To Boston ivy or not..

Reckless Abandonment

Hey all keen gardener here been toying with the idea of putting a climber on this wall (see attached) love Boston ivy in the autumn but know it's a bit of a handful when it gets going. Am I mad All suggestions and advice welcome. Also thinking wisteria could be an option.

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Personally. I wouldn't grow anything on such a nice feature wall. Boston Ivy would swamp it

Spanish Eyes

Can't see attachment!

But I wouldn't go for this climber. I have one and whilst it is glorious in Autumn it is hard to keep in check, I'm constantly cutting it back.

I'd suggest Passiflora (Passion Fruit). It is evergreen and has great flowers and fruit (inedible but good to look at!). A quick trim Spring and Autumn and it's good to go. It can go mad if you don't keep an eye on it though!

This is the one I've got, and it survived the mad snow last year too.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/12356/i-passiflora-caerulea-i/details

Reckless Abandonment

Cherrs for the advise. Passion flower are lovely. But have managed to kill two of them. But definitely worth another shot. Flowers are one of the most beautiful in the garden

Spanish Eyes

Ah can see attachment now. Thought it was a boundary wall. Scratch the passiflora maybe.

Maybe a nice clematis suitable for the orientation instead. There are so many out there, and they are lovely when in bloom. There are so many varieties, some Spring, some Summer flowering. Google them.

Lovely house too!

New Home

Spanish Eyes wrote: »

Can't see attachment!

But I wouldn't go for this climber. I have one and whilst it is glorious in Autumn it is hard to keep in check, I'm constantly cutting it back.

I'd suggest Passiflora (Passion Fruit). It is evergreen and has great flowers and fruit (inedible but good to look at!). A quick trim Spring and Autumn and it's good to go. It can go mad if you don't keep an eye on it though!

This is the one I've got, and it survived the mad snow last year too.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/12356/i-passiflora-caerulea-i/details

Just on that, some varieties of passiflora fruits are indeed edible.

Spanish Eyes

New Home wrote: »

Just on that, some varieties of passiflora fruits are indeed edible.

Yes you are right, but the one I have bears lovely orange fruits but they are totally inedible!

New Home

They're like mine, so.

I had one plant that grew from a seed of an edible passionfruit I had bought in the shops, but it died when I was away and didn't get watered enough.

my3cents

Be a nice wall for Wisteria, but you'd need to put in something strong to support it. Wouldn't put any "sticky" climber on that wall.

standardg60

It is a nice wall but a Virginia creeper could look fabulous too.. and they're easy enough to manage as the aerial roots are easy enough to peel away from anywhere not wanted.
But whatever you do don't attempt to grow it from a pot.. you'll need to remove one of those slabs to get it in the ground.

49801

I am looking for inspiration/suggestions on what to do with this wall in terms of a creeper or a hedge on opposite side.

We find all the stone a bit much. Also have something a bit unsightly in view above it. Have considered potted plants on top but management a pain.

Wall is about 2.5m high and runs north south. About 30ft long. Ground on other side is sloped. So is ground level RHS which rises about 3/4 height of the wall LHS. It tends to be quite windy here.

-few large half barrels to grow creeper
-hedge planted on opposite side to break height of wall

Just no idea what to plant/do

blackbox

Reckless Abandonment wrote: »

Hey all keen gardener here been toying with the idea of putting a climber on this wall (see attached) love Boston ivy in the autumn but know it's a bit of a handful when it gets going. Am I mad All suggestions and advice welcome. Also thinking wisteria could be an option.

Is it North facing? If so, not good for wisteria but you could try Virginia creeper henrianii.
However it needs to be rooted in ground, not tubs.

strandroad

Not sure about Virginia creeper, but Boston ivy looks dead and sad in winter.

You'd be better served by an evergreen clematis like clematis armandii and its varieties such as Apple Blossom. Or perhaps star jasmine, also evergreen, good for North walls as it tolerates some shade and has a lovely scent too. Do get it in the ground though, or a trough container at least for the size you want.

pwurple

I think it would be stunning. You have a lot of hard materials there, stone, slabs, brick. Some life on that would be gorgeous, really soften it. The colour in Boston ivy is beautiful seasonal interest. Its flowers are great for wildlife. All positive.

That blazing red in autumn, just amazing. The evergreen clematis are quite bland for my tastes. Boring whitish flower and dull leaves that never change. It's all about your personal taste really.

It is less vigorous than Virginia creeper I believe, which should be fine for that size house.

There will be maintenance of course, after a few years. Keeping it trimmed and out of your gutters, off the roof.

Where will you plant it?

Reckless Abandonment

Thanks for all the feedback people. Wall is west of north so not the best . Wisteria would like it much
But thinking I'll try two large pots and plant some Cyprus trees in them and see if that breaks up the wall a bit
Agreed it's a lovely wall. But if just feels to new and shiny for my liking. Even after 10 years.

Reckless Abandonment

pwurple wrote: »

I think it would be stunning. You have a lot of hard materials there, stone, slabs, brick. Some life on that would be gorgeous, really soften it. The colour in Boston ivy is beautiful seasonal interest. Its flowers are great for wildlife. All positive.

That blazing red in autumn, just amazing. The evergreen clematis are quite bland for my tastes. Boring whitish flower and dull leaves that never change. It's all about your personal taste really.

It is less vigorous than Virginia creeper I believe, which should be fine for that size house.

There will be maintenance of course, after a few years. Keeping it trimmed and out of your gutters, off the roof.

Where will you plant it?

If I was to go down the road of a climber. I'd pull up some of them slabs and plant in the ground.

Lumen

I realise this is not very helpful, but I do find it interesting when people completely pave over an area and then attempt to install some foliage as they would an app on a smartphone.

Container planting is a right PITA. Unless you are very careful with plant selection and/or install automatic irritation, you may go away on a summer holiday and come back to a bunch of severely drought damaged specimens. Plants in containers are also much more frost prone in winter. Plus there are loads of things that just won't grow well when root restricted.

Plants mostly belong in the earth.

New Home

Maybe they bought the house like that and they're trying to improve it.

Reckless Abandonment

Lumen wrote: »

I realise this is not very helpful, but I do find it interesting when people completely pave over an area and then attempt to install some foliage as they would an app on a smartphone.

Container planting is a right PITA. Unless you are very careful with plant selection and/or install automatic irritation, you may go away on a summer holiday and come back to a bunch of severely drought damaged specimens. Plants in containers are also much more frost prone in winter. Plus there are loads of things that just won't grow well when root restricted.

Plants mostly belong in the earth.

Or built a house and had no idea or interest in gardening at the time.
Its the part I love most about gardening, the ability to change and redo what you have done. Be it done wrong in the first place or a new idea you want to try

smacl

Lumen wrote: »

...install automatic irritation...

Little speaker at the plant base with Donald Trump podcasts on continuous loop?

@OP, only concern with any creeper is it encroaching on the guttering and doing some damage, so if you go that route you need to control the height. Virginia creeper can look fantastic but needs to be controlled. Not a huge fan of ivy, other than to hide more gruesome concrete or breeze-block walls, which clearly isn't the case here.