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I found this article by Brian Minter about using vines to solve garden problems. “Looking for a simple but fast cover-up to screen an old fence or wall, an unsightly building or a nosy neighbour? Why not try some interesting and attractive vines?” His review covers most of the common vines including Virginia Creeper, Hummingbird Vine, Silver Lace Vine, Wisteria and Honeysuckle.

In my previous garden there was large wisteria which provided a great show provided I remembered to prune it at the right time. It was planted next to a long beech hedge and keeping the two seperate was quite a job. When trimming the hedge I would find wisteria shoots up to twenty feet from the main bush.

So wanting to cover a rather unsightly shed in my present garden I planted a wisteria a few years ago, but so far it seems reluctant to extend its shoots where I want them to go. Instead it is producing a bunch of small branches at one end and, to make matters worse, only a few flowers.

I am having better luck with honeysuckles which along with clematis and jasmin are my favorite climbing plants. As Brian Minter says “Vines are great, easy to grow, colourful and effective in solving so many landscape problems”. Read more..

While vines can be very useful in the right place, you need to make sure that you do not choose one that is too aggressive and so becomes the problem rather than the solution. Joe Lampl writing in The Seattle Times talks about “Invasion of the garden thugs”.

“Aggressive thugs try to take over your landscape. Invasive thugs have larger goals. They escape from the garden into the natural environment and quickly squeeze out a lot of other plants in their path”.

He describes half a dozen common “thugs” including creeping buttercup which is the one that is causing me problems in my lawn and elsewhere. Read more..

And finally a quick tip on how to save on potting soil. I have tried this myself and it certainly makes sense. Read more..

Related posts:

1. Climbing Plants – Clematis Early And Late