fast non-invasive evergreen vine

12 years ago

hello all. there's a spot of my fence i'd like to adorn with vines of some sort. based on my landscaping plan, there isnt really enough room to plant large shrubs here, but i do still want privacy between me and my neighbors. they're nice people, i just enjoy my privacy. basically i need something tall enough to climb a 6ft fence, but flat enough to not take up too much yard in that area. problem is most of the vines i've researched for this climate sound horribly invasive. a morning glory/moonflower mix are my favorite but sound the scariest. also looked at passion vine, snail vine, pink trumpet. clematis is a definate no. this would be a full sun spot and because its for privacy, i need an evergreen. topping the fence in one season isnt necessary, but it cant be a heavy plant like lady banks since its a shared cedar fence and i dont want to break it. for tellis i'd probaby be looking at attaching wire through eyelets across the face of the fence itself. anybody have any suggestions? thanks

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grant_in_arizona

12 years ago

You've gotten some great suggestions! I love bower vine too, especially the variegated forms.

Another good candidate is 'Tangerine Beauty' crossvine (Bignonia). I've had one on a hot south facing wall for three years here in Scottsdale, AZ and it's done great, blooming off and on all year. I was torn between it and bower vine, but since I like hot colors, I went with the crossvine. Here's a pic of mine:

'Tangerine Beauty' Bignonia vine
{{gwi:409377}}

This is NOT the same plant as trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) which is beautiful and aggressive in many climates. Mine has been very well behaved. Like bower vine, it needs help climbing, although unlike bower vine, it also produces small tendrils which help it grab on to vertical surfaces too.

Hopefully you'll get some more suggestions too. Let us know who the lucky winner is and how it works out.

Take care,
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: My orange crossvine on a south facing wall

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Comments (11)

User
12 years ago
What city are you nearest or in?

The requirement for FAST means the potential for invasive is there.

Evergreen eliminates a large group of vines that can't invade because they freeze back.
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
12 years ago
According to my handy-dandy "Landscape Plants for the Arizoan Desert" booklet, the evergreens are: (this seems to be a major requirement for you, being evergreen)

Bougainvilea
Lilac Vine - hardenbergia violacea
Primrose jasmine - Jasminum mesnyl
Cat Claw vine - macfadyena unguis-cati
Lady Banks rose

There's about that many semi-evergreen as well. You can usually find this booklet, produced by the Arizona Municipal Water Users Asso. at nurseries and libraries around town.
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Not sure which is the main issue - the appearance of the fence or "privacy." Simply in terms of what might survive under all those trees, you could try either eleutherococcus sieboldianus ('Variegatus' is a very pretty shrub and does OK in dry shade) or akebia quinata vine whose exuberance will be muted without access much water. Neither is evergreen. I have three rhododendrons within reach of the roots of my large maple and two dogwoods and they're doing OK. They look better now that my neighor cut HIS big maple down and they get more light. Agree with digging about the yews - they'll grow in the basement. They can also get very large, so don't plant them right up against the fence.
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Confederate jasmine should do really well. It's an evergreen and smells amazing in the spring. It will grow like mad the second year it has been planted. Mine have always grown the first year but once their roots have been well established they go gang busters. Carolina jessamine should do well too and it has pretty yellow flowers.
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Thank you all for your suggestions. I really appreciate getting some good ideas. This spot has been a problem for a few years and as I mentioned is getting worse. I have to be very careful what I plant however. DH just last year pulled out all of the vinca ground cover I had around part of the back and the north side of our house due it being too hardy and covering over the bushes and sidewalk. lol He has spotted a few trying to come back and he has already said he is going after them so I know whatever I plant must not vine. I like the Asian Jasmine very much and I believe the right color variety would look good with the photinias. If we could do as Dawn mentioned and just mow them to keep them off the bushes it might work and they might be able to withstand the late sun they will get. I also love thrift. I have had it as mixed ground cover in front of my house for years and it was just breath taking many springs and falls as well. But something happened to it in the last year or so...either the floods or the ice storms. It is trying to make a come back but is pretty sparse as of now. I know it can take sun since my house faces west and gets intense heat. It has been a challenge to find one which meets all my needs in this spot and is something DH will tolerate as well.....lol. Oh and BTW I forgot to mention it will have to be able to endure being trampled when DH prunes the photinias...lol. I think Ajuga is very nice ground cover but I really don't think it would survive the conditions I have. The purple heart I know to be a very hardy and pretty plant and low maintance but I agree Dawn it might look a little like overkill with the photinias. I find a twig of it in some of my beds around here occasionally so I am sure some of my neighbors must have it. Speaking of plants coming from neighbors...I had a battle last summer with the green variety of "jew" coming up EVERYWHERE around here. I didn't think I would ever get rid of it. Apparently seed must have washed through the yard during all the flooding rains. From the plants you all have mentioned I think the only two which might work are the Asian Jasmine or the thrift. I wonder if the thrift will have too much roots for me with all those power lines? I know the ones I planted in front came in half gallon pots. Yikes! But perhaps we could have the electric company come out and mark the lines so we can avoid them....it is pretty scary. Since this spot of my yard is in perfect view from my patio I need to do something with it. It looks pretty ugly right now with so much bare soil showing. Even thought DH gives the photinias a severe pruning pretty often and tries to keep them from being too tall still the bare spot is growing larger each year. Thank you all for your helpful suggestions and I will let you know what I end up doing. I have had so much else going on lately I have given little thought to any kind of gardening. After last year I am pretty disgusted with it to tell you the truth. It was THE WORST season for me EVER. And Dawn...no we have not been traveling. We have kept busy with going through our entire property and doing a massive clean out. I hope to have a huge garage sale and cut way down on things around here. I just want to SIMPLIFY. We finally redecorated our master bedroom and bathroom too....so we have kept very busy all winter. Now I am just ready for WARMTH. Lots of sunshine and WARMTH! Thank ya'll! G.M.
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Virginia Creeper does stick to objects in the same manner as Ivy. It will grow straight up the side of your house, very quickly. AND although easy to remove, it leaves the little marks where it's suckers or feet attached to the house. I know they are native and birds LOVE their berries and where you are located, they may NOT be invasive. BUT here in SUNNY FLORIDA where they can grow year around, they grow for enormous distances horizontally and vertically. The birds devour the berries like candy and consequently they come up volunteer anywhere and everywhere, Apparently every seed that passes through the tummy of a bird is fertile and will grow wherever it falls. They are colorful and provide lots of food for the birds and I would rather have it growing in my yard than poison oak (whose berries are well liked by birds also, by the way) but surely there is some other vine that you would like better.
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xill
Original Author
12 years ago
lazygardens-
im in brawley, ca (el centro area about half way between yuma and san diego). we pretty much have the same climate as central az but being below sea level we have slightly warmer winters and it cools off here at night during the summers due to no 'heat island' and major agriculture.

marymcp-
thanks for the suggestions. id rather not have any more bougainvillea. i have 9 already and would like to mix it up a bit. lady banks would be nice but id have to do major pruning to keep it small when it really wants to be BIG, but it is a possibility. cats claw is just too invasive for me. hardenbergia could be a good one, i thought it needed shade out here though. primrose jasmine could be a good one too. i'm not familiar with that vine but am looking into it.

anyone have experience with hardenbergia in full western sun? what about mexican flame vine or bower vine?
MaryMcP Zone 8b - Phx AZ
12 years ago
oh yeah, bower vine. Had one once but pulled it out to put something else in. It was a great vine. Plant it and forget it, though it needs water. Probably why it was not listed in my xeric booklet, quoted above. Mexican Flame vine can be frost tender. Lost a really nice one in one of our recent cold winters.
Haname
12 years ago
Second the bower vine. I have one on a west-facing wall and it really is an attractive plant.
crista
12 years ago
Bower vines are nice! Your winters are warm enough that I'll bet a snail vine would stay green all winter.
Kathleen W
12 years ago
Pyrocantha is something I'd consider. The main drawbacks are that it is thorny and it will require attentive pruning to keep it. But it is a gorgeous evergreen plant with dark green glossy leaves and bright red clusters of berries, very hardy and attracts many small birds for eating and nesting. You can get different color berries but why would anyone want to give up the red? You can also harvest the berries for jam and the cuttings are also beautiful for wreaths, garlands, etc. for the holidays.

Here is a link that might be useful: Monrovia pyrocantha description
xill
Original Author
12 years ago
pyracantha is one i'll defiantely be planting. if not in this spot then in another one. i have plenty of space to fill in this new yard.

seems like alot of bower vine fans here. does anyone have trouble with it becoming invasive? i have zero experience with vines so the horror stories are a little scary. i dont want to make the mistake of planting something that i cant later get rid of if i need to, or even worse, my neighbors cant get rid of either.
Haname
12 years ago
Mine isn't invasive at all. The plant needs supplemental water to thrive so I can't see it getting out of control that way. It twines and needs a trellis for support.
xill
Original Author
12 years ago
thanks for the suggestion grant. your crossvine is incredible! now i have to have one! lol. im torn as to which one i'd like in this new spot and which in a different location but it seems i will definitely have both the tangerine crossvine and some bower vines since neither will try to take over my yard

fast non-invasive evergreen vine

grant_in_arizona

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fast non-invasive evergreen vine

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