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I need some one or many to talk me out of planting Virginia Creeper across the front of the house. We have a South and West facing front porch and it is a heat trap. I can not plant a tree in front because we are already too close to the road. Also we park right in front and the snow plowing needed etc.
I have seen the Virginia Creeper grow really fast to make a nice showing within a year or so. Just really trying to shade the porch in summer.
Any other ideas. I have done morning glories for a few years and they do keep coming back but I am kind of tired of them there. I have 5 trellises a vine could grow up. Love the pretty red colors of the V-Creeper. I am Zone 4/5. Just on the verge of zone 5 and not all years. We can dip to 25 below once in awhile but it is not usually sustained for long.
If you can keep it in check, go for it. My Virginia Creeper was planted by the birds apparently as I didn't do it. It climbed up the side of my ivy-covered wall and eventually killed off the ivy. Then it crept out onto the phone wires leading to the house and flourished there too. This is 20 ft. up and the ground below is on a hill, so problematic for me to get on a ladder and trim it. Fortunately the gutter installers ripped it all down and now it is starting over.
Another thing to consider is that Virginia Creeper is very tasty to Japanese Beetles. They made my vine look like brown lace. Not a pretty look.
cypress vine- a friend in Oklahoma sent me some 25 years ago. I tried to get rid of it but I ended up moving it with plants I dug up first to Ga and then to N.C. Pretty little lacy foliage and smallish flowers but it reseeds all over the place.
Location: Living near our Nation's Capitol since 2010
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This thread made me almost laugh out loud. Best laid plans can sometimes go awry. I really had no idea that hollyhock or black eyed susan or lemon balm could become such a problem. Same for sedum.
My enemy became the ivy that the original owner of my 1917 cottage planted. It grew with such vigor that it was impossible to control. It went up the outside brick of my fireplace, it crawled up the entire house in fact! I would rip it down, but within what seemed like days, it was back climbing again. It wrecks the mortar! It is pretty to have a little ivy covered cottage, but the damage it can do is pretty extensive.
If you can keep it in check, go for it. My Virginia Creeper was planted by the birds apparently as I didn't do it. It climbed up the side of my ivy-covered wall and eventually killed off the ivy. Then it crept out onto the phone wires leading to the house and flourished there too. This is 20 ft. up and the ground below is on a hill, so problematic for me to get on a ladder and trim it. Fortunately the gutter installers ripped it all down and now it is starting over.
Another thing to consider is that Virginia Creeper is very tasty to Japanese Beetles. They made my vine look like brown lace. Not a pretty look.
Thanks Lost Roses. YIKES 20 foot + tall. Maybe I better try to just do better with the Morning glories. At least they die back in winter.
It is a narrow 2 foot wide bed across the front of the house. Then right to gravel driveway. Maybe I should plant lawn out to the road fence it to keep people from driving onto it as they are used to doing now. AND the cows off of it since we live in the designated cattle drive road. It would probably help cool the area a little bit. Do not really want more lawn. It would reduce my snow plowing in winter. Would just need to shovel the walk way up to the house. I have a brute of a riding mower that would knock down a tiny added grass patch in less than 5 minutes. Hummmmm Going to ponder this one.
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Location: Coastal Georgia
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Wisteria. I got a plant and stuck it into the ground and its growing like crazy. I need to either move it to someplace where it can safely climb, or rip it out and be done with it.
Why is it that plants we want to thrive, don't, but those we don't care about, do? Go figure.
Wisteria. I got a plant and stuck it into the ground and its growing like crazy. I need to either move it to someplace where it can safely climb, or rip it out and be done with it.
Why is it that plants we want to thrive, don't, but those we don't care about, do? Go figure.
Ah..Amethyst Falls Wisteria is not invasive at all and is incredibly beautiful.
Wisteria. I got a plant and stuck it into the ground and its growing like crazy. I need to either move it to someplace where it can safely climb, or rip it out and be done with it.
Why is it that plants we want to thrive, don't, but those we don't care about, do? Go figure.
My neighbor keeps his wisteria under control by taking a chain saw to it every year. I am glad he does, as I have seen entire neighborhoods swallowed by wisteria!
I swear I'll never plant another bougainvillea! They grow big and have thorns that are over 1/2 inch long and go through the bottom of my garden crocs. Whenever I have to cut them back, I look like I've been attacked by feral cats. My arms, my neck. I have scars on my legs from deep scratches. The colors are beautiful, but never again in my yard.
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I am glad he does, as I have seen entire neighborhoods swallowed by wisteria!
