Cheering up dingy passageway

brightgreen

Our front door opens onto a dingy dark passageway between us and the neighbours ugly house which is in some disrepair. The passageway is ours and I would like to cheer it up. I'm thinking about building an arch across and growing ivy up their side to cover some of the wall and pipes etc and something like a honeysuckle on our side. Both would have to be in pots that are not too wide as the passageway is quite narrow. I'm thinking of something tall and thin - max 25cm wide and maybe 50-60cm tall.
Would ivy/honeysuckle be happy in a pot that small The ivy would need to cover around 3 metres to do the job?
And can anyone think of any other ideas that might work? 

Hostafan1

Hostas in pots would love that alleyway

Lizzie27

Honeysuckle on your side might be fine and when it grows, you could train it up the arch but I would not be inclined to grow ivy on your neighbours side. It looks as though their house wall is rendered and if it's not in a good condition, the ivy could cause some damage. Is their house occupied?  If not, could you build or buy a decorative trellis screen, the kind on feet so it's temporary and could be moved.

Otherwise what about a tall thin bamboo in a pot (you might have to weight it with a brick in the bottom so it doesn't blow over. One of the few situations that a bamboo would be suitable, coupled with hostas as suggested.

Busy-Lizzie

There are various clematis that will grow in shade and will grow in pots so long as you keep them fed and watered and the pot is tall enough. Have a look at Taylors Clematis and Thorncroft Clematis.

KeenOnGreen

There are some lovely evergreen ferns, which you could put on pots on the wall (Dryopteris erythosora, Cyrtomium fortunei, etc).  If you do go for an ivy, there is a lovely one called Golden Heart.  Chuck in a few Hosta's as @Hostafan1
suggests, an Astilbe or two, some Lysimachia and it could look great.  The pots could be a mix of wall-mounted and on the ground.

We have a couple of ugly brick/concrete areas, and this is what they look like now, although I've yet to give them their final Summer placing.



Would a trough fit just below the big window?  It would contain more soil than the pot you suggest, so something more shrubby would cope better?

brightgreen

Thanks. Love the bright green cascading fern in the first photo. What is it?
It's the narrowness of the passage that I'm struggling with but yes hanging some on the wall is a good idea to get height. And a range of different plants. I already have a box ball and a bamboo either side of the front door.