Publication Date: Friday Oct 17, 1997

Screening with climbers

Q I am interested in planting climbers along a fence at the back of our property to eventually screen out the unsightly garage wall that adjoins our rear boundary. Are there climbers that will grow quickly and speed up the process? A Screening plants play a vital role in urban gardens. I am almost always designing plantings that block out undesirable views and ensure privacy in an outdoor garden space. In built-up areas, a large part of our cityscape is taken up with large and bulky plantings intended to keep one's neighbor at bay. After World War II, there was a push to design urban gardens in such a way that they would become a sanctuary from outside life. The phrase "outdoor living" was born in California, and suddenly gardens were filled with items that were intended to make one's modern life increasingly comfortable. Solid visual barriers often made up the bones of such gardens.

Today, as lot sizes decrease, we are attempting to maximize the effectiveness of screening plants--not only for their screening qualities, but also for their aesthetic qualities as a backdrop to the residence and the ornamental plantings in the foreground. The wall and fence space surrounding properties has become a key fixture within gardens, not only as a vertical screening tool, but also as a climbing support for the increasing array of wonderful climbing plants.

As property prices increase and property availability decreases, the ways in which we utilize garden space is both a financial and personal investment. While the financial investment component plays a large role in how we select plants, the effectiveness of a plant lies in how it meets a garden-user's needs. For instance, a screening plant may do just that, screen. But if your outdoor space is limited, some screening plants may have to play several functions in order to accommodate your overall garden design requirements.

For example, what about a screen that also provided fall color, spring flowers and summer fruit? Choose an espalier fruit tree, and you will achieve all of the above. Set the criteria for the functional purpose of the screening plant, and then aim to extract additional qualities through a selective planning process.

If security is of concern, climbers such as roses, bougainvillea and wall-trained pyracantha disguise themselves as living barbed wire. Obviously, they all have many other qualities that will influence your decision. Imagine a scented barbed wire, subtly packaged as a climbing rose. The vicious, yet stunningly attractive thorns of Rosa serecia pteracantha for instance, will be both admired by its viewers and despised by the poor person who must prune it.

Bougainvillea will grow into a dense, evergreen barrier that produces vibrant flowers in many shades. While it is sensitive to frost for the first few years, once the plant is established, frost will generally only burn the outer foliage and stems. If frost damage occurs, wait until the last frost danger period of the season has passed and then prune the affected stems back until you expose live plant material.

Pyracantha will survive almost any conditions, even under extreme adversity. Its thorns make it an almost impenetrable evergreen barrier, and it is covered in bright fruits in the autumn, ranging in color from golden to orange.

If edible plants are an important part of your garden plans, why not utilize the fence as a support for seasonal fruit and vegetables? In spring, peas and beans will cover large areas with their vigorous growth. The summer sun will quickly ripen wall-trained tomatoes, while zucchini and cucumbers camouflage themselves behind their large, green leaves. Pumpkin and gourd, the monsters of fall, express themselves in bizarre colors and shapes and screen off large expanses of fence in no time. In winter, lemons are a wonderful evergreen to train against a wall, providing you with a clear, vibrant fruit color that contrasts with the dull skies of winter.

Successional planting is not restricted to the edible garden; one can also employ this method with purely ornamental plantings. Roses are often planted among other climbers that will provide interest when the rose is in its winter dormancy. The winter flowering Clematis, C. nepaulensis and C. cirrhosa balearica will take the reigns from the rose during winter, and during the rest of the year the rose will provide not only flowers, but also screening. Why use one climbing plant when one can benefit from the effectiveness of two?

Many of the climbing plants chosen to create visual screens grow quickly. While this sounds wonderful to most people, it has its downside. Honeysuckle will provide a fast-growing, scented screen that has a "grandma's olde garden" feel about it, partly due to its rambling and free habit. Passiflora (passionflower) is an extremely vigorous climber, covering vast areas in a single bound. Its partner in crime may be morning glory (Ipomaea), this will cover over 100 feet if allowed to roam unchecked.

When the plant has reached out and blocked out that unsightly neighboring building, we celebrate and label it a marvel, but when later it continues to smother everything else in its path, our affection for it may cool. Fast-growing climbers can be extremely difficult to manage, whereas slower-growing varieties will take a little longer, but will remain in check once established. Choose the particular climber based on the size of the area you wish to cover and the cultural information provided by a reputable plant nursery regarding the plant's expected dimensions and growth habit. A good nursery person will also advise you regarding plant selection and plant compatibility for your particular site and conditions.

Bernard Trainor is design director for the Palo Alto landscape design company Botanika. Send questions to Trainor care of Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302.



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