In article ,
(simy1) wrote:

(Pete) wrote in message
. com...
Hi,

A newbie question:

I have a two story home, the west facing side is very ugly, pipes
etc., I would like to plant some dense evergreen climber to cover this
wall, I live in San Francisco Bay Area. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Just

How about kiwi? That will cover the wall in a flash. Build some sturdy
supports, these plants become immense. You will also get the fruits of
course. Otherwise go with ivy and wait ten years.

Kiwi's a nice choice, but not evergreen, & though it grows like mad once
established, takes a two or three years to establish. Being fed all those
wonderful fruits once it gets going is just too cool. It is a
high-maintenance vine if one values the fruits, but wild & neglectible if
fruits are unimportant. There's a male kiwi vine that has amazing white &
green leaves that looks just awesome. When selecting a kiwi bare in mind
the females have to be kept short enough to harvest, but a single male can
be allowed to spread above the better-tended females & that boy will cover
the whole upper area of a two story wall with no problem -- though if you
start with largish specimens you're still looking at a four-year wait for
it to have a lot of coverage.

Some evergreen choices that should do well around San Francisco include
Purple Passion Flower, which spreads very rapidly & self-clings without
rooting into a wall.
http://www.paghat.com/passiflora.html

There are many choices which would fast-growing & evergreen but might also
root into the house itself & cause some damage, like Algerian Ivy, great
to cover a fence but I'm not sure it would be safe on a house.

I suspect the ideal choice might well be Hydrangea seemanni, a broadleaf
evergreen that grows three or four times faster than deciduous hydrangea
(which still isn't instant coverage; there isn't much that doesn't also
injure walls that grows super-rapidly, but this Evergreen Climbing
Hydrangea is one of the "least slow" of the hyndrangeas generally, & of
any vine that cannot harm walls. It will cover a fifteen by fifteen foot
wall so densely you won't see any part of the wall.

Holboellia coriacea, China Blue Vine, grows rapidly, but takes a few years
to thicken up; it is a semi-evergreen Akebia. Regular akebia might itself
be partlky evergreen in Zone 9, & has ultra-rapid growth & thick coverage,
but the "semi" in evergreen does mean it looks very thin in winter, making
kup for being close to leafless at winter's end because that's when it
produces flowers galore, ahead of new leaves, then leaves rapidly join in.

Clematis armandii, Evergreen Clematis thrives exclusively in zones 8 & 9.
It takes some attention or it gets homely with time, but it grows faster
than any vine I know of that is truly fully evergreen in temperate
climates, & with attention it remains leafy throughout year-round, & when
in bloom at winter's end or so, the odor is just super. Try to find a less
common cultivar like the double-bloom or the pinkish-bloom varieties, as
the plain is just too common a plant. Mine is common & ordinary evergreen
clematis, but I only wanted it to cover the alley side of the garage which
is a somewhat "exiled" location. Here's a report on it:
http://www.paghat.com/evergreenclematis.html

Bignonia trumpet vines would be slow-growing in San Francisco & only
semi-deciduous, but in the slightly warmer valleys & bay areas would be
much more a true evergreen; takes two or three years to establish then
fills up a wall like a son of a gun, with gorgeous big flowers that can be
around Spring through Autumn on some of the cultivars. The cultivars are
not invasive like the wild one. You don't want it overhanging a sidewalk
or porch, as the flowers are big & juicy & make a mess unless they fall on
soil. Boy oh boy will the yard be filled with hummingbirds. Here's mine:
http://www.paghat.com/trumpetcreeper.html

Blue Potato Vine is a "wall shrub" more than a vine, & has to be trained
to a trellis to give good wall coverage. But it grows from a baby to ten
feet tall in less than a year, blooms for months on end, has lovely
orange fruits that taste horrid as horrid gets. When attached to a house
that gives it some warmth in winter, it is evergreen down to zone 8, but
will be deciduous if there's a good cold snap in winter, & it does take a
lot of attention because the rapid growth is TOO rapid & it almost needs
to be conscioiusly espaliered to work out well -- it will not attach
itself to the wall per se so you have to give it a trellis about the size
of the area you want covered or hidden. Though perhaps the "ugly pipes"
you mention would be sufficient to tie it to & it wouldn't need a trellis.
It turns into a giant floppy shrub if not consciouslky trained to a wall &
trimmed back now & then, but it's super easy to care for & if ever
over-pruned springs back in a few weeks rather than months. Here's mine:
http://www.paghat.com/bluepotatovine.html

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/