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

Ivy is not a good friend of masonary, especially stucco... within a
very few years, by the time it's established, the ivy will cause the
stucco to crumble and fall off your building. Ivy is also a terrific
bug magnet, it you enjoy skeeters eating you alive on yur balcony go
for it. Um, have you considered a fresh coat of paint... and perhaps
a few hanging baskets of annuals