Which plants will grow on a fence?

Various climbing plants can grow on a fence. Factors such as location, fence type and fence stability should play a role in what you choose. Climbers and twining vines, such as clematis, vetches and morning glory, grow best on a wire mesh fence. A sturdy twin wire mesh fence is ideal for stronger climbing plants such as rambling roses or Virginia creeper. A picket fence presents a particularly harmonious image when surrounded by flowering plants such as a morning glory, nasturtium or sweet pea. Annual plants flower in autumn and allow a wooden fence to breathe and dry out afterwards before the next gardening season. The use of climbing supports is recommended on a plastic fence . So, you can choose from a wide selection of plants.

How to create a plant fence for privacy

Q: But which plants will grow in front of a privacy screen?

A variety of plants can grow in front of a privacy screen. You can design your layout as you wish: colour-coordinated flowering plants, grasses, shrubs or plants in tubs. Examples include tree mallows, bamboo, coneflower, larkspur and tall moor grass.

Climbing plants, perennials or grasses as an additional feature: this guide explains how to green your garden fence with plants for more privacy at home.

15.08.2024

Garden plot with a privacy screen that has been greened with plants

Overview
Greening a fence with screening plants: initial considerations
Climbing plants on a fence
Greening a wire mesh fence
Adding privacy plants to a twin wire mesh fence
Greening a picket fence
Planting a WPC plant privacy screen

Overview: Greening a fence with screening plants

Four categories of climbing plants that can be used to green fencing: leaf tendril climbers, self-clinging climbers, ramblers and twining vines.
Consider the location, required maintenance and fence condition when choosing privacy plants
Climbing supports are particularly useful for WPC privacy screens
Alternatively, you can plant perennials, shrubs, tub plants and grasses in front of your privacy fence

Greening a fence with screening plants: initial considerations

If you want your fence to be full of lush growth, it’s important to choose the right plants. The following questions will help you find the right ones for you:

Location: What are the light conditions like near the fence? Does it get regular sunshine, is it partially shaded or is it in full shade? Is the fence sheltered from the wind?
Plant type: Do you prefer evergreen or flowering plants? Annuals or perennials?
Required maintenance: How much time do you want to invest in maintenance?
Privacy screens: Do you want the plants to serve as privacy screens? If so, should they shield your property year-round?
Stability: How stable is the fence? How much weight can the structure bear?
Fence height: How tall is your fence? Many climbing plants grow rapidly and will quickly cover low fences.

CLIMBING PLANTS ON A FENCE

In general, there are four categories of climbing plants you can use to green your fence. The table below provides an overview of the properties and requirements of the different types of plant:

Flowering clematis on a climbing support and acting as a plant privacy screen

Plant type	Properties	Suitable fence	Examples
Climber	Vertical climbers. Shoots or petioles form clinging handles for wrapping around objects that provide support.	Grid-like and fine-mesh fences Fences with slender, round longitudinal or cross braces up to the thickness of a pencil; wooden slats no more than 2.5 cm long along the edges	Clematis, peas, vine shoots
Self-clinging climbers	These form clinging roots that enable the plants to climb walls, trees and objects with large surface areas. Self-clinging climbers also grow through fences and hang between the bars, but without using their clinging parts. Stems become woody and heavy over time.	Stable, resilient fences and frames; possibly with climbing support in front	Ivy, Virginia creeper, climbing hydrangea, trumpet vine (campsis)
Ramblers	Heavy shoots, usually with thorns, spines and lateral branches.	Sturdy, resilient fences with horizontal cross-struts	Firethorns, rambling roses, blackberry brambles, perennial clematis
Twining vines	Stems grow upwards and wind around supporting objects in a spiral shape.	Moderately to very stable fences with slender wire elements	Runner bean, hops, honeysuckle, bindweeds

Greening a wire mesh fence

Wire mesh fences are the classic choice for gardens as they are easy to erect, inexpensive and durable. Although only a limited number of versions of this fence type is available from specialist retailers, you can use evergreen or flowering plants to put your own stamp on them.

A securely anchored, regularly re-tensioned wire structure can hold a lot of weight and offers sufficient support for many plant species. Twining vines and climbers are particularly suitable for this type of fence. These include:

Morning glory
Bell vines
Clematis
Honeysuckle
Vetches

Ivy will also grow well on a stable wire mesh fence, but should be cut back regularly.

A low wire fence that is not suitable for planting can alternatively be decorated by planting perennials, grasses or shrubs in front of it.

Greening a fence with plants: instructions

Sauber in den Winter

Tightly-meshed fences covered with annual climbing plants must be cleared of dry shoots in autumn. This can be done by hand or even more quickly with a rake.

Adding privacy plants to a twin wire mesh fence

A twin wire mesh fence is easy to green with screening plants for privacy. Thanks to its high level of stability and load-bearing capacity, it can even accommodate heavy plants. As a rule, this type of fence does not need to be retensioned. Thanks to these features, there are a wide range of ways to green these types of fence – from annuals to thicker and evergreen climbing plants:

Honeysuckle
Black-eyed Susan
Nasturtium
Rambling rose
Virginia creeper
Climbing hydrangea

Window boxes on a fence

Window boxes planted with summer flowers can be hung on a fence as a simple alternative to climbing plants. This allows you to vary the colour and flower combinations on a regular basis and gives you easier access to the fence.

Window boxes with colourful summer flowers and plants on a fence

Greening a picket fence

A natural-looking picket fence is an indispensable part of any idyllic country or cottage garden. Wooden fences are also a popular element in contemporary garden design. These offer a particularly harmonious picture when surrounded by flowering and evergreen plants.

Wooden fence with blooming morning glory plants acting as a privacy screen

Greening a wooden fence: Climbing plants

How to green a fence depends on its condition: a stable fence can be planted with annual, light climbing plants, such as:

Morning glory
Lathyrus odoratus
Nasturtium
Sweet pea

Like any natural material, wood is vulnerable to the elements. Lots of climbing plants on a fence absorb moisture that cannot properly evaporate through the dense layer of plants. Annual plant species are a better choice to extend the functionality of the fence. While perennial species permanently cover the wood, annual plants only bloom in autumn. This allows the wood of the fence to breathe and dry unhindered before the next gardening season. In addition, annual plants offer the flexibility to vary the plants you use during the next season, or to completely remove them.

Another advantage is that the remains of annuals can easily be removed from between the vertical bars in the autumn.

Greening a wooden fence: perennials and grasses

Adding plants along the fence offers an alternative to planting climbing plants. Combining perennials and grasses of various heights will form a colourful sea of flowers:

Hollyhock
Larkspur
Bellflowers
Sunflowers
Catnip
Lavender mist meadow rue
Chinese reed
Dahlias
Pampas grass

Planting a WPC privacy screen

Wood Plastic Composite (WPC) is a material that typically consists of 60 percent wood chips and 40 percent plastic. The composition of WPC fences makes them extremely robust, weatherproof and easy to maintain. However, their smooth surface makes it difficult for climbing plants to cling onto the fence.

This can be remedied by mounting trellis supports on or in front of the fence. Depending on the type of plant, you can use delicate rope or wire structures, metal grids or vertically positioned rods to green the plant privacy screen. With trellis supports, you can choose from an almost unlimited selection of screening plants to decorate your fence, from flowering annual twining vines such as morning glory to evergreen shrubs such as the firethorn. This method also prevents moisture build-up, which typically occurs in densely-planted privacy screens and can lead to the development of mould and green algae.

Planting in front of a privacy fence

Planting a strip of greenery directly in front of the fence is an alternative to growing plants directly on it. There are many different options if you wish to do this: colour-coordinated flowering plants, grasses, shrubs or plants in tubs – the choice is yours. Examples include

Tree mallows
Bamboo
Coneflower
Larkspur
Tall moor grass
Switchgrass
Hydrangea
Rhododendron
Giant Chinese reed
Lilac

Greening a fence: suitable plants

Woody plants
Fortune’s spindle (Euonymus fortunei)	Actually evergreen ground cover, but also forms clinging roots on building and boundary walls. If you want the plants to climb fences, secure the first shoots to the battens. For sunny and partially shaded spots Variegated white creeping spindle (Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety') has beautiful, white and green leaves and grows a good 20 cm per year.
Ivy (Hedera helix)	An indigenous evergreen plant for shady locations that very quickly provides privacy. First guide onto fences using thinner stakes and tie them in place. Later, the twisted and interlocked shoots will hold onto the structure by themselves. Ivy spreads extensively over time and needs to be cut back repeatedly.
Blue Rain (Wisteria sinensis)	A deciduous climbing plant with large, fragrant blossoms. Blue Rain is suitable for pergolas and sturdy frames, but – even though this is often recommended – not for fences. It simply spreads too rapidly and you will find it almost impossible to cope with cutting it back. As a strangling plant, Blue Rain will demolish the fence over the years and severely bend the fence posts.
Clematis	·Numerous hardy species and varieties with bright flowers, including evergreen varieties such as Clematis armandii 'Appleblossom' Mostly fast-growing Sunny to partially shaded, but the plant base should always be shaded up to a height of 30-40 cm. Species differ in terms of trimming and are divided into three trimming groups. For example, Clematis viticella variety, which flowers in high summer, should be trimmed back to 30 cm in winter, while the large-flowering hybrids that flower in May should only be cut by only one third of the shoot length in winter. Be sure to mulch the soil around the plant base so that the root area is protected against drying out and strong temperature fluctuations
Star Jasmine (trachelospermum jasminoides)	·Evergreen, hardy climbing plant which thrives in mild areas with fairly slow growth. These plants can withstand temperatures as low as -10 °C, but will usually still freeze back above ground. For sunny to partially shaded locations
Climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris)	Self-clinging climbers for shady and partially-shaded locations, will also grow in sunny locations but only if the soil is damp. For sturdy fences, can also be combined with clematis. Fast-growing plant that grows by 30 to 40 cm a year after a few years in the garden.
Rambling roses (pink)	Roses love sunshine and nourishing soils. Varieties of roses with long, slender shoots are particularly suitable for fences, as they simply start to grow along the fence lengthwise once they have reached the top. This includes all frequently flowering Ramblers, but also shrub roses and English roses. The pink 'Super Excelsa' rambling rose, for example, will form a blooming privacy screen on your fence from June to September.
Honeysuckle (Lonicera henryi)	Evergreen twining vines up to 4 m tall with eye-catching blossoms For sunny and partially shaded locations Honeysuckle is robust and easy to maintain, grows quickly, and at most just needs to be trained into shape in smaller gardens.
Knotweed (Fallopia aubertii)	These very fast-growing plants love sunny, somewhat sheltered spots, but will also grow in the shade. Only suitable for large gardens and tall fences, as these twining vines will quickly grow above head height in small gardens.
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)	Very fast-growing climbing woody plant with bright red autumnal colouring for sunny to partially shaded locations, but will also grow in the shade. The plant’s inconspicuous flowers are a great meadow for bees. The plants can even cling to smooth surfaces thanks to their disc-shaped clinging growths.
Firethorn (Pyracantha coccinea)	With their pointed thorns, these robust plants could certainly replace a fence. However, they are just as suitable for greening a fence – you will just need to guide the shoots carefully in order to achieve this. These evergreen plants bloom with white flowers in May and June. The absolute highlight of these plants is formed by the bright berries that develop in autumn, which are a good source of food for birds. Firethorn is robust and loves bright sunshine.
Perennials
Sweet pea (Lathyrus latifolius)	These long-lasting vetches grow up to 2 m high, but their roots also spread along the ground and must be cut back from time to time. The perennials are frost-resistant and love sunny to partially-shaded spots, preferably somewhat sheltered so that the tendrils do not tear off in strong winds.
Annuals
Nasturtium (tropaeolum)	These plants promise bright blooms from June until the first frost. Nasturtiums grow very quickly and soon thicken. They will only fully bloom in the sun. These plants also grow densely in the shade, but barely bloom.
Black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia alata)	When planted in the right location, these plants wind upwards with weekly growth of up to 20 cm and will make fences of up to 2 m tall a full visual screen in no time. Annuals When planted in very sunny, preferably sheltered, warm locations, these plants will be covered in blossoms from top to bottom. The plants can be sown every year, between February and April, in propagator trays on the windowsill.
Morning glory/common morning glory (Ipomoea tricolour)	You can almost see these fast-growing plants get bigger. With their looping shoots, they quickly reach heights of 3 to 4 metres. Their pink or blue flowers catch the eye even at a distance, but unfortunately disappear abruptly with the first frosts. You should add a little liquid fertiliser to the water every week when watering these plants.
Lathyrus odoratus/sweet pea	These plants grow quickly, but only to a height of up to 150 cm and do not grow beyond the frame. They are ideal for smaller gardens and fences. Sow directly outdoors from April. Sweet peas bind nitrogen from the air with their roots and are therefore ideal green manure plants.
Bell vine (Cobaea scandens)	These fast-growing plants promise privacy in no time and reach heights of up to 6 m. Their large leaves make fences a full visual screen. These plants love sunny spots and need plenty of water.