Shade-tolerant Vines

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

In this article, I want to take a quick look at several types of shade-tolerant vines that will help turn your garden into an unusual and almost fabulous area. In addition, it is the vines that can help to divide the site into zones and protect it from prying eyes, if these climbing plants are planted near the fence

Ivy

What is ivy good for? It grows quickly, is undemanding to the soil and practically does not need maintenance, but at the same time it looks very beautiful. By the way, ivy can be used not only as a climbing plant, it can perfectly replace ground cover.

It is advisable to plant ivy in a pre-selected place in early spring, so that by autumn the plant will get stronger and accumulate enough strength for wintering. We choose a place for ivy in a calm place, without wind and drafts. But ivy is completely undemanding to soil and sun: it grows well in any soil, even poor, and feels great both in the sun and in the shade. In the first year after planting, ivy grows very slowly and during this period it is extremely important to monitor the condition of the top layer of the soil, it should be loose and moist. If it dries up, water it, if it ramps or grabs with a crust, loosen it thoroughly. At the same time, it is important not to overmoisten the soil, watering in the summer is done 1-2 times a week, after watering the soil can be mulched.

Ivy propagation is done by shoots or cuttings. When propagating by shoots, we need sand. In the spring or at the beginning of summer, we are looking for an escape with at least eight leaves, carefully put it on the sand (you can put it in some container, or you can pour sand on the site) and press lightly so that the leaves remain on the surface. We water and constantly monitor the moisture content of the sand. In 10-12 days, the aerial roots of the shoot will turn into underground ones. After that, carefully remove the ivy from the sand and divide it into several cuttings so that each sprout has its own leaf, and plant it in open ground. Thus, we get several shoots at once.

For the winter, ivy must be covered with any material suitable for these purposes: from natural to artificial non-woven fabric. If the ivy is not covered, frost can destroy the plant.

Stalked hydrangea

Currently, this is perhaps the most rare hydrangea species in our gardens. Although undeserved. Hydrangea can decorate any area, its length reaches 25 meters, it winds perfectly and rises up the vertical supports, and its flowers delight with a pleasant aroma. Surprisingly, for some reason, hydrangea does not like mesh supports and grows poorly on them, but she loves even walls, pillars and trees and grows on them very quickly. It can even braid large bare boulders!

Hydrangea grows well on moist soils with drainage, undemanding to acidity, but does not like lime soil. Has a positive attitude to the presence of peat on the site. It grows both in the sun and in the shade. The only thing that is a little upsetting is that in the shade the inflorescences are slightly smaller than in a sunny area. But the plant does not lose its elegant appearance in any area.

Hydrangea seedlings that have reached 2-3 years of age are planted in open ground. The distance between neighboring plants is at least a meter, the depth and width of the planting pit are 40 centimeters each. After planting, the petiolate hydrangea must be watered abundantly, each plant requires about 18-20 liters of water. Then you need to thoroughly mulch the near-stem area.

Hydrangea care is simple, the main thing is to water it on time, in the hot summer, spray the leaves with water and periodically apply top dressing. Over the summer, fertilizers are applied to the soil 3-4 times, nitrophos or superphosphate is well suited. In the fall, it is additionally necessary to add wood ash to the soil.