planting against fence on busy road

[TISH]

Hi -
My new site is located on the edge of a busy road - and boardered by a fence. What can I plant (does not have to be edible) to help absorb sound and give me some privacy all year round. The fence is also not that tall so might like to grow things taller to try and prevent vandals from hopping over. At the moment there is a fair amount of bindweed.

Any ideas welcome.

thanks

[TISH]

[jennym]

My choice would be pyracantha. It grows relatively fast, it's evergreen, the birds like the orange berries and the vandals won't like the thorns! Straightforward to cut as a hedge too.
While this is growing into a decent hedge, I'd put in a thorny blackberry.

[Deb P]

You could consider a fast growing buddleja with blackberries growing through them?

[Buster54]

This is my choice  ;)
http://www.plantpress.com/plant-encyclopedia/plantdb.php?plant=1311
but you have to keep on top of it,I used it in my back garden and made a 16'x5'hedge out of it and over 4 years the old vines were that  hard and intertwined it was self supporting and a bugger to cut down when I eventually got rid of it

[manicscousers]

hiya, tsh, welcome to a4a  ;D
my choice would be rosa rugosa, spiky, lovely scented flowers and all those rose hips for jelly in autumn  ;D

[chriscross1966]

Blackthorn.... natures own barbed wire and you get sloes......

[small]

Some pampas grasses. No vandal would hop through that, it would be soundproof, and ornamental too.

[Tee Gee]

My choice would be Jerusalem Artichoke or Asparagus.

OK being deciduous they would not give any insulation benefit in winter,  but during summer when they are 'in the green' they would give some, plus you could eat whats in the soil!

Sweet peas or climbing beans would do similar depending upon which side of the fence you plant i.e. the sunny / shady side.

Then there are fruit trees/shrubs.

In other words anything that grow quite high!

[Buster54]

Some pampas grasses. No vandal would hop through that, it would be soundproof, and ornamental too.

You might get a couple of swingers though  :-* :-*

[TISH]

Thanks everyone, its quite a long fence so I may try a few of these options. Quite interested in the pampas grass idea, as it would make a lovely backdrop. I'd would also love to have some blackberries growing though things - any other ideas on companion planting for that? Ideally something evergreen that will live happily with them. Blackthorn might be too big - and its deciduous so probably not that one. The firethorn is always a good one for keeping people out and I love the idea of feeding the birds. My neighbor gave me some passionflowers, I wonder how good that is as a companion plant though.

Cheers,
Tish

[liefste]

Hiya and welcome.. i have just got an allotment myself and im wanting some privacy.. Im lucky enought to have blackberry bushes already when i got the plot so im just leaving them in along the fence and in a few years i will have a good structure and i can pick the harvest for wine and jam etc.. im also going to plant a golden hop plant as they grow rampantly in no time atall, and also im going to use the hops for brewing purposes.. So these are definitely my suggestions for your fence.

[saddad]

The passion flower will scramble through anything... and pop up all over the place...  ::)

[THE MASTER]

for a quick fix put in SUN FLOWERS

for a slower fix get some gooseberry growing