I can’t tell from the photo how much space you are looking to fill or what height you want it. Do you want them to mingle or fill another space farther down the rail? How tall does it need to be to reach a height where it is visible over the deck?

Hi NHBabs,

Thanks for your thoughtful questions! It seemed that another photo would be the easiest response. Here is the side of our deck, with apologies for the old umbrellas and other untidiness!

Currently, you can see our mature clematis in the center of the deck rail. It climbed about five feet from the ground to the bottom of the deck support and then another 3-4 feet to the top of the rail. It is is ready to climb higher!

Soon we plan to add a framed lattice panel to the top of this rail so the clematis can reach new heights, and because we want the extra privacy on that side. This new lattice panel will be 8 feet long and centered on that middle section, about where the umbrella pole shows. It will be wood stained to match the deck.

This will create a great spot just to the RIGHT of the current clematis for another clematis, so the plants would not need to intertwine. My priority for choosing a new one is that it would grow quickly to reach the lattice. I'd like variety in the flower, so ideally the blooming time would be spread out.

We will do other updating in this area -- the brick walkways and the bed you see here need to be redone since this is a hillside where stormwater has sagged the retaining wall behind these azaleas. In fact, these azaleas will need to be relocated for this work to be done, and we might just leave them in their new spot instead of moving them a second time. So we'd be adding some other "foundation" plantings in this area, which has direct sun for a short part of the day, and these new plants would continue to provide shade for the roots of the clematis.