Vines for privacy coverage
 

The favorite tree thread got me thinking to ask this.

In the Red Deer area and I'm looking for the best vine for coverage for this area. I've tried a few but they haven't taken off. Looking to grow it on some lattice around my deck.

Something that will come back every year.

Hops tends to grow like a weed. Its more a matter of keeping it trimmed back at many clients homes that I've noticed it at.

Hops can be interesting and last a long time but they have to grow back from the bottom every spring so you wouldn't have a screen until say end of June.

Clematis plants will provide a really dense screen with flowers in late June and only need a bit of pruning /trimming once or twice a year to keep tidy. Need to keep the roots cool as well. I have south-east exposure with a clematis screen at the back door, neighbor thinks it's a hidy hedge so I don't have to talk to him...he's right!

Virginia creeper again provides a dense screen but you have to watch out for a fly later in the summer which can strip it clean.

Could always do grapes. That's what we are growing near our hot tub as a privacy screen. Bonus is you get to eat them.

My neighbor has Virginia Creeper on a wide trellis to shade a portion of his yard, It turns a nice red color in the fall

Neighbor down the street has a Virginia creeper growing over their arbour, looks pretty cool and that’s here in Red Deer, and the neighbor behind me has hops, to me they look very messy.

virginia creeper
 

planted some years ago to give shade to one of the south facing puppy exercise runs and it has to be trimmed every year to prevent it from weighing down the pheasant netting on the nearby pen. once established it is hard to control grows like a weed.

Clematis can get pretty epic big.

Virginia creeper

Engelman Ivy

Toxic - Google it.....

With a quick google you are correct, although there are a lot of plants that are much worse.

"The clematis plant is a member of the Ranunculaceae family and is known to cause toxicity of a moderate nature when ingested by animals. Fortunately, due to the unpalatability of the clematis, cases of poisoning in dogs are not common. - Wag!"

I have the Virginia Creeper ......... grows quickly, nice full thick coverage, hardy as hell and very nice to look at. I have a few hundred ft2 of it around the side and back of the house. You can also pull it and tie it up to "train it" to expand in a different direction quite easily.

It's true what fly guy said about aphids, but a quick spray with insecticidal soap (or soap/water) once or twice fixes that issue.

oops. I was going to suggest hemp. Grows quick and tall. Can be grown densely for cover and windbreaks. In the fall cut it down and get an antique manual rope twister and make all the hemp rope you need.