Vines climbing on siding?

[abiyhayil]

We have an end unit townhome. Our house is 2 1/2 stories tall and just bakes in the sun. We have three dwarf fruit trees in the yard, but there's not enough room to plant a towering tree. I was wondering if I could plant a vine and let it grow up the house? Will it tear the siding down if I don't use a trellis? I'm not even sure how I would trellis it!

[JamieCatheryn]

Some vines will find their way under the siding and tear it right off, I guess it depends how aggressive a plant it is, but if it isn't an aggressive clinging vine it won't be able to grow up siding. You can get trellis pieces to put up and choose a less invasive plant that you like.

[cschick]

Originally Posted by abiyhayil

We have an end unit townhome. Our house is 2 1/2 stories tall and just bakes in the sun. We have three dwarf fruit trees in the yard, but there's not enough room to plant a towering tree. I was wondering if I could plant a vine and let it grow up the house? Will it tear the siding down if I don't use a trellis? I'm not even sure how I would trellis it!

Vines aren't going to grow up most siding unless they get under the siding, and them getting under the siding is going to cause damage. (I think that there are some vines durable enough to get a hold on cedar siding, but I suspect you're talking about hardiplank, alum or vinyl siding here?)

I would use your basic wooden scrap trellis (the stuff you'd use around the bottom of deck or something to enclose that empty space), and ask your local home store for ideas on how to secure it to the house. Some of my neighbors have wondrous summer vines growing up that kind of trellis.

[Owen'nZoe]

Another idea - friends of mine screwed eye hooks into the eaves of their house, then ran twine from each eye hook down to a stake in the ground. They had hops growining up each of the twines. It looked nice, and it shaded the south side of their house. You just have to make sure that you get the eye hooks into a stud underneath the siding, so it holds.

[abiyhayil]

thanks now to find DH a ladder high enough!