired with dense layered planting at their roots. These vertical climbing plants add to the enclosed feeling of a jungle.
When choosing climbers make sure they are hardy enough to deal with the weather here in the UK. This is mainly aimed at more exotic species of climbers that grow naturally in more warm, humid and stable conditions. Secondly, think about the mature height and width of the plant as if it’s planted into a space which is too small it will require extra regular maintenance to trim it to a size that fits the space and you can end up looping off the flower buds. With climbing roses look at the Max Height on the specification label. In terms of maintenance, climbers can be annual or perennial which is important to note if you want to change your climber regularly. Lastly, think about the plants you already have in your garden and what climbing plants would complement them, either with similar colours or complementary fragrances.
Think about other structures that you can introduce to your garden such as obelisks, Willow woven sculptures, or trellis panels in the middle of the garden creating new zones.
Trellises are also an extremely popular and effective way to train and support climbing plants. Not only do they provide a framework for climbing plants to attach to creating a tapestry of woven stems and flowers, they also can be used for added privacy in a garden. Climbing plants such as jasmine (for the bigger garden) and honeysuckle work well with trellises as there is plenty of space for the plants to weave their stems through, as well as receiving vital sunlight and air circulation which is needed to keep the plants thriving. A way to enhance the beauty of your climbing plants is to pair them up. This way you can extend your flowering season by using a combination of an early spring flowering plant like Freckles clematis, with ones that flower in the summer and autumn time like late Dutch honeysuckle.
A different way to pair climbing plants is to grow them through trees or shrubs, such as growing a flowering rambling rose through an evergreen tree or old oak to give it beautiful blooms in the summertime. This method adds another layer of visual interest to your garden design, as well as being practical, by utilizing the trees and shrubs you have in your garden if you’re not able to grow a climber on your wall or fence.
Where to go this May
There is an old gardener’s adage that ‘ one looses the gardens in May’.
There is so much to do.
Annual flowers and other frost sensitive plants like vegetable plugs- tomatoes, runner beans, peppers, aubergines and chillies – can be bought and planted now if you didn’t have the opportunity to grow them indoors this year.
Feed lawns
Water any new plants and fertilise and water pot plants
If Penstemons show lots of new basal growth prune them back to the fresh green shoots
Thin out the clematis that have already flowered this year.
Hoe, hoe more hoeing every week to get the weeds when they are small- to save you having to get on your hands and knees – little and often.
Where to visit in May
Parham house.
Parham Park, Pulborough RH20 4HS
Opening times
House | 14:00 – 17:00
Gardens | 12:00 – 17:00
Big Kitchen Restaurant | 12:00 – 17:00
Last Admission | 16:30
