Vinyl Fence needs your help!

Discussion in 'Garden Design and Plant Suggestions' started by wilsonfamily4, Apr 16, 2008.

  1. wilsonfamily4

    wilsonfamily4 Member

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    Location:
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    I am very new to gardening. We have lived in our house 5 years and are just now starting to work on our backyard. On the west side of our house we have a small fence that I would like to cover with some vines and flowers. It is mostly shaded and has moist soil. This is a picture from the backyard looking towards the front yard. I will be adding about a 12 inch bark border in the backyard and can do whatever I need to the front side of this fence. What would you recommend? Thanks so much!

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  2. joclyn

    joclyn Rising Contributor

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    there are not many vines that do well in shade conditions. what zone are you? (that's another factor to consider when choosing plants).

    moist soil and shady conditions would be perfect for hydrangea - it would take a few years for the bush to be big enough to cover the front of the fence and would look phenomenal when it does and the blooms last.
     
  3. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Second the Hydrangea; as Joc says, it will take some time to develop but is well worth the wait.

    Other than that, everything I'd suggest is a nasty invasive weed (ie Ivies, Ipomoea), which you probably want to avoid. You might be able to get away with passionflowers, but I'm pretty sure they'd be an annual for you.
     
  4. joclyn

    joclyn Rising Contributor

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    i thought they needed sunny??

    with all that searching to id the pic on your purple stumper, lorax, i only looked at the pics - didn't investigate growing conditions for the different varieties of passiflora. i think, generally, they need a bit of sun to do well...there is probably at least one type that would do okay in shadier conditions.

    moist soil, though, is that good or bad for passiflora?

    wilsons, ferns are another item for that area - lady fern, cinnamon fern and quite a few others - they like moister conditions and need shade (or dappled sun at most) to thrive. some get quite tall and others not so much. no flowers though for extra color. still, they make a nice backdrop for annuals with lots of color.
     
  5. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Moist soil is ideal for Passiflorae, and at least half of the endemic Ecuadoran ones are understory creepers, so they do OK in shade. I'm thinking about P. mixta (Taxo) here, which is a high-altitude understory vine. It has amazing giant pink flowers, and very tasty fruit. Its wild relative, the sachataxo (P. somethingorother) is another shade-dweller, but with fire-engine red flowers. The blooms on both of these are trumpet-shaped rather than bowl-shaped, and are among the larger blooms produced by Passiflora. (Discounting of course P. quadrangularis, the giant granadilla, which is a part-shade plant and which makes flowers larger than a closed fist and fruits as big as your head.)

    On the other side of the leaf, there's P. edulis, P. incarnata, and P. ligularis, all of which are sun lovers. The general indicator, I think, is flower shape - the trumpet-shaped ones tend to be shade growers, while the rounder-flowered ones prefer more sun.

    Wilsons: for something completely different, ferns are a great choice - if you want something really unique, check out the New Zealand native tree-ferns. They're slow growing, but they look awesome and thrive in the conditions you have. They're also a bit hardier than their South American cousins.

    sorry about the long response time; I had an internet fart.
     
  6. joclyn

    joclyn Rising Contributor

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    ahh, thanks for explaining the passiflora's, lorax!! so there are definitely a few that would do well in this spot!!

    oh, for ferns - japanese painted fern!! it's absolutely completely, wonderfully, fantastic!!! last i checked there were at least three color patterns...all are fantabulous!!!

    i have no shady areas, so i can't grow it :(
     
  7. Sabine

    Sabine Active Member

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    What about Akebia? I have a similar situation, with a north-facing fence where I want some privacy coverage, and I have been looking at Akebia since I heard it did well in shade. I am also in the Willamette Valley, and I've read that Akebia can be semi-evergreen here, as long as we don't have any freak supercold weather.
     
  8. Creeping Jenny

    Creeping Jenny Active Member

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    I know someone is going to tell me how silly I am :) but..... I think Ivies are always beautiful over fences! And so easy! LOL!
     
  9. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    Ivies are lovely, but they can get invasive and noxious, and some people are contact-sensitive to them.

    Akebia should work fine for you, Sabine.
     
  10. Creeping Jenny

    Creeping Jenny Active Member

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    they really do take over fast.... good if you want to hide something. lol! I didn't know lots of people were sensitive to them....
     
  11. lorax

    lorax Rising Contributor 10 Years

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    There's a comound in the leaves that people can react to, like they do to poison ivy (which is actually a Sumac) Luckily, I'm not one of them. I grow ivies here with impunity.

    Oh, and Wilson Family - check out climbing roses and also grapes. I just noticed where you are, and you could do both or either.
     
  12. Creeping Jenny

    Creeping Jenny Active Member

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    Interesting! Apparently I don't react. I don't to poison ivy either though!
     
  13. wilsonfamily4

    wilsonfamily4 Member

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    Thanks for all the ideas!

    ~lorax, I think I am going to do some grapes somewhere else in our backyard this summer. They do grow well in this area. Really well. I may look into some climbing roses. They just won't get as much sun as they may want.

    I am not really an ivy girl. My mother had so much of it around her house and I like it, but there is something about it that just makes me think of her. :) So no ivy. Want my own feel at my house. :)

    Sabine~ Akebia may be nice as I would like something evergreen if I could find something nice. I may just mingle a couple things to get the evergreen look in the winter.

    I have hydrangeas right off this area so I am not wanting more here. But I sure do love hydrangeas!

    Thanks all!
     
  14. Creeping Jenny

    Creeping Jenny Active Member

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    I love the idea that you want it "your own feel"!! Im sure whatever you decide will be great!! You should post pictures when you are done!!!
     
  15. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    For what it is worth I have a hydrangea fern mix but mine is just along a wire fence but it does look great. The ones on the other side of the bottom drive are merrily climbing up into the apple trees (3). I am into jungle garden by default but some of the results are really great. I have trained ivy through another fence but it is invasive. Most of my fence line is what was somewhere refered to as a tapestry hedge. A mix of all sorts from potato vine to something with a pink bell (in bloom now Autumn) I have old roses and fushias, geraniums that are both climbers and the ordinary ones that just make long stems. There is a jasmine and a honey suckle all around a half acre of 6 foot wire fencing. Every thing just happily scrambles and creates a small bird refuge. When it gets to ferral i just shear it. We do not have solid fences out here as the properties are fairly large so this is a nice way to get privacy.

    Liz
     
  16. KarinL

    KarinL Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    The thing about ivy is that birds seed it into woods where it takes over whole ecosystems - Stanley Park is full of it, for instance; it can smother whole trees.

    A fence doesn't always call for a vine, though there are many that are fun to grow in such a spot; ideally without other plants around (perennials, shrubs) that they can suffocate (for example Akebia will grow up your fence but sends out side shoots that wind around your other plants if there are any nearby). You could go for a shrub groupings or staggered rows, as you say mixing some evergreens with deciduous flowering shrubs. Both approaches can give you a tapestry effect, but the shrub approach might give a more groomed effect, or at least be easier to keep groomed!

    See what's available at your local nurseries for a start.
     
  17. Liz

    Liz Well-Known Member 10 Years

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    My main reason for vine use is to have the soil free for other plantings. A vine goes a long way on one set of roots. Just looking out of my window and my ornamental grape vine [Vitis vinifera]is dancing along the top of the fence in it's bright red skirts. It's a glorious autumn colour on the rest of the dark green mixed vines and shrubs.
    Liz
     

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