Do you hanker after romantic roses around your door or an exuberant growth of wisteria curtaining your walls? Or do you favour the more disciplined approach, with regimented branches of blossom followed by fruit? Whatever you choose, there's nothing like a covering of plants for integrating a building into its surroundings.

But remember to be practical too. Which climber will like the site? What is the plant to climb up? How will it climb? Will it need pruning and how will you do this when growing up, up and away? Leaning out of upstairs windows is not to be recommended.