That will be ok as the plant grows just train it in I always with new climers train them horizontal other wise you have all the growth at the top of the fence plus being evergreen will hide the plastic

Gg

Thanks for your quick reply, gg.

I guess if it does look like it might become a problem, I can always enlargen the mesh by snipping out some of the plastic. And yes, I'll definitely be training it horizontally as well as vertically as I want to clothe the whole panel. Wish me luck, and thanks again!:D

Sorry, Gnarly, I'm going to give different advice.
I wouldn't waste your time and give yourself a big problem in a couple of years by leaving the clematis mesh in place. Remove it now, and install a rigid trellis panel, with the horizontal slats against the fence rather than on the outside, so that there is a gap of at least 2 inches between the fence and the trellis - this will allow the honeysuckle to twine properly, and provided you've fixed it securely at either side, and have used rigid and not that opening and closing criss cross type trellis, will be strong enough to support the plant for at least 10 years.
If you don't, the clematis mesh will sag and be broken away within a couple of years (also true of that flimsy trellis), and you'll be stuck with the lovely job of trying to extricate the mesh from the topgrowth and then trying to fix a decent support with all the growth in the way and over the ground. Pain in the proverbial, had to do it many times in people's gardens, drives me bonkers...

Thanks for your reply, bamboo. :)

I thought the clematis trellis would be fine, especially if I enlargen the mesh, as this particular honeysuckle is so small (it reaches a height and spread of only 7 feet). It seemed unlikely that a plant of this size would cause the problems you describe, but you've got me worried now, lol!

And if I do have to use a rigid wooden trellis instead, I'm wondering how to attach it to the posts as, being the same width as the fence panel (6') it won't overlap them. I'm sure suitable hardware must exist, but I can't think what.

rr

Buy a couple of pressure treated battens to attach to the fence panel either side - fix them in place, then fix the trellis to those. Make sure the battens are deep enough to protrude to the same level as the fence posts - if the fence posts are wood, you can fix the battens on the inner face of those and then fix the trellis.

I can't fix battens to the inner face of the posts as there isn't the room - I'd have to fix them to the fence panel. I hadn't considered that, as I was worried the weight would put too much strain on the panel, but if you think it'll be okay I'll give it a go. Thanks! :)

So long as the battens are attached to the thicker part of the fence panel at the edges (if you've got panels) it'll be fine. Alternative is to buy a couple of fence posts, insert those in the ground in front of the fence and hang the trellis on those.

That's great. Thanks again. :)

I know it seems like a drag, but from experience, its nowhere near the drag it'll be in 2 or 3 years if you don't do it, lol!

Hi Bamboo

it all adds to the mix with diffrent sugestions

Mine was "yes" you can , but yours is very practical as well.

Gg

Thanks GG - maybe I'm biassed from coming across this problem so many times and then having to put it right, nightmare...
Roseirose, I'd really like to know how well your new honeysuckle does - whether it remains evergreen as it should, what kind of performance it gives, whether it actually does only grow to 7 feet or whether it gets much bigger, that kind of thing, if you don't mind updating us later?

No probs! :)

An update after another reccy - we can't fix battens and trellis to the fence panel after all because the side struts aren't strong enough. New posts in front of the existing ones is also not an option (not enough room) so we're going to keep the plastic clematis trellis after all. It's 6'6" wide and only 3' high, meaning there's a foot of bare fence panel at top and bottom (fence panel is 5' high). The clematis trellis is securely fastened to the posts and there's a foot of strong wooden trellis at the top of the fence, so we think (hope!) there's shouldn't be any sagging or weight issues. If we're proved wrong in a couple of years, I'll resurrect this thread and eat humble pie, lol!

Wish us luck, and thanks again for your advice, both. Really appreciated. :) xx

If there's strong trellis at the top, you should get away with it, hopefully.