A FRIEND asked me recently for suggestions of shrubs and climbers that would grow on the north and east-facing walls of his house.

South and west-facing walls are easy, they are warm and sunny and will provide a sheltered microclimate for a wide range of plants.

Victorian gardeners knew this, and usually built their walled gardens with short east and north walls and much longer south and west walls. Old walled gardens are seldom square or rectangular for this very reason - have a look next time you are in one!

North and east-facing walls are not without hope, however, and there are some choice and unusual plants that can flourish there.

The sun shines on east walls in the early mornings, which is fine as long as the plants there are not covered in frost, in which case buds and young leaves can be burnt and damaged.

For this reason, you should never plant camellias and rhododendrons where the early morning sun will catch them. Instead, you could try Garrya elliptica, with its long tassels of yellow flowers in late winter, Chaenomeles japonica, the Japanese quince and pyracantha, which will provide a fine display of berries each autumn. Azara microphylla will be happy against an east-facing wall, as will Jasminum nudiflorum and J. humile

North walls are generally sunless, and hence cold and gloomy. In this part of the world, they are at least sheltered from the prevailing southwesterly winds, and plants will still derive a certain amount of shelter from them.

You can grow camellias here, as well as stalwarts like berberis, mahonia and Choisya ternata, the Mexican orange blossom. South American plants such as Desfontainea spinosa, Eucryphia x nymansensis and Crinodendron hookerianum, which flower later in the year, will do well against a north-facing wall.

Climbers that will enjoy either a north or east wall include Hydrangea petiolaris and its rarer cousin Schizophragma hydrangeoides, Akebia quinata, a rampant scrambler with charming, deep red flowers, and any species of Parthenocissus. The first and last of these climb by clinging onto the masonry, so the wall will need to be in good condition or they may damage it.

All plants grown close to walls need to be checked and watered well in those rare times when the weather is dry. The proximity of brickwork and the likelihood that the beds may be shallow due to foundations means that wall beds can dry out much more quickly than beds in the open.

February 6, 2003 11:00