[Lesleyk]

I have lived and gardened right beside the sea on the West coast of Scotland for five years now.  I consider myself an experienced gardener.  I have a large veg plot and lots of success with veg, as I have put in a lot of protection around the plot using netting and non-solid fencing as windbreak.  However, I am struggling, despite lots of protection, to grow some of the plants that are recommended for situations such as mine.  Lost an entire Escallonia hedge - despite recommendations for coastal conditions.  My most successful hedge is Hebe, no particular variety but large leaved - still going strong.  But I digress.  I am looking for a vigorous climber to cover trellis/arches etc.  It needs to be extremely tolerant of high winds and salt air.  Any suggestions?  By the way, my extremely hardy honeysuckle, also well-protected with netting and the like, was "freeze-dried" to death by the wind.  Help!!!

[sunshineband]

Clematis montana is recommended for windy coastal sites. As it is deciduous it probably has a better chance of survival than evergreen climbers

It is usually very vigorous, so even a slowing of growth inyour challnging location should give a decent sized plant that you can prune to 'fit'

and it is readily available and fairly cheap too 

Hope that helps

[Silkychicks]

Have you ever tried Humulus lupulus? (I don't know the english name). I am not sure wether it will be able to take the salt but it is so strong! And it mixes well with clematis Then you wil have flowers for a long period of time, if you take the female variety..

[Lesleyk]

Interesting suggestion about Humulus lupus (hops).  I am getting conflicting information about their ideal location - some say not to expose to high winds (!) and others that an exposed site is recommended (not sure if they mean windy though).  The fact that they are cut back in winter and protected could mean they will be not be exposed during the coldest months, and mixed with Clematis they could work.  I will investigate further.....

[Springlands]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/3337849/On-the-spot-cold-climbers.html

The attached link might be useful - however it is not a recent link so the suppliers mentioned may not be trading now.

I am in an exposed position with very strong salt laden winds and have never had much success with climbers or most fir trees but hydrangea and Escallonia have always done quite well. So have hardy fuchsia until this year - my OH planted six new plants last year and it looks as if the bad weather at the end of March have totally wind burned them. The more established hardy fuchsia looks to have survived. 

[Silkychicks]

Cut it back and protect it??

It normally grows like weed! I have never heard about this, but offcourse it is possible.. I know quite a few people who have problems to manage/control the growth, since it is a very strong fast growing plant which reproduces with the roots. It is often used for fences when people want a thick green layer without to much fuss.

Maybe this is due to difference in climate, allthough apart from the extremes (hight/wind or heat/cold), I don't think the climate over here is very much different.

I hope you will find a nice climber.

[Lesleyk]

I understand it is a rampant grower but I also thought if grown ornamentally it should be cut back to ground level in autumn/winter and even mulched over to protect the rhizome during cold weather.  If, however, it is going to grow well in an exposed site such as mine during the spring/summer, it could be just the job.

[sunshineband]

The only thing I would be worried about with hops is that the growth can be very dense and in strong winds can provide enough resistance to pull down arches etc unless they are very very robust

[Silkychicks]

hmm yes you could be right.. We don't want to give an advice that will lead to the lot flying about!

How big is you piece of arches? You could 'thin it out' if it grows to hard..
Maybe with the wind and salt there is less chance of 'exaggerated' growth??

[Lesleyk]

I would need to build the arch/trellis as strong as I have other protection around my garden, which is a bit belt and braces and not good to look at, but then the plants grow up and hide it (that's the theory).  I might give hops a try.  The conditions here tend to deter all but the most insistent survivors, so perhaps their vigorous nature will be just the thing.  So, next question - is there any particular variety you would recommend?

[Silkychicks]

I have used hops a few times (I moved about quite a lot, starting new gardens as wel) and my best experience I had with getting bits from people who had a large strong plant.. Always the female plant, but to be honest I don't know the variety..

I once bought one from a gardencenter and this one died. Maybe some one from this site, not to far from where you are has one? Because the plant reproduces by the root (how do you say that in English I can't anywhere find a translaton for 'wortelstok' (: ) it is easy to just take a spade and take out some pieces where it has started to wander away from where it should be.

I had quick stroll through the internet to see if I could find out which one I had before. These are the main varieties:
Humulus lupulus var. lupulus - Europese hop
Humulus lupulus var. cordifolius (Miquel) Maximowicz - Japanese hops
Humulus lupulus var. neomexicanus A. Nelson & Cockerell - Amerika (north-west states) en Canada
Humulus lupulus var. pubescens E. Small - Amerika (mid- en west states)
Humulus lupulus var. lupuloides E. Small - Amerika (east states)

Then there is a 'golden variety' developed by someone in Kent..

The Humulus Lupulus var. lupulus is the original wild one and I think most comon (at least most comon to grow in Europe, so probably that's te one
My sister has it in her garden, as a last option: I can trie and send it though the post but that might be illegal 

Right. This post has I think more writing mistakes in it then I made since a long time but I haven't got the time to get the dictionary out! 

[Franceska]

I live near the coast and have those winds that you describe, too.  Climatis Montana is not put off by any harsh weather and puts forth a profusion of beautiful pink flowers (four petals each) in the spring and the bees are mad for it.  I protected it's trunk with a cut off liter clear plastic soda bottle and mulch the roots heavily.  Happy plant!    We had to cut it back two thirds this year because it was taking over our roof!