By Copey
United Kingdom 
I am trying to find a plant to grow against a new fence, NE face about 20 m long, 1.8m high, but not to cover it entirely, just to "soften" the look & keep neighbours happy. Main difficulty is poor soil & a very narrow strip of soil to plant into (although could possibly plant on our side of fence and push under!).
So my wishlist - in approx order of importance - is as follows, something that ticks most of these boxes would be brilliant!
Shallow, i.e. stays close to fence rather than bushing out.
Won't grow through to other side of fence, e.g. not ivy (happy to attach wires to support the plants).
Low maintenance; doesn't need to be fast growing.
Evergreen.
Apologies for rambling question, hope someone can help. Thank you!
11 Jun, 2013
Answers
That sounds good, I'll have a look at one. Thank you for your response.
11 Jun, 2013
Make sure the fence is in a good strong condition first - the plant can get very large eventually and as when established it will be self clinging as bamboo says you might well lose the best part of it if the fence needed replacing at any time.
11 Jun, 2013
Difficulty when the fence needs Cuprinol treatment.
Everything grows !
I would use Sweet Peas, as they can be cleared out every autumn. Low growing Evergreens in between.
12 Jun, 2013
Previous question
Not evergreen, but its pretty well behaved and self clinging, though it might need a bit of persuasion at first - Hydrangea anomala (also known as Hydrangea petiolaris).
11 Jun, 2013