Depends on a lot of things if a rose is appropriate for your purpose. How tall is your fence? How long? Are you thinking of planting many roses out there? The spot has good sun and respectable soil?

If you are looking for something really fast and equally low maintenance you might look at either Virginia Creeper or Silver Lace Vine. However they can both be quite invasive. The Silver Lace Vine can grow 30' in one summer and in a woodland area might easily get out of control. Just something to think about.

Hope this helps.

Kate

Some vigorous, disease-resistant climbing roses are New Dawn, Awakening, Climbing Pinkie, Climbing The Fairy. These can cover a 20' span.

Some things to consider:
--they are deciduous and you will not get coverage in the winter

--roses do not climb by themselves. They will need your help to do that. They are more accurately described as "scramblers" than as true "climbers".

--do not weave the canes in and out of the fencing, tie them on--it saves a lot of grief in the long run.

--Secure tying keeps them from getting damaged when it is windy.

--you will not get instant (within a few weeks or months) coverage. Climbing roses need 2-3-4 years to get well established and become spectacular.

Will you spray on a regular basis for disease? If you want a no spray rose in your area it will limit your rose choices.

I tried New Dawn on a chain link fence, and even though it grew huge and was beautiful with minimal care, it never satisfied me aesthetically. The bottom on the chain link fence still showed through and it looked ratty five months out of the year. I would try an evergreen vine or even a hedge row.

Other sorts of roses, like Climbing Chinas or Noisettes, might carry foliage down lower.
And you can always plant a row of salvias, and other such plants in front of bare "legs."

Jeri

So, this question reminds me of a question I have - I share a property line with a neighbor who put in a chain link fence and planted englemen ivy, which i think is the same as virginia creeper and I usually refer to as the noxious weed is it is EVERYWHERE!..

In any case, I am contemplating thinning it out more on my side and planting a nice z4 climber (rambling rose?) that will grown in front of the ivy. (well, most of the ivy is now on the other side of the fence, as I've tugged mine down) I actually think it might look nice, if the ivy doesn't strangle the rose.

Last year I spent time weekly pulling and preening to keep that ivy from taking over my back yard, so I don't mind a little effort, just looking for some responses on my plan.

Thanks all for your responses...good point about the tieing rather than weaving...my situation is that I'm a teacher and this is a summer home. It is about 150 feet of 4ft or 6 ft tall chain link fence...not sure yet...i havent put it in yet. This is all a summer project. It is on about a 30 degree slope. I'm not sure about the soil..people say it is very much clay up there but actually not sure about my specific plot of land. I actually live in Florida and go up to Virginia for 2 weeks over Christmas, 8-10 weeks in summer and 1 week in late march/early april. I was thinking roses would be low maintnance. I was trying to get something that would flower over spring and Summer as thats the time i would be there most. I understand the Virginia creeper would be very beautiful in the fall as it changes colors but does it flower over the summer? and does it keep its leaves durring the cold Virginia winter? Do the roses need to be cut back every year or leave them alone on the fence and let them come back every year? also when i was up there last i saw a vine, i think it was a virginia creeper climbing my sycamore tree....will it kill that tree if i dont get rid of it?

Hello,
Should you decide to go with a rose it would be a good idea to get a cold hardy rose if you are in a colder climate.
I found out the hard way zone 5 and 6 climbers will not climb or get bigger than a smaller shrub in my neck of the woods.
I have been very pleased with the Canadian climbers:
John Cabot
John Davis
& William Baffin
Also pleased with Ramblin' Red
New Dawn is too soon to tell for me, she was planted last season as a band,
she is very tiny, but came back this season with tons of new growth.
I have heard Henry Kelsey is a good one too.
Also via trial and error I found out it is best to purchase own root roses.
Nothing like your prized rose turning into Dr. Huey or some other rose you didn't plant :o(
JC, JD, WB & RR have been a delight for me with very little winter damage, disease or problems.
All have been growing in size quite nice.
Ashdown roses has a great training a climbing rose video on youtube.
Lioness

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:269119}}

I would take Jeri's advice and see if there isn't a heritage rose that grows well in your climate. A noisette or climbing china rose, if they do well in your area would be a nicely foliated rose that would work well for your purposes. I grow these types of roses totally no-spray and they are beautiful. They certainly can take neglect for periods of time, as mine get attention when I "get to it".

Sandy