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JayDee 19-11-2007 04:46 AM

Planting Ivy on a second floor balcony!
 
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

Green Fingers[_2_] 19-11-2007 03:04 PM

Planting Ivy on a second floor balcony!
 
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.

Sheldon[_1_] 19-11-2007 08:33 PM

Planting Ivy on a second floor balcony!
 
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

Scott Hildenbrand 19-11-2007 09:02 PM

Planting Ivy on a second floor balcony!
 
Sheldon wrote:
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



Just for fun I did an image search to see what people were doing with
hanging baskets on balcony's and this came up..

http://www.andyandfrank.com/74%20han...ts%20&%20f.JPG

Anyone know what the plants are in it? Not 100% sure of what they are.

JayDee 19-11-2007 10:14 PM

Planting Ivy on a second floor balcony!
 
On Nov 19, 11:33 am, Sheldon wrote:
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


well there's no ceiling on the balcony, so hanging plants wouldn't
really work too well. I'm just looking for a way to cover the
stucco... I think it's ugly. I thought of putting fencing around the
inside of it also, but that's kind of pricy...

I guess any and all ideas are appreciated...Thanks!!

- JD

Scott Hildenbrand 20-11-2007 12:19 AM

Planting Ivy on a second floor balcony!
 
JayDee wrote:
On Nov 19, 11:33 am, Sheldon wrote:
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


well there's no ceiling on the balcony, so hanging plants wouldn't
really work too well. I'm just looking for a way to cover the
stucco... I think it's ugly. I thought of putting fencing around the
inside of it also, but that's kind of pricy...

I guess any and all ideas are appreciated...Thanks!!

- JD


Mount these to the walls in a creative pattern and hang draping plants
in baskets off of them.

http://www.mainstsupply.com/images/200/m56527l.jpg

Maybe something like


...............O
........O.......
...O............

or...

...O.........O..
........O.......
...O.........O..

or etc..


Or perhaps pick up a trellis like this.

http://www.trellisstructures.com/tre...-palladian.jpg

and plant something like Cypress Vine in pots below it. Cypress Vine
would be safe as it does not attach to the building.

English ivy or any climbing ivy like that would decimate the stucco on
the walls, actually pushing roots into it to the point where it would
fall off the walls in sheets. But twining vines would be fine.

Ted Mittelstaedt 20-11-2007 12:15 PM

Planting Ivy on a second floor balcony!
 

"JayDee" wrote in message
...
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???


Ivy is a weed, and what it will do to the wall is worse than the wall.
You will love it when it starts dying in sections on the wall and you
have to rip it down.

What you should look into is putting up a trellis and getting some
climbing plants. Climbing roses, grapes, there's lots of nice plants
out there.

Ted



goober 20-11-2007 10:01 PM

Quote:

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???

IVY Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

is the ugly that you refur too ugly to you looking out or people looking at your house???

if it is for you looking out why not some kind off planter on the floor with diffrent plants in them

regards

matt

JayDee 21-11-2007 02:47 AM

Planting Ivy on a second floor balcony!
 
On Nov 20, 1:01 pm, goober 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???


IVY Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

is the ugly that you refur too ugly to you looking out or people
looking at your house???

if it is for you looking out why not some kind off planter on the floor
with diffrent plants in them

regards

matt

--
goober


it's for me looking out - I've got about 15 feet to cover and can only
afford six inches or so of depth (the whole balcony only extends four-
feet out. What would be a good choice? I'm also looking for something
that doesn't need excessive watering as I don't want to flood the
balcony. Thanks!!

Scott Hildenbrand 21-11-2007 03:17 AM

Planting Ivy on a second floor balcony!
 
JayDee wrote:
On Nov 20, 1:01 pm, goober 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???

IVY Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

is the ugly that you refur too ugly to you looking out or people
looking at your house???

if it is for you looking out why not some kind off planter on the floor
with diffrent plants in them

regards

matt

--
goober


it's for me looking out - I've got about 15 feet to cover and can only
afford six inches or so of depth (the whole balcony only extends four-
feet out. What would be a good choice? I'm also looking for something
that doesn't need excessive watering as I don't want to flood the
balcony. Thanks!!



You should be able to find planter boxes that are narrow enough such as
something like this to go along the rails, which you will see while inside;

http://images.simplyplanters.com/mgen/master:CCD150.jpg

Then pick up something like this for on the walls, for when you're outside;

http://www.gardeningdirect.com/gdech...ages/XH126.jpg

Big question, do you really feel the need to cover 15' of the said
balcony rail area with planters? Just checking..

Plant wise, depends on your zone but I'd recommend anything which is
drought tolerant. Succulents are a good choice too.

Perhaps if you take a few pictures of what you're trying to work with
and upload them to a photo hosting site like photobucket, the group may
be able to give further advice.

Oh, and let us know what state you live in and the zone.


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