Having sweated blood in removing a common ivy that was growing up the gable
of our house, I'd now like to train a Virginia creeper up there instead.

There's been a VC growing by the gable end for some time but it's never been
able to get a good enough grip on the painted pebbledash to gain any height.
What's the best thing to train it up? Trellis, plastic mesh, vine eyes &
wire or something else?

"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
Having sweated blood in removing a common ivy that was growing up the
gable of our house, I'd now like to train a Virginia creeper up there
instead.

There's been a VC growing by the gable end for some time but it's never
been able to get a good enough grip on the painted pebbledash to gain any
height. What's the best thing to train it up? Trellis, plastic mesh, vine
eyes & wire or something else?

We have a VC on our (brick) gable end, it has been there for approx 12
years. I don't actually 'train it' but I get my ladders out 2 or 3 times a
year and cut off all the new growth to leave a neat square about 15 feet
wide and 20 foot high. This action also encourages the VC to fill in all
the gaps in the square, so at present I have a very full covering and in the
autumn it is absolutely beautiful when it changes colour. It is a right
PITA picking up all the leaves when they drop off!!! The amount of grab
that the 'attachers' on ours have I am surprised yours cannot get a grip on
the pebbledash.

I am in no way a gardener so this advice is worth the amount of money you
paid for it, but I pass a VC every day that the owners do not 'train' and it
is now covering the roof!

HTH

John

In message , John
writes
"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
Having sweated blood in removing a common ivy that was growing up the
gable of our house, I'd now like to train a Virginia creeper up there
instead.

There's been a VC growing by the gable end for some time but it's never
been able to get a good enough grip on the painted pebbledash to gain any
height. What's the best thing to train it up? Trellis, plastic mesh, vine
eyes & wire or something else?

We have a VC on our (brick) gable end, it has been there for approx 12
years. I don't actually 'train it' but I get my ladders out 2 or 3 times a
year and cut off all the new growth to leave a neat square about 15 feet
wide and 20 foot high. This action also encourages the VC to fill in all
the gaps in the square, so at present I have a very full covering and in the
autumn it is absolutely beautiful when it changes colour. It is a right
PITA picking up all the leaves when they drop off!!! The amount of grab
that the 'attachers' on ours have I am surprised yours cannot get a grip on
the pebbledash.

There a plant called the false Virginia creeper which looks very like a
Virginia creeper, but which needs something more than a surface to climb
(it's a tendril climber).

I am in no way a gardener so this advice is worth the amount of money you
paid for it, but I pass a VC every day that the owners do not 'train' and it
is now covering the roof!

HTH

John



--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

John wrote:

We have a VC on our (brick) gable end, it has been there for approx 12
years. I don't actually 'train it' but I get my ladders out 2 or 3 times a
year and cut off all the new growth to leave a neat square about 15 feet
wide and 20 foot high.


Our house is engulfed inside several virginia creepers. We didn't so
much buy a house as a plant ;-). It self clings to the stone walls and
doesn't need any support or training. Like you I used to get the ladder
out and trim it off high because it fouls the guttering. However, my
policy now is just to use a pair of steps and cut it off every spring
just above the ground floor windows. By the end of the year it is up to
the guttering again! I don't know how old the plants are but they have
trunks at the base two or three inches diameter. Looks lovely in Autumn
as the leaves all turns red.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

On Jul 7, 3:55*pm, "Tim Downie"
wrote:

Having sweated blood in removing a common ivy that was growing up the gable
of our house, I'd now like to train a Virginia creeper up there instead.

There's been a VC growing by the gable end for some time but it's never been
able to get a good enough grip on the painted pebbledash to gain any height.
What's the best thing to train it up? *Trellis, plastic mesh, vine eyes &
wire or something else?

For climbers generally, vine eyes are traditional. A wire hanging from
the loft soffits also works and is less work to fit, but best attach
to the loft joists rather than the soffit.

Rampant climbers can be kept withn the bounds of sanity by just
cutting through the main stems where wanted, and not pulling anything
off.


NT

On Jul 7, 7:03*pm, David in Normandy
wrote:
John wrote:

We have a VC on our (brick) gable end, it has been there for approx 12
years. *I don't actually 'train it' but I get my ladders out 2 or 3 times a
year and cut off all the new growth to leave a neat square about 15 feet
wide and 20 foot high.

Our house is engulfed inside several virginia creepers. We didn't so
much buy a house as a plant ;-). It self clings to the stone walls and
doesn't need any support or training. Like you I used to get the ladder
out and trim it off high because it fouls the guttering. However, my
policy now is just to use a pair of steps and cut it off every spring
just above the ground floor windows. By the end of the year it is up to
the guttering again! I don't know how old the plants are but they have
trunks at the base two or three inches diameter. Looks lovely in Autumn
as the leaves all turns red.

--
David in Normandy. *
* *To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
* *subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
* *by a filter and not reach my inbox.

I have a self adhesive one with little suckers! Vetchi something or
other????

Judith

Judith in France wrote:


I have a self adhesive one with little suckers! Vetchi something or
other????

Judith

Mine has little suckers too where the tendrils attach to the wall. I
don't know the variety though.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

"NT" wrote in message
...

and not pulling anything off.

Ooh Err Missus

John

On 2009-07-07 23:03:25 +0100, David in Normandy
said:

Judith in France wrote:


I have a self adhesive one with little suckers! Vetchi something or
other????

Judith

Mine has little suckers too where the tendrils attach to the wall. I
don't know the variety though.

Possibly you both have Parthenocissus tricuspidata Veitchii? It's one
of the most popular known as Virginia Creeper.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

In article ,
says...
Having sweated blood in removing a common ivy that was growing up the gable
of our house, I'd now like to train a Virginia creeper up there instead.

There's been a VC growing by the gable end for some time but it's never been
able to get a good enough grip on the painted pebbledash to gain any height.
What's the best thing to train it up? Trellis, plastic mesh, vine eyes &
wire or something else?


If you have true Virginia creeper (parthenocissus quinquefolia) then it
will require some help to stay up there as it becomes woody and heavy and
will rip off the wall, a few wires and vine eyes should be enough. If
however you have what is often called wrongly virginia creeper in the
UK but is what the americans call Bostan Ivy (Parthenocissus
tricuspidata) then it should stay up on its own. They are easy to tell
apart and the clue is in the latin names quinquefolia = 5 leafleted
leaves, tricuspidata 3 lobed leaves. other than that they do similar
autumn colour
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

Charlie Pridham wrote:
In article ,
says...
Having sweated blood in removing a common ivy that was growing up
the gable of our house, I'd now like to train a Virginia creeper up
there instead.

There's been a VC growing by the gable end for some time but it's
never been able to get a good enough grip on the painted pebbledash
to gain any height. What's the best thing to train it up? Trellis,
plastic mesh, vine eyes & wire or something else?


If you have true Virginia creeper (parthenocissus quinquefolia) then
it will require some help to stay up there as it becomes woody and
heavy and will rip off the wall, a few wires and vine eyes should be
enough. If however you have what is often called wrongly virginia
creeper in the
UK but is what the americans call Bostan Ivy (Parthenocissus
tricuspidata) then it should stay up on its own. They are easy to tell
apart and the clue is in the latin names quinquefolia = 5 leafleted
leaves, tricuspidata 3 lobed leaves. other than that they do similar
autumn colour

Hmm.. I think mine must be the quinquefolia. The wall has been newly
cleaned & painted and I suppose there's no harm in waiting to see if it will
get a grip on the new surface but if mine is the true VC then from what
you've said, I will need wires.

Thanks for the info.

Tim

In message , Charlie
Pridham writes
In article ,
says...
Having sweated blood in removing a common ivy that was growing up the gable
of our house, I'd now like to train a Virginia creeper up there instead.

There's been a VC growing by the gable end for some time but it's never been
able to get a good enough grip on the painted pebbledash to gain any height.
What's the best thing to train it up? Trellis, plastic mesh, vine eyes &
wire or something else?


If you have true Virginia creeper (parthenocissus quinquefolia) then it
will require some help to stay up there as it becomes woody and heavy and
will rip off the wall, a few wires and vine eyes should be enough. If
however you have what is often called wrongly virginia creeper in the
UK but is what the americans call Bostan Ivy (Parthenocissus
tricuspidata) then it should stay up on its own. They are easy to tell
apart and the clue is in the latin names quinquefolia = 5 leafleted
leaves, tricuspidata 3 lobed leaves. other than that they do similar
autumn colour

From the failure to climb I suspect that he has Parthenocissus vitacea,
which differs from Parthenocissus quinquefolia in lacking the adhesive
disks.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
T...
If you have true Virginia creeper (parthenocissus quinquefolia) then it
will require some help to stay up there as it becomes woody and heavy and
will rip off the wall, a few wires and vine eyes should be enough. If
however you have what is often called wrongly virginia creeper in the
UK but is what the americans call Bostan Ivy (Parthenocissus
tricuspidata) then it should stay up on its own. They are easy to tell
apart and the clue is in the latin names quinquefolia = 5 leafleted
leaves, tricuspidata 3 lobed leaves. other than that they do similar
autumn colour

I have just been to look at my plant, it does indeed have three pointed
leaves. As I said in my original reply I am not a gardener. Somebody told
me years ago that it was a VC. The same person also told me it will not do
any harm to my brickwork, is this also incorrect? I can only describe the
'attachers' as like very tiny hands with fat ended fingers.

Cheers

John

In article ,
says...
In message , Charlie
Pridham writes
In article ,
says...
Having sweated blood in removing a common ivy that was growing up the gable
of our house, I'd now like to train a Virginia creeper up there instead.

There's been a VC growing by the gable end for some time but it's never been
able to get a good enough grip on the painted pebbledash to gain any height.
What's the best thing to train it up? Trellis, plastic mesh, vine eyes &
wire or something else?


If you have true Virginia creeper (parthenocissus quinquefolia) then it
will require some help to stay up there as it becomes woody and heavy and
will rip off the wall, a few wires and vine eyes should be enough. If
however you have what is often called wrongly virginia creeper in the
UK but is what the americans call Bostan Ivy (Parthenocissus
tricuspidata) then it should stay up on its own. They are easy to tell
apart and the clue is in the latin names quinquefolia = 5 leafleted
leaves, tricuspidata 3 lobed leaves. other than that they do similar
autumn colour

From the failure to climb I suspect that he has Parthenocissus vitacea,
which differs from Parthenocissus quinquefolia in lacking the adhesive
disks.

Does that have a synonym Stewart? its not a name I have every come
across, although Parthenocissus quinquefolia falling off smooth walls I
hear about all the time!
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

In article ,
says...

"Charlie Pridham" wrote in message
T...
If you have true Virginia creeper (parthenocissus quinquefolia) then it
will require some help to stay up there as it becomes woody and heavy and
will rip off the wall, a few wires and vine eyes should be enough. If
however you have what is often called wrongly virginia creeper in the
UK but is what the americans call Bostan Ivy (Parthenocissus
tricuspidata) then it should stay up on its own. They are easy to tell
apart and the clue is in the latin names quinquefolia = 5 leafleted
leaves, tricuspidata 3 lobed leaves. other than that they do similar
autumn colour

I have just been to look at my plant, it does indeed have three pointed
leaves. As I said in my original reply I am not a gardener. Somebody told
me years ago that it was a VC. The same person also told me it will not do
any harm to my brickwork, is this also incorrect? I can only describe the
'attachers' as like very tiny hands with fat ended fingers.

Cheers

John



You have by the sound of it Parthenocissus tricuspidata AKA Bostan Ivy,
the tendrills have adesive pads on the ends, they only work once though
so only new growth will attach, secure all the old growth so its weight
in the wind will not dislodge the new stuff as it starts to attach, it
wont take it long and it forms a good cover.
It will not harm brick work, and so long as you prevent it getting under
the roof is well behaved
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea