By Jimbrown
West Sussex,
United Kingdom 
Hi All,
Newbie here. Came across this website whilst searching for advice on what to grow against a 6" west facing fence (not mine). This has been newly erected by new neighbours and as you can see from the photo does not look very nice. There used to be a 3" wall which was handy for baskets( fuchsias). Photo 2 shows what the area next to the wall looked like in July this year (bit of hodgepodge but thats me!). I was thinking of growing espalier or fan trained fruit trees next to the fence but have no experience whatsoever. Can they be grown in large containers? Will a container grown tree eventually reach 6"? If not I may have to think about removing the path and planting directly into the ground. Any advice greatly appreciated
29 Nov, 2010
Answers
Welcome to GoY too. If you remove the path you could plant some lovely shrubs such as Weigela, Buddlia and Spireas etc.
I expect someone will talk about fan trained soon? Also you might like to look at 'Pleaching' for your fruit trees?
29 Nov, 2010
Hello Jim,
I've got roses on the wealden clay on a west facing fence but I think fruit trees would be very successful and definitely more useful! There will be someone on here who will advise as to cultivation, but it isn't me!
29 Nov, 2010
welcome from me too. You can grow them in a big pot but to be honest I'd put them in the ground.
29 Nov, 2010
Jim, can you move the path forward about 6 inches, take out a trench 18 inches deep (double dig) putting in 6 inches of well rotted horse manure, then plant an Espalier tree, one per panel. If you Google Espalier tree now is a good time to order. You have the double expense growing them in half barrels, any container smaller would be fairly short lived. Hope this will help. Good luck.
29 Nov, 2010
dig the pathe up i would .
30 Nov, 2010
Yes, get rid of the path. It will also give you the chance to dig lots of muck into the disturbed soil. Give the border a good revamp!
30 Nov, 2010
Thanks to everyone who replied - looks like Ill be digging the path up but not anytime soon!
3 Dec, 2010
at least you have a project in the future .trust me when you run out of places to plant or do something in your garden youl hate it .
4 Dec, 2010
Hallo Jim. Welcome to GoY. I´m a fairly newbie myself here, I´ve been here since the middle of august and think the site is great.
29 Nov, 2010