My house is distinctive for the vines I have growing on it. The only other neighbours who have vines are a house on the end of a row, with a big wall to cover.
The Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) adorning my home has been here for 6 years. It’s ropey all the way to the top of the eavestrough. I trimmed it a lot the past year to stop its spread across the house and into the soffits, but spread is what Virginia Creeper does. Though to be fair, it falls back on its own, so it’s not unreasonable, and the configuration changes every once in a while. This makes it great to green-up a wall, especially if you are willing to “tutor” it across a large expanse of wall. If you don’t tutor it, it will detach and hang when it gets heavy.
For two years, I also let one climb the back wall, on the shady eastern side of the house. At the same time, I nabbed a “real” ivy plant and planted it in the same place, to have both. Parthenocissus tricuspidata “Veitchii” – Boston ivy – is not a native plant, and it’s not from Boston! Its leaves spread out row upon row – nicely, and less rambly. There’s ample room – like 10m2 – for it to spread. But it stayed stunted, so I suspected that Virginia creeper inhibits other plants. The creeper had to go.
In its place, I wanted to have a climber that thrived in the shade. So I bought Hydrangea anom. petiolaris – Climbing hydrangea (unfortunately, not native). This flowering vine grows upward more so than outward, and it looks like it will create boughs that support birds as well as its own flowers. It’s a slower grower than Virginia creeper and Boston ivy (giving the ivy a chance to get started), and it clings well. It should nicely fill in the rough brickwork without any overgrowth effects.
I left the Boston ivy there for now, so both are against the wall. It’s doing much better than when it was with the creeper. Next year, where I could remove the creeper from the front of the house and transplant this ivy there. I wouldn’t do that now, because I’d have to tear down the Virginia creeper just when it’s getting to the best part: the brilliant crimson it turns in fall.
And then again, I’m not even sure I want to replace the Virginia creeper out front, which is a native plant, after all. Maybe I’ll put the Boston ivy along the back fence, where it would cling better and be easier to control than Virginia creeper! (And that’s what I did.)
Finally I must say: It is not true that climbing vines damage your bricks. They attach to the surface by sending out little sucker pads that do not penetrate into the brickwork, and they also wind around each other. If you cut a section so that it dies, the suckers dehydrate and break off. You may have to scrape or scrub the remaining the plant matter off the surface, which is maintenance work, but it’s not damaging the pointing or whatever. Moreover, the vines help shade your home so that it’s cooler. They also give wild birds a welcome place to hang out, and berries and insects to eat. Finally, they just look nice. Stately, even.
