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Friday - October 31, 2008

From: Houston, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Vines
Title: Vine for planters in Houston, Texas
Answered by: Nan Hampton and Joe Marcus

QUESTION:

i'm looking for a native climber/vine that would be suitable for a south facing facade that doesn't have a deep root system..to create a sort of green screen using planters sitting on the second level. ideally would like to have 2' planters and for the vine to climb up to 20 feet.. is that possible? which vines do you think would work and how deep would the planters need to be. THank you SO much!

ANSWER:

Here are four good candidates for your vine. The first three are evergreen. The final one, Virginia creeper, is not evergreen but it would work well if you wanted more sunlight in the wintertime.

Bignonia capreolata (crossvine)

Gelsemium sempervirens (evening trumpetflower)

Lonicera sempervirens (trumpet honeysuckle)

Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)

Your planters should be as deep as possible, but at least 18 inches deep.