Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => General Gardening => Topic started by: slinky on August 23, 2007, 11:33
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hi im new and need some advice.i am totally clueless about gardening and flowers etc,but im trying to make my garden look good.its my first garden!!! i decided that the front of our house looks very bland and boring so decided to buy something to brighten it up.i bought russian vine.now i have looked it up online it seems like it is a nightmare plant that grows like mad and you cant get rid of it.is this true.and if i do go ahead and plant it,does it need trellis or something or can it kind of cling to the wall by itself???
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Hi slinky, welcome to the site.
the tree and shrub expert suggests it needs support as it's a twiner, growing a 15ft per annum up to 40ft in total.
No mention of it becoming a problem, just keep it in check by spring prunings.
But it is deciduous so will be a bit bland and bare in winter.
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We have one growing up a tree, it flowers twice a year most years but it is very vigorous in it's growth and will need keeping under control. Especially when it gets up to your roof as it may run under the tiles/slates etc and lift them.
Like Sally says, it deciduous so a bit bare in the winter and it needs support.
BTW Welcome to the forum Slinky :D
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Also, I'd beware things actually growing up the walls of the house, as stuff like Ivy and probably russian vine too, can eat into your mortar and let damp in after a while.
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maybe i should just put it along the garden fence instead.then i could keep it under control easily.dont want it destroying our house!!!its only little so how do i train it or whatever.what do i put up for it to grow on and do you kinda weave it round things as it gets bigger???told you im clueless!!!!
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You could attach some sturdy trellis to the fence, or get a treated length of timber ram that into the ground and nail to the fence 1" x1" would do, or you could use garden wire.
Plant it about 6" away from the fence so it gets more moisture if you can,Add some compost or manure if you have any.
Then train it up, tie it in with something soft old stockings cut up are ideal.
Water well and retire to a safe distance :lol: depending on your fence you could run some stout garden wire along the top for it to run along.
Don't worry about tying it in as it starts to grow it will sort itself out, just guide it in the right direction.
Hope this helps
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thanx for the advice.good job you lot know what youre talkin about!!!
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Russian vine can be the most intrusive, distructive,disruptive plant you can ever grow.It will climb over or under every thing in its path. It can and will bring down walls sheds block drains lift foundations cause subsidance.and take over your garden.It should be avoided except in those areas that these qualities are required IE a war zone.Other wise it does have nice flowers. :?
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Russian vine can be the most intrusive, distructive,disruptive plant you can ever grow.It will climb over or under every thing in its path. It can and will bring down walls sheds block drains lift foundations cause subsidance.and take over your garden.It shoud be avoided except in those areas that these qualities are required IE a war zone.Other wise it does have nice flowers. :?
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:shock: I love mine I can see it from the patio door as I speak. All depends were you grow it, 'n yes it does have nice flowers.
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Russian vine can be the most intrusive, distructive,disruptive plant you can ever grow.It will climb over or under every thing in its path. It can and will bring down walls sheds block drains lift foundations cause subsidance.and take over your garden.It shoud be avoided except in those areas that these qualities are required IE a war zone.Other wise it does have nice flowers. :?
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:shock: I love mine I can see it from the patio door as I speak. All depends were you grow it, 'n yes it does have nice flowers.
But you R R are a very good and experienced gardener who is very aware of the distructive nature of this plant and knows how and when to control and kerb it.Would you really wish it apon a novice gardener who may live to regret it. :cry:
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Well as long as it's planted where some one wants it and is aware of it's potential then why not ?, lets be honest if you can always dig em out if you get fed up with it. I've never heard of one causing subsidence tho' :shock: yes I suppose they could block drains with it's leaves but so could any large deciduous plant.
I think we will have to agree to disagree on this on mkhenry. :D
Slinky I forgot to say aim it away from the house if you can :wink: , don't be afraid to chop it back when necessary.
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Well as long as it's planted where some one wants it and is aware of it's potential then why not ?, lets be honest if you can always dig em out if you get fed up with it. I've never heard of one causing subsidence tho' :shock: yes I suppose they could block drains with it's leaves but so could any large deciduous plant.
I think we will have to agree to disagree on this on mkhenry. :D
Slinky I forgot to say aim it away from the house if you can :wink: , don't be afraid to chop it back when necessary.
RR no need to take my word for it.When you have a mo read Shauns posting.
Sunday 20th may 8.29
Then read Digger joe
Wed 29th may
Then let me know what you think. :lol:
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Slinky, when we lived in Essex, our house had an odd space where hte bathroom extension poked out from the side of the house, but back a bit to the rest of it, and it was very bland and boring, The previous owner had made a big square wooden box, which had had plants in it.
To brighten it up a bit, hubby made me a long trellis, which I stuck in the back of the box, which was about 6 inches away from the house wall. It was quite a high trellis, but was quite safe, because the box was deep. I grew an evergreen honeysuckle and a clematis up it for a bit of colour.
I don't know what your house looks like, but perhaps something like that???
I know what you mean about bland frontages, this house is like that too, but I can't do much to it at the moment as I'm waiting for hubby to do the block paving around the house. He started round the back 3 years ago,but it hasn't reached the front yet!!!! lol Maybe one day.........
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Just to show that it not just me I quote from The Practical Gardening Encyclopedia page 130.The mile a minute plant (russian Vine ) is so fast growing and all-smothering that great care should be taken in positioning it:it is capable of overwhelming a garage WITHIN A SINGLE SEASON,and unless cut back will find its way in through small crevices in a building and can cause considerable damage....Remember it is part of the Japanese Knot family. Several other very well known gardeners warn about this plant,but I do not want to get too boring,but I must add Be very careful before you start to grow this monster. 8)
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im now going to plant it in the middle of the garden against the fence.then i have easy access to chainsaw it to bits if it starts destroying.any suggestions as to what i can put at the front of the house??want something that flowers,self climbing thingy(no trellis etc needed)and it has to be nice to my house(non destroying)
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self climbing thingy (no trellis etc needed) and it has to be nice to my house(non destroying)
These two requirements are somewhat mutually exclusive. Anything which can climb by itself will tend to damage mortar.
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What colour is the stone on your house?
Also bear in mind that high climbers can encourage vermin to shin up it and get into your roof space.
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self climbing thingy (no trellis etc needed) and it has to be nice to my house(non destroying)
These two requirements are somewhat mutually exclusive. Anything which can climb by itself will tend to damage mortar.
WG is right yet again,The only difference is some plants will damage very quickly others take a little longer :?
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my house is just reddish coloured bricks
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Best I can suggest would be to drill a few holes, insert a masonary-style rawl plug thingy & stretch wires between them. Plenty of house-safe climbers would work with that, e.g. honeysuckle which is a personal favourite of mine.
Hint: make a fan-shape with one at the bottom & 4 or more at the top.
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I'd go for a nicely scented white rose, supported up to about 8ft, and then window boxes with white/cream flowers, and maybe a bit of trailing greenery.
lawrence L-B eat your heart out.
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Pyracantha can be trained to go up a house wall. Although slow growing, its evergreen and berries of striking different colours are borne in late summer/autumn (unless the sparrows nick em!). It's also very thorny and will put buglers off climbing up to your windows :wink:
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i love roses and honeysuckle.will have to get him indoors to get on his ladder and get some wires up.!!!!
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Is Russian Vine the same as 'Mile a minute'?
I had to cut mine down when it took over everything and still didn't look like stopping :?
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Is Russian Vine the same as 'Mile a minute'?
Yes
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Planting along a fence is almost guaranteed to make you loose favour with your neighbours since it will grow up and over the fence and down the other side.
And yes it does have nice flowers, but a shame you won't be able to see any others in your garden as it smothers them.
Every plant has its place and as far as I am concerned for a Russian vine its place is the bonfire except in the largest of gardens/parklands.
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Slinky - please don't go there. Our neighbour has one and we don't talk much now!!!
They're called vine eyes WG - but not for Russians.
I did a posting about this somewhere but don't know how to direct people elsewhere.
Also still working on getting some pics posted. Will do this when the greenhouse is finished with a bit of luck.
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It was called 'This is Naughty so Don't tell anybody...' in Grow your Own, if this helps!
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It was called 'This is Naughty so Don't tell anybody...' in Grow your Own, if this helps!
http://www.chat.allotment-garden.org/viewtopic.php?t=5970
I can see that I am going to have to write up a set of instructions for getting the best out of the Search button.
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Come on - I just learned to post piccies today - one thing at a time perlease!!!
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:lol: :lol:
Why, of course, sorry - I forgot you were an Apple user ... :wink:
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:lol: :lol: :lol:
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the thing with my garden is that its quite small and i dont want to plant flowers everywhere and lose space.so my idea was keep the lawn free and just tart up the fence and make it pretty.im here every day with 2 kids so i reckon i can keep an eye on it and trim it often.or does it really grow too fast to keep up with.i know its sad but i got a wierd thing about not throwing living plants away,so i gotta do something with it!!!!im goin to post some pics of our garden and get everyone to give me ideas to make it nice too
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I agree with all you say slinky, if a a plant has taken the trouble to grow, why kill it cos it's in the wrong place.
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right ive decided to put the vine on the fence and a climbing rose at the front of the house.so which rose shall i get???house gets full sun all day and it must be an easy rose to keep as it will have a clueless owner.!!
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Well Slinky just to show you what mine looks like, its quite a few years old now and at one point about 3 years ago died back by about 50%, it's now regained most of its former self and never seems to get any bigger than it is now, the photo was taken today.
(http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u111/richyrich66/russianvine.jpg)
It does occasionally insist on trying it on with the flowering cherry :roll:
The big bushy plant on the left is not mine its the neighbours and its a evergreen honey suckle of some sort also very invasive, the odd white flower you see far right are climbing iceberg roses a lovely white rose that I planted to "lift" the north facing fence they are on.
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I agree with all you say slinky, if a a plant has taken the trouble to grow, why kill it cos it's in the wrong place.
I take it you don't bother with weeding then. Nettles, docks, thistles etc. belong in a field, but have grown in the wrong place on your allotment! :lol: :lol:
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I agree with all you say slinky, if a a plant has taken the trouble to grow, why kill it cos it's in the wrong place.
I take it you don't bother with weeding then. Nettles, docks, thistles etc. belong in a field, but have grown in the wrong place on your allotment! :lol: :lol:
strange you say that but i dopnt get any weeds!!!no honestly i dont.i only just realised that.
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ok heres my garden.may not look like much but its my 1st garden and ive tried!!!
(http://[img]http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l155/emandden1978/garden004.jpg)[/IMG](http://[img]http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l155/emandden1978/garden003.jpg)[/IMG](http://[img]http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l155/emandden1978/garden002.jpg)[/IMG](http://[img]http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l155/emandden1978/garden001.jpg)[/IMG]
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and the lawn is the next stage of work.we gotta smash some concrete up.that will be fun.but the russian vine i was going to put at the end of the garden so it covers the fence
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Your gonna have to keep a russian vine under strict control in your garden slinky, it will probably span the length of your back fence within it's 2nd year.
Like I say I love mine but looking t the size of your plot your probably going to struggle to keep it under control without a lot of pruning, IMHO you would be better off not planting it due to your garden size.
You could always freecycle it if you don't want to kill it.
Go for some of the smaller clematis get a mix of early and late flowering to give you a mix of colours ( DONT buy clematis montana it can be a monster). You could put a flowering hydrangea on the back wall which will cover it in a few years and give you some nice flowers to boot.
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I had the same thoughts RR7.
Bear in mind that it won't stay tight onto the fence - it will want to create quite a wide shaded 'canopy' over your lawn area.
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ok.i suppose i could give it to someone i dont like as a present!!! :lol:
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Just the trick looking for some background cover for sensory garden i am creating for a care home I wanted a monster plant that will be vigorous and give quick cover!! but i will plant it in the farmers adjacent feld just over the fence!!!. Thanks for that chaps n chapesses!.
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Sorry but I just had to join this forum as I was searching the web for information on Russian Vine x Knotweed hybrids and came across this post! There is some rubbish posted on here, so let's get a few things straight:
1) Russian Vine is a twiner not a clinger, and needs support. It will not attach itself to your walls!
2) Ivy clings to your walls, but it does not damage them in any way UNLESS they are already in a poor state. If your walls are sound, Ivy will simply cling to the surface and not 'penetrate' them in any way.
3) Russian Vine IS a problem - if you let it get out of control. It will happily grow anywhere, anytime, and at an astounding rate. It grows vigorously for much of the year and as a result other plants cannot compete.
4) If properly pruned in spring it will grow just where you want it and reward you with thick bunches of creamy white flowers late in the summer, going strong well into the latter part of the year.
5) Do not let the growing tips of Russian Vine come into contact with the ground unless you want it to smother your land - it quickly roots and is difficult to get rid off once an underground network is established.
I moved to a house where a vine had been allowed free reign for many years, and had almost completely covered a 20 foot cherry tree, as well as spreading across the ground. It took a lot of time to get it back to a manageable size but now it flowers much more freely and at the moment (mid October) provides the only colour in my garden. Treat it with a firm respect and it is a very useful plant :)
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Hi Darley welcome to the forums :D
Some salient points there. Not sure about the rubbish bit tho'.
I think it's a lovely plant like my photo shows it's a big 'un and needs looking after.
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have had mine for years and bought it for its fast covering properties....I did plant it in big bell pots/tubs instead of the ground and planted a mix of variegated ivy and clematis and honeysuckle as well for year round interest and colour..all up against a concrete fence on a trellis...the flowers are very dainty cascade of white/cream, I like them as well.....as long as your prepared to keep a very regular check on it its a good plant to have and serves its purpose in our garden...bit of a snail and slug haven going on behind it though...lol...so watch your other plants for the little blighters
trudi :wink:
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Consider a Balearic Clematis. They are evergreen and flower in the winter with pretty bell shaped flowers. Mrs Bouquet