Looking for an evergreen climber for a north-facing wall. In Scotland.

July 26, 2015 4:26 AM

We have a stone house with a little doorway area that's just perfect for a trellis and a climber - we could eventually support something to about 12-14 feet high and 7 feet wide at its widest point. We'd love to plant something that would stay evergreen all year round and ideally would flower at some point in the year.

The difficulty is that our wall faces north, and we live in Edinburgh. So we get loads of not-too-harsh light in the summer, but barely any in the winter time. And it's cold and rains a lot.

I'm ideally looking for something very low maintenance - something that will support itself rather than needing lots of training or tying - i don't mind getting something started with ties, but don't fancy a rose that would require a lot of cutting back and re-tying each year.

Thanks in advance!

posted by ukdanae to Home & Garden (3 answers total)

Well, there's Ivy. Make sure that if you go for something that will attach itself to the wall, like Ivy, that the brickwork is sound. If there's spalling, when you remove the Ivy, it will pull the face of the bricks with it. If the brickwork is sound, then you'll just have the hassle of removing the tendrils.
posted by Solomon at 6:04 AM on July 26, 2015

Maybe some kind of a creeping juniper? No blossoms though.
posted by SLC Mom at 8:42 AM on July 26, 2015

Cotoneaster horizontalis.
posted by Solomon at 1:37 PM on July 26, 2015 [1 favorite]