[Lorry]

I have about 100m of fence I'd like to make more interesting. I was thinking bramble for berries, honeysuckle (but what types?), Jasmine (again which types?) And then I run out of inspiration! Can anyone recommend climbers or creepers that are "useful" in the sense that they benefit Irish birds and insects?

[Sive]

Definitely ivy and dog rose for wildlife.

[djh]

Anything with single flowers will attract bees and other insects. For easy maintenance but a bit slow to establish honeysuckle and clematis. Also perhaps virginia creeper for autumn colour at the far end of the fence. The scent from honeysuckle in the evening is always nice when you return thome.

Wild roses are nice, the flowering period is short but spectacular and they can get a bit out of hand.

[Lorry]

Thank you Sive and djh! One more question though.......does it matter what type of honeysuckle or clematis? Are they all equally beneficial to an Irish habitat? I should probably mention that I'm a teacher and I run an eco-group in my school so we're planting them in a large school grounds. We planted 100m of hedgerow last year. So if it looks a little untidy we don't mind! Someone suggested firethorn and passionflower - when I looked them up it said they're native to America. I don't want to plant anything invasive! Does anyone know if they're ok?

Note: I might be running an eco-group but I'm only learning myself as we go!

[tippben]

As said, Ivy is especially useful for bees, the Holly Blue butterfly, and for winter bird food. The native honeysuckle is Lonicera periclemenum, Clematis is C. viltalba (Old Man's Beard/Traveller's Joy).

You could use the blackberry/raspberry hybrids such as boysenberry, loganberry, tayberry etc, as they will offer the same wildlife benefits with a variety of different fruiting times. If you want to stay native, try the blackberry, Rubus fruticosus, but get a thornless cultivar, of which there are several, which would be safer, and easier to work with. Several butterflies rely on blackberry leaves as a food source for their larvae.

Could you consider espalier apples or cherries at various points as well? Prunus avium "Stella" is a sweet cultivar of the native wild cherry. Also remember that plants do not have to be native to confer wildlife benefits. Winter flowering Jasmine provides nectar at a time where little else is available. Trachelospemum jasminoides (Star Jasmine), is evergreen, giving shelter in winter, and the scent in the evenings attracts moths, and therefore bats.

[tippben]

Just checked Frances Rose "Wild Flower Key".
Rosa arvensis (field rose, white, yellow centre), R. pimpinellifolia (burnet rose, white, brown centre), and R. rubiginosa (sweet briar, mid pink edged, yellow 5 pointed star centre), are all native choices, as is Humulus lupulus (Hops). Obviously, you're not going to be making beer at school, but the young shoots are edible...

[Lorry]

Fabulous Tippben! Thank you so much!