i probably wouldnt plant that close to the fence anyway.. solving the issue ...

do you plan on staining or painting the fence??? .. or do you need to do that in fall ...??

welcome to the forums...

ken

lets see if i can find some general pix of giants next to a fence: https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=American+Giant+Sunflower&iax=images&ia=images

note the width of the plants.. and ask yourself.. if you want them rubbing on the wood ...

unless he wants to paint the fence... then leave room to work in there

Sunflowers will get big and heavy and lean away from the fence, even worse if they’re real close to it. You could tie them in to the fence, hopefully before they fall over, but...

Have you considered cannas? They might want more water than sunflowers to go real crazy, but should be good in that spot, just look for the taller ones. Horn canna farm is actually in Oklahoma so a good local source maybe?

personally I would start inside the fence for myself before I make things nice for the neighbors, but I’m sure you have reasons.

Thank you all for your responses. Ken, I’m not planning on painting the fence for a least this season as I want the “treatment” to have time to fully dry in before doing so, but I was planning on planting about a foot out or more at least just because I saw pics of the sunflower and knew it’s leaves were sizable.

Gardengal48, that was what I was hoping, that what light they would get would be enough to get them up to the full sunlight. Thank you.

And, Keaton thank you so much for your recommendation of Cannas and the lead on Horn farm. I will definitely look into those. As for why I want it to look good for the neighbors... I had someone start this fence last June but they never finished it. Got posts up, along with some cross supports. So, it has, in my opinion, been a neighborhood eyesore until last weekend when my wife and I tackled finishing it ourselves. So, in the interest of being a good neighbor, I want it to look decent as much as I can make it so for our very patient neighbors.

Again, thank you all for your responses and I am sure I will have more questions as I learn to landscape my place.

I think it does make a difference how close to the fence you plant them. They shouldn't be planted in the shadow. You still want them in full sun all day. I did the sunflower lined fence once and planted part way into the shadow and had disappointing results duh.

I’m not planning on painting the fence for a least this season as I want the “treatment” to have time to fully dry in before doing so

===>>> perrrfect ...you knew the variable.. and took it into account.. that was my only goal bringing it up ...

with all that blue sky above ... and as a hardcore hosta dude.. i would call that space FULL BRIGHT SHADE ...which is just fine for most plants ...maybe a little slower while down in the created shade ... but they are sunflowers.. and should grow into the sun fast enough ... so what if they are a week late blooming for starting in some shade ... just one more week to wait.. until some squirrel comes and steals the seed head... lol ...

ken

...and it is Oklahoma as well. They might appreciate a little shade on the roots in August.

I wish my neighbors were as considerate.

A thought for the future. If you plant conifers along the fence you'll need to take care that you don't obscure the main road for anyone pulling out of that side road.