What plants will cover a large wall quickly

bearfaced1977

I have a large wall in my garden 15'x 15' could anyone suggest a plant that would be able to fill this wall the quickest,we're looking to  sell up in the next few years and would like the wall to be filled if anything will grow by then as it's a bit of an eye sore at the moment,something that wont cost a fortune to buy and that can be left to itself to grow without the need for adding a trellis would be ideal,is there anything that clings on to the wall easily like ivy but won't try and invade the lime mortar like ivy,any help much apreciated

raisingirl

If it self clings it inevitably will do some damage to the wall.

If it's reasonably sunny and warm, something like one on the big roses (Sanders White, American Pillar, Rambling Rector, Kiftsgate) can be trained up wires rather than needing a trellis, are readily available, will probably take 3 or 4 years to cover a big area and can be controlled by whoever buys the place.

Golden Hop will probably do the job too but will also need some support. It will cope with a bit more shade.

If it needs to be evergreen, one of the winter flowering clematis may be OK, depending on your soil and the aspect

bearfaced1977

Thanks,ivy would be ok I suppose,one of my neigbours a couple of doors down has it on her wall and it hasn't caused any problems it is an older type of mortar but is in good condition,is ivy about the only thing that will grow without needing anyone to assist it then and do you know of a variety that I could use?

PeggyTX

What about something like primrose jasmine?  Soft foliage, no thorns, no "grabbers" to do wall damage.  Yellow blooms appear in the evening on last year's growth, per literature.  So I won't see blooms until next year.  Not sure it would be available in the UK.  My plant is withstanding 39ºC afternoon temps just fine (I'm in the center of TX), provided I water it lightly each morning.  I assume after its first year, that won't be so necessary.

They grow more bush-like at first, as seen in my photo below, but over time the plants can get quite tall, up to about 8' if I remember right, and according to Google images.  I just set out a plant on a 11x11' wall of bare brick at my house front.  I placed a small trellis at the back of it, not personally being very familiar with its growth habits when I purchased it, but may remove that if my "training it up" doesn't work well.  It has gotten quite big the 10" baby plant I bought late May.   I'm mostly wanting to cover the view of the two under-house vents and white plumbing valve in that bed, but would also be very happy if mine gets taller up that wall as many photos show.  Here's my growth so far:  

philippa smith2

If you go for Ivy, "Gold Heart" is a good variety.  Large leaves, fairly slow growing ( or at least slow in relative terms ). The only problem is that it takes a while to establish.

If you are doing it simply to sell your house in the next couple of years or so, I'd think it probably cheaper to fix some plastic trellis to the wall and grow annuals such as Sweet Peas, Ipomea, etc.  A couple of well placed half baskets filled with stuff probably wouldn't go amiss either.

Generally, the housing market picks up in Spring/early summer so if you aim your planting for that, when you get the most viewings, your wall will either be flowering or at least in the process of.

You don't mention the orientation of the wall so that will also come into the equation.

Busy-Lizzie

Gloire de Marengo is a good ivy to hide walls, 2.5 wide 4m tall, variegated cream and green. You should be able to find it in Garden Centres or you can buy online.

Another wall plant is Hydrangea Petiolaris but it isn't evergreen.

steephill

How about climbing hydrangea?

hogweed

Virginia creeper - not evergreen - but will grow quickly without support. But there is nothing that will grow that quickly in only a couple of years. I think even the mile-a-minute plant might struggle. (Russian vine) but it will need wires. 

You could invest in a pot grown large honeysuckle which has been trained to a trellis. If you spread it out once planted that should cover quite a bit immediately. But again need wires or trellis.

Topbird

Be aware that a plant which covers the wall rapidly is likely to continue growing (rapidly) after it covers the required space. You may think that is not your problem if you're planning to sell in a couple of years - but you never know what might happen in the meantime.

Things might change so you're not able to sell at the proposed time - then the plant will be very much your problem to do battle with. Alternatively, some of your potential buyers may be knowledgable gardeners who might be put off buying by a thug of a shrub.

I didn't put in an offer on an otherwise near-perfect house because it had (well maintained) leylandii hedges on all 4 sides and I couldn't face the thought of taking them out and replanting and / or trying to persuade the neighbours to do the same if it was their hedge. I just saw it as a problem we didn't need.

Is there anything you can do to make the wall itself more attractive? - eg repointing, or render and paint. If the wall wasn't quite such an eyesore and had (say) 3 smart trellis panels put on with some well behaved climbers growing through them - that would look much more cared for and attractive.

Dovefromabove

It might not be the improvement you’re looking for ... I’d really think twice about buying a house with ivy growing up the walls ... 🤔 

Red maple

I’m not too sure about ivy, either. Friends of ours wanted to hide their neighbours concrete fence so put in three or four free standing trellises in front of the fence but not attached to it and have planted such things as honeysuckle and clematis. These grow quite rapidly once established and look lovely.