Hi again, I used to do conveyancing many moons ago and these kind of clauses were quite common on new build estates. Such as you can't put a boundary fence above a certain height at the front or not park work vans etc....its mostly to do with uniformity and to prevent the look of the new estate being littered by vans etc... there is also quite often a time limit on these clauses so it might say for the first 7 years or until 2017. I would imagine that if there is such a clause it would be to prevent you planting something like conifer tree hedging and spoiling the view for the neighbours. However, if you have the documents yourself you might try reading through them to see if you can find the clause and decipher it. Alternatively its a phone call to your conveyancing solicitor and they will either be able to tell you or will spin off a quick letter to the vendors solicitor to clarify what they consider deep rooted trees and shrubs and as to the reason why. Your solicitor should be bound by due diligence so doubt if they would charge you for a quick letter. Whatever the outcome I think it safe to say you can plant your clematis.

garden designers often say paint the back wall dark - it shows off the planting much better. White is also a colour not found often in nature, but black is ..

I think the white looks lovely, and will be especially helpful on the north side of the garden as it will reflect light. You could plant some red stemmed dogwoods up against the fence at the back of your borders. They're not very exciting in the summer but in the winter those bare red stems will pop out in front of the white fence and will look absolutely stunning. Cut them back down to the ground each late winter/early spring and they'll grow back almost 2m each summer for your winter display. They're really immune to harsh treatment so any stray branches growing in the wrong direction for your border can be lopped off and the plant will just shoot some more from somewhere else.The intensity of stem colour varies from plant to plant, so I really recommend buying them in winter so that you can see that you are getting the hottest red possible. Plant them where they'll catch the winter morning sun and you'll have a gorgeous breakfast view. I grabbed this from google images - just imagine how lovely they would be against a white background.

credz4, you are absolutely right! we have some restrictions applicable and I checked with our solicitors..they advise us to avoid shrubs, especially bigger ones, also we can't dig deeper than 60cm and plants shouldn't exceed 3m in height, so I guess we will go for clematis, climbing rose and some other shallow rooted plants..I really wanted to plant a pink peony too, but need to check if it may cause any damage to the pipes underground etc...oh, so much to research!

That dogwood looks stunning, but now with these restrictions I will need to be extra careful with whatever we choose!

Can't wait to finish painting and start getting really dirty haha :)

Oh, also we had some rain recently and I was watching the white parts of the fence closely, as Steve Burland Architecture mentioned that it may stain due to previous preservative used. I noticed that rain drops on the fence was a little brownish colour, but very very light and when the sun came out it seems that they have bleached or blended back..so so far I am happy about it. We will see for how long it will keep it's original whiteness :)

I really think this white fence is growing on me.. I am still not sure why we even touched this fence in the first place, but when I look at it now and imagine all of the flourishing colourful plants you all mentioned, I just can't wait!

Hi Eve, Think pots! Bigger shrubs can often be grown in big pots....even the smaller cherry trees and viburnum will do great in big pots. Go really glamorous and get shiny pots for fab reflections of all your other lower growing plants. And stick in some classical garden ornaments or urns. Plus solar lights for night time glow against the fence.

Hi Eve think the pale jasmine was a really good choice and looks great. Everyone has given lots of good ideas, when you've finished it will look fantastic - carry on the good work!!

White will certainly bounce the light around, which is good. I personally prefer black fencing as it sets off plants perfectly and make a fence disappear as our eyes tend to ignore black. With white we 'see' it stand out more.

Hi Eve, I personally agree with some of the other posters to paint the fence a dark colour. Like cuprinol's 'holly'. It is a dark bluish green and blends in beautiful with plants. I live in the country (Ireland) and have painted 3 sheds with this colour. In a small garden a dark colour will hide the boundaries of your garden and make it appear bigger. Looking at your pictures again, it seems like there are (birch ?) trees planted behind your fence. If your fence was a darker colour, your boundary would disappear and make it look like those trees were part of YOUR garden and thus make it seem larger if you planted some shrubs (deciduous and evergreen) in front of the fence. Also, a darker color would offset blossoms (think white, pink, blue, purple) much better. It won't show dirt or the wearing off of the paint as much either. As far as planting, make sure you include at least ONE tree in the garden. Some of the nicest smaller and slower growing trees are Amelanchier lamarkii 'Ballerina' (beautiful white spring blossoms, fabulous red-orange autumn colour ), Acer griseum (cinnamon peeling bark and red autumn colour), Sorbus hupehensis or commixa (spring bossoms , pink berries in autum and also autumn colour) . If you put these along the fence, you could also hide an unpleasant view, or a neighbour who can overlook your garden. Just make sure, you leave some space between the tree and the fence, so that the tree can expand. That way you also add some height, which again, makes the garden optically larger. There are also larger shrubs to consider ( flowering dogwoods, Cornus kousa, Arbutus unedo ect.) These can then be underplanted with perennials. Don't forget to add some evergreen plants, so there is some winter interest, many gardens look bare for 6 months of the year. Lots of choices. You could also ask for advice in the garden section. Good luck!

I like it... Plants with silver foliage would look great...Looks more modern painted.

It looks beautiful. Lovely planting and I love the shape of the bed

Looking Good.....

LOVE the white, and pale jasmine is gorgeous. If you were worried about it "glaring", you could try hanging some outdoor bunting or fairy lights with colourful bulbs (visible in daylight) or something like that along the top of the fence? Outdoor bunting is easy to knock up out of oilcloth - I used a torn oilcloth table cover! :)

Hi Eve...Dont know if you'll see this post but I love your fence. I am hoping to do my fence that colour too and am even more encouraged having seen your posts. Im curious to know what colour you painted your shed (if any) as we have one i'd like to paint, I just worry if I paint the same as the fence (pale jasmine) it will look daft. I hope not. If you have done yours pale jasmine would you mind posting a pic please?

Thanks for replying. Your garden looks absolutely beautiful. I love the dark blue/grey of the planters. I'm inspired!

This is lovely. In Aus we think of the "English cottage garden" as having a white timber fence so I was really surprised by yard after yard of brown stain

Bit Late but incase you are thinking of another change . I would ad a black Charcoal to the joints beams going across online to break the solidness.

Thank eve for the Like

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I love this - the white fence has brightened up the space. In this case a dark fence would have oppressed and closed you in. This is now begging for a Mediterranean/Mykonos look! Go for two tone grey blue for the shed and train a climber up one wall from the grey planters. Use your existing patio furniture with touches of blues for cushions and a rug as well as ceramic stools for pops of colour. Hanging baskets and lanterns would lift the visual interest upward too. I would also add a focal point or three with some wall tile in blues. You could punctuate the fence with a variety of sizes of blue wall plates at different heights. I'm posting a few pics for inspiration.

Both black and white fences are beautiful imo. Although I think white fences look stunning with climbing roses or shrubs in pinks and purples. Blacks are great for foliage and architectural plants. Cottage planting works fab with white fences.

POST 2 YRS OLD

Hi, I'm so happy that found this post. I love your white fence idea. Was looking for an inspiration and found it. Your garden looks lovely x

I have painted my backyard fence in white and I love it. It opens up the space since the yard is small

I did my fence pale it looked lovely. The previous panels were so different styles and age and it tied them all together.

And thank you Simon @silkenshovel garden design studio

While white fencing isn't for me in a back garden, I have seen loads of pics here on Houzz with white fences and, although they mostly seem to be over in the USA (let's face it - they tend to have better daylight in parts of North America than we do in the UK) I do like the look of it, though. I especially like the whitewash appearance if you're going for a Cottage Garden as it adds a weathered appeal. I went for black in my garden which looks pretty stylish, especially with the greens and whites in front of it.

I used to live in a house with a roof terrace and we were advised at the time to not use white on the inside of the parapet walls as it would glare too much. The chosen option for the wall was pale grey (before it was fashionable) and it worked really well. For this reason, I wouldn't have gone for white fence or white furniture.

White is a mistake.

I think it looks great - how about a fruit tree espalier at the back to break it up a bit and use the slope and then plant some cottage style beds in front of it and around it?

I personally like the light coloured fence it makes it open and airy. Will also mask bird dropping from our feathered visitors on the fence. Have you thought about climbers on the fence or maybe trained fruit trees to make it a 'useful' area as well? How much sun does it get? Providing the ground is well drained and fed I would imagine anything will grow there. As long as it is watered too as new plants need water when first planted. By adding a mirror or a 'feature' at the back it could become a focal point in your garden. Nothing better than a blank canvas to start with. Have fun.

Do you all think that I should paint my fence white?

Absolutely yes! Your plants will stand out and be more of a feature. It's a lovely contemporary looking garden and this would give a more cohesive . Of course it depends on the look you are after. My garden is much smaller but I wanted a modern looking Mediterranean style and painting the fences white did that.

An alternative would be a black or anthracite grey fence! Very contemporary and plants would pop against it.