The Choicest Vines for Trellis, Pillar, and Wall-By James T. Scott, ss 



FLOWERING AND FOLIAGE PLANTS THAT WILL GIVE SECLUSION AND FINISH TO A NEW HOME 

 -THE PROPER SIZES TO BUY FOR BEST RESULTS AND THE PARTICULAR USES OF EACH KIND 



THE best known and most useful of all 

 foliage vines is the Boston or Japanese 

 ivy (Ampelopsis tricuspidata, known in the 

 trade as A . Veikhii). This is most suitable for 

 brick or stone walls, because it has disk-like 

 tendrils on the young growths by which it 

 holds on securely, and the plant is supported 

 to any height. Boston ivy succeeds in any 

 aspect, north, south, east, or west, and is per- 

 fectlv hardy. It succeeds in the smoke 

 and dirt of the city just as well as in 

 a clearer atmosphere; and after planting 

 needs no attention, except cutting back 

 when it encroaches upon windows or 

 doors. The foliage is deciduous, but 

 in early spring bursts forth with beauti- 

 ful tints of green and red-brown. In 

 summer the vines present a mass of shining 

 green, and when autumn arrives the foliage 

 assumes vivid tints of gold, purple, and 

 scarlet; it hangs on with great tenacity, and 

 is among the last of the leaves to stand against 

 the approach of winter. 



Plant the vines in early spring, using by 

 preference two-year-old pot-grown plants 

 (costing about 25 cents each), and set them 

 six to eight feet apart. As growth is very 

 rapid, any ordinary wall will be covered 

 with drapery in two or three years. 



Field mice are very fond of the young 

 growth in winter; they must be destroyed, as 

 otherwise it is no use trying to grow Ampe- 

 lopsis. Poisoning is the most effective method. 

 Get a can of green peas from the grocery and 

 stir well into it a few grains of arsenic, then 

 let it stand for a short time. A few of these 

 strewn around will be a greater enticement 

 than the young growing shoots; and the result 

 to the mice is certain. There is a larger 

 leafed form of Boston ivy known in the trade 

 as Ampelopsis Roylei, but I prefer the 

 former. 



The Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quin- 



quefolia) belongs to the same family, but 

 does not climb. It trails much more freely, 

 however, and is the more suitable for covering 

 rocks, boulders, and low walls. Whenever 

 possible, it should be planted on the top of 

 a wall, rather than at the bottom, for its 

 tendency is to creep and grow downward, 

 rather than to climb upward like the Boston 

 ivy. Where it can be used to advantage, it 

 is a very effective and satisfactory plant. 

 Neither one has any natural enemies to 

 bother the gardener. Their purple berries 

 in the fall are much sought by our feathered 

 songsters. 



The English ivy (Hedera Helix) is the 

 only distinctly evergreen vine suitable for 

 a high wall; it is practically hardy in the 



Even in winter time, the bore stems of the Boston ivy 

 give an attractive quality to masonry walls in the city 



The best quicK-growing, fragrant-flowered vine. 

 How greatly it improves the lamp post 



vicinity of New York, but it must be planted 

 against a north wall, or have northern ex- 

 posure, or by some other means be protected 

 from the sun in winter. The cold and frost 

 do not injure the plant, unless the growth 

 be more or less active. The greatest 

 injury occurs during February or March, 

 when the vine is grown in a sunny position. 

 The early spring or late winter warmth starts 

 26 



the flow of sap so that every cell becomes 

 filled, and if at night this sap gets frozen, 

 the cell walls are ruptured and the injury 

 is done. The leaves soon turn yellow and 

 later on fall from the plant. If given a 

 northerly exposure, where the sun does not 

 strike until late in the afternoon, this cause 

 of injury is avoided. 



On rough walls, the climbing euonymus has all the 

 grace of English ivy. Rather slow growing 



The English ivy is slower in growth than 

 the Ampelopsis, but there is no other vine 

 that approaches it for beauty at all times. 

 It should be used wherever possible. It 

 emits roots along its branches, and clings 

 with tenacity, deriving nourishment from 

 even a stone wall. In planting, treat it just 

 like an evergreen shrub and do not handle it 

 until about the end of May, or beginning of 

 June. Get two-year-old pot-grown plants, 

 as in the case of the Boston ivy. The price 

 is the same, about twenty-five cents each. 

 Plant six to eight feet apart and supply them 

 plentifully with water the first summer, or 

 until they get a good hold of the new ground. 

 This vine also has few natural enemies. 



The climbing euonymus {Euonymus Ja- 

 ponica, var. radicans), illustrated in the 

 January Garden Magazine, page 286, is 

 a plant that ought to be better known as a 

 vine. It is often seen in masses, used as a 

 low shrub for covering bare spots, and for 

 this it is very well adapted, but it is also of 

 great merit as a true vine for walls, trees, 

 rocks, etc. It clings as tenaciously to a 

 rough surface as does the English ivy. Its 

 leaves are small, and growth is slow, two 

 attributes which fit the plant well for 

 use on a low wall. Besides the green fcrm, 

 there is also a variegated leaved one that is 

 extremely decorative. Both are perfectly 

 hardy in New York, and for some distance 

 north. Their small, beautiful, shiny green 

 leaves, about an inch across, are evergreen. 

 I do not know of any vine that gives a neater 

 appearance. It is quite easy to establish 

 either as a vine on a wall or as a ground cover. 

 Plant in early spring in a rich soil. It may 



