West wall, quick shade? Help please!

13 years ago

Our house is a dark color, and I'd like to grow something to provide some shade on the west facing wall to help keep it cooler inside.

Whatever it is, it needs to play nice with the blueberry bushes we just planted (only about 2' tall, so still small) that will be about 3-4' away. It will need to go between the house and the blueberries because a) we don't want to shade the blueberries and b) much futher to the "outside" of the blueberries and we'd be on the neighbor's property. Eventually the blueberries will grow 4-6' tall, so there will be shade on the bottom half of whatever it is. It can't be something that wants to invade the siding like a wisteria or ivy. It needs to like full sun and be able to handle the heat from the siding reflecting back also. No evergreens, we are happy with the solar gain in winter, just not in the summer! It will also need to be able to handle winds, since we are between open farm fields and Lake Ontario, we get wholloped pretty well a few times per spring/summer and a lot during the winter. 30-40mph isn't unusual.

Open to perennials (zone 6 hardy), vines, roses or annuals that will reseed. Whatever it is, it will also need to grow tall, I'd say at least 8-10'.

I imagine most shrubs are out because of the proximity of the blueberries and the house-we have a weigelia that I trim a few times a year to keep it from scratching the heck out of the siding (it's been here a lot longer than we have, so I'm not partial to removing it-besides it does help some with shading a part of that side of the house).

I'm thinking probably a vine, but I am nervous about it wanting to get behind the siding (my grandparents fought an invading wisteria vine on their house, I'd like not to repeat that on mine).

I've tried to find out about the coral honeysuckles like Major Wheeler, but haven't found anything "yay or nay" as to it's wanting to do that or not. I also considered a climbing rose like Blaze (improved) but I honestly don't know how fast they grow, or if they grow thick enough to really provide shade. I also considered Clematis, but I don't know if they will grow big enough (wide enough) to be very effective either-unless I planted a number of them.

The area is in two sections on each side of a window, one is about 4-5' wide and the other is 7-8'. I don't mind planting a few vines or roses, or multiple plants.

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Comments (5)

laceyvail 6A, WV
13 years ago
The blueberries will fill your entire space when they mature, so you won't have room for anything except them. As it is, they may be a little too close to the house.
eclecticcottage
Original Author
13 years ago
I should have mentioned that whatever I'm planting will also be set back from the house at least a foot. so the blueberries are at least 4-5' from the house (I think it's actually more like 5-6'). I know they will help with some shade eventually (part of the reason we planted them there), but since the walls are about 10' tall, they won't provide a full wall of shade. Also, I think we likely have at last 7-8 years before they are really tall enough to do anything. We ahve some other blueberries that were larger that grew maybe 1/2' since planting last spring so I'm thinking we're going to be waiting a while on these guys!

I actually found a post around here somewhere about scarlet runner beans and am thinking about building something for them to climb, at least for the next few years.
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edlincoln
12 years ago
That's tough. You could plant a tree that's a legume, like Redbud or Honeylocust, on the theory that their nitrogen fixing properties will sort of offset the fact they compete with the blueberries.

You could plant clematis vines.
jim_1 (Zone 5B)
12 years ago
I like the clematis thing. You an create something for them to cling to in order to keep them from flopping. Some varieties will grow as tall as you are considering, and the flowers are pretty. Leave drop in the winter. You will need to do lots of research on the types of clematis (3 kinds). But they will love that sun!! And, they are vertical. Create a trellis for them.

Jim
jim_1 (Zone 5B)
12 years ago
I like the clematis thing. You can create something for them to cling to in order to keep them from flopping. Some varieties will grow as tall as you are considering, and the flowers are pretty. Leafs drop in the winter. You will need to do lots of research on the types of clematis (3 kinds). But they will love that sun!! And, they are vertical. Create a trellis for them.

Jim