# Climbing plants on stone house



## linuxrunner (Oct 18, 2010)

I know that you should not plant climbing plaints on normal siding, but we have a stone house with large stone exterior walls. There are some neighbors who have let ivy grow up the side of there similar stone house and my wife really wants to do the same. 

is this something we could do with a less aggressive plaint? what about if we built a lattice that attached to the house?


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

I agree with you, a lattice will be your safest bet. :yes:
Most vines have tiny hairlike rhizoids (sp?) (roots) that will still break away mortar over time.

DM


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## Sir MixAlot (Apr 4, 2008)

I wouldn't do it at all. :yes:
Even with lattice. Sooner or later the vines will attach to your stone wall.
Their roots are very difficult to remove after they have attached.
I've dealt with this issue several times on stucco home repaints. 
Stone seams like it would be even more difficult to remove from and could get damaged when the vines were being removed. I eventually did get rid of the vines. 
After the initial pressure wash, I came back about 2 weeks later and pressure washed them again. I think they dried out after the 2 weeks, and pretty much came all the way off.



*After 2nd washing*

















*Primed*









*Painted*


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## DangerMouse (Jul 17, 2008)

Lattice is fine, IF regular maintenance is in the schedule. Just chop away anything that looks like it wants to head towards the walls. 
Agreed though, if left unchecked, it'll just creep up the wall any way it can. Tis the nature of the beast...

DM


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## GardenConcepts (Jan 21, 2010)

I vote to go ahead with the plants on a trellis or lattice- if you want to be cautious, just avoid plants that have 'aerial roots' such as English Ivy, Climbing Hydrangea, Virginia Creeper, and Trumpet Creeper. Safer bets would be Clematis, Akebia, Honeysuckle, Wisteria (you'll need a stout trellis) or if you have enough sun, Climbing Rose.


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## ms66cadillac (Jan 11, 2011)

I know that people use fig ivy in our area. I design with it often but not against a home both using rock or wood. We had a client that had issues with the ivy that had been on there home. It went into the mortar, started pulling the mortar up and growing into it. It went behind the windows and started pulling off the framing around the window and pulling off the gutters. It was a mess and it completely ruined the stucco on their home and was an expensive fix. I highly advise against it. 

Now other vines can be okay, but usually I suggest a trellis, thing is, a vine can be agressive so keeping it inbounds with regular maintenance is a must.


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## ms66cadillac (Jan 11, 2011)

What about using an Espalier? They are nice but take training and be kept in bounds.


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