I don't have deer, but I have a terrible problem with rabbits. They gnaw the canes off down low, and I find entire green canes laying all over the ground. Even if a rose is hardy enough to survive the winter, it can't survive the damn rabbits, or deer. My Seven Sisters is three years old, and I've never seen it bloom. So you'll need to provide some protection to the rose or it will never get tall enough to climb. Mike

Your probably bang on with the cedars however they will take a long time to fill in an area. They don't require a lot of work compared to a vine generally speaking. I certainly don't recommend vines to fill your need because the privacy they give would generally be subject to the season. Below are some comments on the ones I have experience with. Most of the summer one of my chain link fences gets covered in Clematis Tangutica. I think it was called Clematis Bill MacKenzie. Its an amazing mess of yellow flowers. The nice thing with Bill MacKenzie was how fast it fills in during the spring over my other vines. I do have other clematis but nothing as bushy and filling as Bill MacKenzie. You could also look at Virginia Creeper but be careful as it can get out of control very fast. The neighbor behind our house has his crawling over his back fence snaking through the back lane and strangling parts of my garden. If you don't mind planting annuals every year you could try morning glories depending on the size / height of the area you want to cover. I've had good experience with morning glories all over my limited space. I'd seriously consider a long term investment though like cedars or some other type of bush. Evergreens for your area will give you all season privacy. Or if winter privacy isn't a big deal consider an edible bush like saskatoons. Well my 2 cents.

A grocery store near here has about a dozen Joseph's Coats in pots. They've been there for a couple of years now, and they are still alive, though not as large or vigorous as they would have been in the ground. I think they also need a lot more water in the pots than they would in the ground. The pots, however, are not just big. They're REALLY REALLY big. Maybe 3-ft tall? So, it can be done, given a large enough pot. But don't be thinkin' 5-G pot. You'd need 15-G, or more ideally, 20-G. (And ample water, and good drainage -- so, NOT a "saucer." Think more "Pot Feet.")

I'm 'late to the party' on this topic..... About 10 years ago we swagged (grew horizontally by tying it to chains) New Dawn in/on our south alley gate and arbour. As others have commented, growing horizontally produces copious lateral stems and buds - I think the lateral stems should be kept to a a few inches long, but we were too lazy to do that :-) Initially, New Dawn was very 'clean' and blacksprt wasn't an issue. Over several years it started getting some blackspot. We never sprayed though. New Dawn grows vigorously and has wicked thorns! It was starting to get dangerous to walk down the alley and there wasn't much room left on the swag chains - so we removed the roses and replaced then with (safer!) clematises! So, there's no question that the rose will do well grown horizontally, but be prepared to control/manage the growth! Some pictures: The rose is pale pink but the color is 'washed out' in some of the pictures below.... New Dawn: Looking up the alley to the arbour, gate and swags June 23 2010: Buds on lateral growths in early June: Horizontal growth in bloom: DH eliminated New Dawn July 2010 - note the rose gauntlets and eye protection! He should have been wearing a shirt, although the day was very hot.... Blood was shed....!