On Nov 19, 5:46 am, JayDee wrote:
I was trying to come up with a way to cover the ugly stucco balcony
I've got and it occurred to me that covering it with ivy would be
amazing. However I'm not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination
(as I may have already demonstrated) - but is there any feasible way
to accomplish this? I would imagine that watering the ivy might be
trouble without flooding the balcony! I do have a drain hole in the
center of the long wall on the balcony which I might be able to use.

Any suggestions as to how I might do this and a good place to get ivy
from would be greatly appreciated - and is this something a total
beginner should even attempt???

Thanks!

- JD

Well JD it all depends on where in the world you are, which direction
gets the sun, how much natural rainfall your balcony is exposed to,
whether you are going to have to water it, what size pot you will use
to grow it in, etc.

Why not rather use a small leafed Ficus Pimula that gently but
beautifully covers areas with its small green leaves, doesn't need
much watering, prefers shady areas to raging sun, and will cover the
walls in a few short years.

Ivy also tends to irritate the skin, has a terrible sticky sap, its
runners attach to paint which when stripped is extremely difficult to
remove ...

If you have a trellis and the balcony does not get sun at all apart
from perhaps a few hours of early morning sun, try growing a Hoya
Carnosa. It has beautiful glossy leaves, prefers being pot-bound,
flowers after only a few years and the flowers have a lovely honey
scent in the evenings.

Perhaps some other horticulturalists on this list can supply some
other hints.