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- Your first source for Climbers
Even in a small garden you
might be able to find room for some climbing plants, and
these are a good way of attracting birds where space is
limited. The two best wildlife friendly climbers are ivy
and honeysuckle. Even if you only have a balcony or patio,
you could plant ivy in a pot and let it climb up some trellis.
Our native ivy (Hedera helix)
is the perfect wildlife plant. It is evergreen and provides
food and shelter all year round. A mature ivy-covered wall
may shelter wren and even blackbird nests, as well as a
host of hibernating creatures including butterflies. Ivy
won't flower until it enters its mature phase when over
a metre tall. It flowers late in the year, from October
onwards, providing nectar as late as December before producing
purple-black fruit for the winter. Redwings and fieldfares
often feed on it before making journey back north to their
breeding sites.
Contrary to what most people
believe, ivy won't damage a wall, but is likely to offer
it protection. However, if you let it climb into gutters
or around pipes, it can dislodge them. It is best grown
at the bottom of the garden, rather than on a house as it
will rapidly outgrow the space available. As well as the
ordinary ivy Hedera helix, there are a host of different
cultivars of varying shades and shapes.
When buying honeysuckle, again
look for our native species Lonicera periclymenum rather
than more ornamental varieties which originate from abroad.
Honeysuckle, unlike ivy, isn't self supporting, so you will
need to provide a trellis or wires. It's great for covering
arches and pergolas, or scrambling over a fence or shed.
The bark on mature honeysuckle provides good nest-building
material, and the plant attracts a wide range of insects.
One of our most popular garden
climbers is clematis, which can be notoriously difficult
to prune. Our native old man's beard (Clematis vitalba)
is found on chalky soils in the south and midlands. Black
bryony (Tamus communis), which has tiny yellow flowers in
summer and black berries, often grows in similar countryside.
You are unlikely to find these two in plant nurseries, but
a specialist wild flower supplier should be able to provide
them.
If you want to cover a bare
wall or fence, first add support in the form of trellis
or wires before planting your climbers. These will form
a green curtain to harbour wildlife, useful for nesting.
For walls, mount trellis on 6 cm battens screwed into the
bricks. If you have a fence, nail blocks of wood a few centimetres
thick onto your fence posts. Stretch a latticework of wires
between the outer faces of the blocks, or put up a light
trellis on which climbing plants can be trained. You could
also run strips of wood across from one fence post to the
next to create tiny ledges which will form nesting sites
for birds.
When planting up a bare wall
or fence, it is best to include some wall shrubs that will
provide depth and structure such as ceanothus and escallonia.
Climbers prefer to have their roots in shade, and will climb
up through trees and bushes. Space out wall shrubs about
a metre apart, and half a metre away from the boundary.
Plant climbers in between at least 30 cm from the bottom
of fence or wall. You can complement ivy and honeysuckle
with a host of other climbers, including fragrant jasmine
and colourful roses and clematis. Cut down newly planted
ivy to about 10 cm tall to give the roots a boost, and water
in well.
Selection for a sunny and
sheltered length of wall 5-10 metres long:
Wall shrubs
Trewithen Blue (Ceanothus arboreus), winter jasmine (Jasminum
nudiflorum), Ribes speciosum
Climbers
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum), Album (Solanum jasminoides),
passion flower, ivy (Hedera helix), Clematis armandii, C.
tangutica, climbing roses.
An alternative is to grow a
selection of fruit such as fig, apricot, blackberry or loganberry.
If you grow blackberries (Rubus fruticosus) in the garden,
cut back the stems after flowering.
Selection of climbers for
a more shady or cool length of wall 5-10 metres long
Wall shrubs
Emerald Gaiety (Euonymus fortunei), Pyracantha, Japanese
quince (Chaenomeles japonica), winter jasmine (Jasminum
nudiflorum)
Climbers
Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum), ivy (Hedera helix),
Clematis montana, golden hop (Humulus lupulus), Aureus
Larger gardens
If you have a very long fence,
or tall trees, you can grow plants that tend to spread such
as Virginia creeper (self supporting), Hydrangea petiolaris
(self supporting), Clematis montana, a rambling rose or
wisteria. (source RSPB)
Please browse through the list
of UK plant suppliers offering Climbers below.
Climbers
UK 
