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Old 03-05-2004, 05:06 PM
kevins_news2
 
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Default Am I crazy to plant vines instead of killing them?

The west brick wall on my house becomes a huge heatsink in summer
afternoons. Once the sun comes over the house, that wall gets full
sun until the great ball of fire goes below the horizon. No trees or
shade or anything to block it. So the wall continues to be hot to the
touch well into the middle of the night. That side of the house does
stay warmer than the rest.

The house is only a year old so it's not time for major rennovations
and additional insulation. But i thought that planting some sort of
leafy vine to cover that wall would cut down on the heat penetrating
into the bricks. I'm in Ontario Canada (zone 5). The most
suggested vines at local nurseries are virginia creeper and boston
ivy. I was justa bout to plan a couple of these along the back wall
of my house but now i'm not too sure after reading some of the vine
eradication posts.

1. Do these vines ruin brick walls? They're supposed to cement
themselves naturally to the wall. Does this damage the wall or not?
I've heard conflicting opinions.

2. Are these vines difficult to control? I naievely assumed that the
vines would have only one entry into the ground (the original plant)
and all i would have to deal with is the climbing vines. I never
considered underground offshoots. Will it spread by roots or only the
climbers?

3. I still think this is a good way to control the sun penetrating
into the brick. But is there anything else i should be aware of
before planting these vines?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Kevin
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Old 04-05-2004, 01:03 AM
Kay Lancaster
 
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Default Am I crazy to plant vines instead of killing them?

The west brick wall on my house becomes a huge heatsink in summer
afternoons. Once the sun comes over the house, that wall gets full
sun until the great ball of fire goes below the horizon. No trees or
shade or anything to block it. So the wall continues to be hot to the
touch well into the middle of the night. That side of the house does
stay warmer than the rest.


I find dealing with vines on a house a pain. Until you can get some shade
trees on that side, how about a series of trellises and vines or climbers
set out a bit from the house to give you some shade? You could use
grapes, hops, roses, etc. This could also give you some "private gardens"
to view through the windows.

An even faster temporary solution would be to attach shade cloth panels
under the eaves. Watch the potential wind load, however.
Here are some examples... haven't done business with the company, however.
http://www.thenaturalhome.com/shadecloth.htm

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Old 04-05-2004, 05:07 PM
Michelle
 
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Default Am I crazy to plant vines instead of killing them?

put up a trellis and plant somthing more useful the vine will wrap
around the trellis build the trellis off the wall a bit with some
stock treated lumber or somthing so that air can flow between the wall
and trellis this wil help keep down heat.
Do you like grapes great plant those they do well in zone 5
plant a few types they lend shade beauty and a useful fruit that you
can give to family friends or just to increase birds in your yard if
not that then a lovely vine is nice too roses are great and the
foliage dies in the winter so that you don't block the warming sun in
the winter. I like son juan my self or josephs coat
and then you have lovely roses just be sure to attend to pruning
anything you put up and you should do well dont' let anything climb
directly on the wall it does do dammage and i hate to try to power
wash off those damn tracks they leave up the wall when you pull offf
the vines

if the space you mount trellises to is wide then make sure to leave a
little space between peices so you can have some access behind them
for any possible pruning or other needs
have fun with a new verticle garden dont' be afraid of new things
my vote is on the grapes i love them and can never get enough i know
some one who will ship very nice vines for cheap too if you like email
me and i'l give her info to her she's down in Ga thogh
and i'm in pa

good luck :-)


On Mon, 03 May 2004 14:57:02 GMT, kevins_news2
wrote:

The west brick wall on my house becomes a huge heatsink in summer
afternoons. Once the sun comes over the house, that wall gets full
sun until the great ball of fire goes below the horizon. No trees or
shade or anything to block it. So the wall continues to be hot to the
touch well into the middle of the night. That side of the house does
stay warmer than the rest.

The house is only a year old so it's not time for major rennovations
and additional insulation. But i thought that planting some sort of
leafy vine to cover that wall would cut down on the heat penetrating
into the bricks. I'm in Ontario Canada (zone 5). The most
suggested vines at local nurseries are virginia creeper and boston
ivy. I was justa bout to plan a couple of these along the back wall
of my house but now i'm not too sure after reading some of the vine
eradication posts.

1. Do these vines ruin brick walls? They're supposed to cement
themselves naturally to the wall. Does this damage the wall or not?
I've heard conflicting opinions.

2. Are these vines difficult to control? I naievely assumed that the
vines would have only one entry into the ground (the original plant)
and all i would have to deal with is the climbing vines. I never
considered underground offshoots. Will it spread by roots or only the
climbers?

3. I still think this is a good way to control the sun penetrating
into the brick. But is there anything else i should be aware of
before planting these vines?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Kevin


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Old 04-05-2004, 06:02 PM
William Wagner
 
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Default Am I crazy to plant vines instead of killing them?

In article ,
Michelle wrote:

Any thoughts appreciated.

Kevin


Moonflower's and Morninglorie's which are annuals or perhaps some
grapevines. Virginia Creeper is all about here in South jersey USA.
Look's like poison Ivy but there is a big difference. I like it.

What is the difference 4 vs 3 leaves and shinning vs not. Best to see
in person. Virginia climb's up while poison ivy creep's about.

Notice no caps for poison ivy!!!

Have fun!

Bill

--
Zone 5 In South Jersey USA Shade
Consider all sorts of music at http://xpn.org/
"No Progress without contraries" William Blake.
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Old 07-05-2004, 07:02 AM
MWhite3660
 
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Default Am I crazy to plant vines instead of killing them?

Kevin, I would not plant those vines! Both will completely take over and 10
years down the line may be breaking your foundation. Since you have only been
there a year, you might want to do something different with the area at some
point after having thought about it for a while. Once you plant ivy or other
invassive vines, they don't go away and you are stuck with them. I hope this
helps.
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