Hello all,
I am a new home owner/gardener/handy man that is always looking to upgrade my home. My front porch faces north and the overhang shades a garden between the porch and grass. I want to put up a small rod iron or wood fence around porch and thought it would be great to find a shade vine to cover the fence. However, I am worried it would take over everything and become a neussance. Any recommendations?
Specifics...
Shaded
Evergreen
Portland OR
Flowering if possible
Thank you!
Greetings, welcome to the Forums.
First of all, a vigorous healthy vine that is grows enough to give coverage is not a
nuisance, indeed, it is what you would want. However it may very likely need to be pruned from time to time. Such pruning is a common task in horticulture. Changing one's attitude from dread and worry to acceptance and satisfaction is the first step.
Secondly, most vines grow better with some direct sunlight, but many can tolerate shade as long as it is not too deep.
Many people seem to think vines grow well in shade because they usually encounter vines while standing beneath them. Vines that will grow in
full shade will usually display few or no flowers. The few vines more likely to flower in full shade in temperate climates are deciduous, including several members of the Hydrangea Family (Hydrangeaceae):
Hydrangea anomala, Hydrangea barbara (formerly
Decumaria barbara),
Hydrangea petiolaris (formerly
H. anomala var.
petiolaris), and Hydrangea hydrangeoides (formerly
Schizophragma hydrangeoides).
As the most probable choice for a full shade, evergreen vine in Portland is English Ivy (
Hedera helix), I strongly advise that give up the requirement that the vine be evergreen, and instead choose a deciduous vine. Besides, the Hydrangea species already listed. You might consider certain members of the Grape Family (Vitaceae), with Boston Ivy (
Parthenocissus tricuspidata) generally being the most shade-tolerant option. One more fine deciduous vine for shade is the Variegated Kiwi Vine (
Actinidia kolomikta), native to eastern Asia, Japan, and Sakhalin. This vine will likely give you bright patches of white and pink color, due not to flower, but dramatically variegated foliage. You might even
possibly get small edible 'kiwi-berries' if you were to plant both male and female vines, as the species is dioecious. Though, as I said earlier, vines will flower better in the sun.
Of course, if the shade is actually not so full and complete, or if the vine could grow above the trees and house into the sun. Then the number possible flowering vines would be much greater.
