Hallson Gardens

Hi all! I have an arbor over the deck and have not been able to get anything to climb and cover the whole thing. Our purpose in adding the arbor was to cover it with vines to provide a little shade. The deck is on the southwest corner of the house and in a lot of sun and mediocre soil.

I planted a honeysuckle that climbed up the 10' sides, but in four years it hasn't climbed ACROSS the top of the arbor. I usually have fairly good luck with clematis, but they too will climb the sides but not crawl across the top. I don't think they are agressive enough.

I don't care if it's an annual vine or something that will form a thick twiggy covering that dies back and blooms out every year.

The arbor is 10' high, 13' cross, and 4' wide. What vines do you have that might do the job for me?? I'm desperate. We planted a tree that starting to get big enough to provide some shade, but I'd like a fast solution over the arbor.

HELP!!

I have better pictures, but I'm at work now so I just copied this one from another post. You can barely see the deck and arbor in the background. I can't zoom in any closer or the quality get really bad.

Have you thought about a passiflora??

How about grapes?

Karma, I thought about passion flower. My mother has an old one at the house where I grew up. But it travels underground long distances and pops up in the middle of the lawn and other place. Her gardening style is a bit 'eclectic' and she just lets it grow wherever it chooses, but I don't want something that will be hard to control.

Are there newer hybrids that are more well-behaved than what I've experienced and will perform here in zone 5?

John, I'd love to have grapes, but every time I've tried to start grapes the deer have eaten them! After 3 years, I gave up.

Jane we grow our in a huge tree pot above ground and so far no problems if it taking off. We do note the holes in the bottom sometimes have shoots but we just pull them. I would recommend the P. Caerulea and if you need one let me know.

The blue passionflower is not even supposed to be dependably hardy here in zone 6/7, yet it not only survives, but can be invasive. But Jane is in zone 5, so I wonder if hardiness would be a problem to overcome, before invasiveness?

Sweet Autumn Clematis, will get large enough to go over, but it needs to be trimmed back to the ground every spring

it will get over 20 ft when mature.

I agree Sweet Autumn clematis vine! Grows fast in one season. And blooms in august! Smells wonderful too.

I have 2, one in full sun on my chainlink fence it's huge!
The other is in full shade LOL. It's big but it took it a while because of it being in the shade. I can't believe it's growing at all LOL.

Some cut it back, I don't do anything to either one of mine!

Thats what I'm putting ove my deck here once I figure out how to put something over it so the vine can grow over

I would suggest grapes or wisteria.

Grapes would be my choice though as the vine is so easy to control, just prune it leaving buds where you want them and rub off the buds you don't want.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've thought about Sweet Autumn Clematis. I love the look of Wisteria, but aren't they SLOW growers? Hmmm, still not sure about grapes, we had them growing up and I remember picking them and helping mom make juice and jelly. I keep thinking of them as a "work" plant not a landscape plant. I'll have to shift my thinking.

My first choice would be passionflower since they are such gorgeous flowers. I'll have to do some research and see if there is a hardy, non-invasive one for zone 5.

Boston Ivy would cover it in about 3 years. I bought two plants and they covered my 30' x 40' house when I lived in Elgin, IL on all but the shady side. It turns a nice russet in fall and does not come up all over the yard. It is fairly easy to trim back to the ground for structure maintenance and then have it return to full glory the next growing season. And it tolerates drought. It does climber using a suction type of attachment. No fruit drop.

I also like the Sweet Autumn clematis, which is a fast grower.

I have also had good luck with the akebia quinata, which can be evergreen in zone 7, but grops its leaves in zone 5. It has a brief flowering in May also.

Akebia will cover the arbour very quickly ; remember two plants work better if you desire them to produce fruit .
IF you have a bit more time and patience try Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris .

When I lived in Elgin, mine when wild and it was evergreen in the mild weather. Three years and you may be cursing us! I have always grown it in partial to full shade and kept it dry to curtail its passionate assault! The flowers are nice (get a purple one!) They seldom bear fruit.

Trumpet vines would do it too, but I KNOW they are much more invasive and harder to control.

You might consider blue morning glories or hyacinth flowers until the akebia quinata works its magic.