mnicholls Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Our new house (closing this week) has a wrought iron fence along the side of it. We're looking to add a bit more privacy. Searching online, we came across Star Jasmine, which sounds perfect. Does anyone have any experience growing this in Houston? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahiki Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Our new house (closing this week) has a wrought iron fence along the side of it. We're looking to add a bit more privacy. Searching online, we came across Star Jasmine, which sounds perfect. Does anyone have any experience growing this in Houston?Haven't grown it myself, though I plan to this year. I've seen it here in many places. It seems to thrive. It grows quickly and has fragrant flowers, in the spring I think. I believe it's green all year, though someone should confirm that. I think it's a good choice for your fence. Morning glory grows well here too and flowers nicely, but it can get scraggly and is also rather aggressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 It can look great and fill in nicely - just keep it tidy! The smell can be nice, and it can attract bees and the like. It doesn't grow as aggressively as some vines so it should be fairly easy to train. Oh - be careful when you trim them - they're bleeders! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedScare Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 My neighbor put it on the chain link fence between our houses. Star jasmine rocks! Smells great, fills in well, has colorful flowers. Can't think of anything bad to say about it. It filled in much better than the honeysuckle that I had suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barracuda Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 I had planted a row of star jasmine along the fence at my last place. It grew slowly the first 1-2 years, then it took off like mad. It will definitely give you the privacy you're looking for. It blooms in April and a little in May; the rest of the year it's a dark green. It can look great and fill in nicely - just keep it tidy! The smell can be nice, and it can attract bees and the like. It doesn't grow as aggressively as some vines so it should be fairly easy to train. Oh - be careful when you trim them - they're bleeders!I second that! Once it fills in you'll need a good set of trimmers (and wear gloves or you'll get sticky sap all over you). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelguy_73 Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 My neighbor put it on the chain link fence between our houses. Star jasmine rocks! Smells great, fills in well, has colorful flowers. Can't think of anything bad to say about it. It filled in much better than the honeysuckle that I had suggested.Ditto. You will be hard-pressed to find a vine that will cover as well as Star Jasmine, yet won't completely want to take over everything else in sight like other vines. The first two years are critical, though: You will really want to stay on top of the new growth, training it evenly/consistently through the fence openings. Many people sort of let it do whatever for a year, and then try and train it, but by then the growth is stiff and much less pliable. I'm currently training mine on wire in an X pattern on a brick wall, and get out there every two weeks to train the new growth. It's strangely therapeutic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted September 21, 2009 Share Posted September 21, 2009 Many people sort of let it do whatever for a year, and then try and train it, but by then the growth is stiff and much less pliable. Yes, once mature it's very tough and woody--hard to deal with. I have some old star jasmine along one fence run that was not properly tended, and it's a supreme PITA. But it's lovely when handled properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mnicholls Posted September 21, 2009 Author Share Posted September 21, 2009 Thanks everyone!We have no experience at landscaping. Can someone elaborate on what's necessary to properly train this vine? The fence is a series of iron rods, rather than a lattice... will this make it more difficult?Does it matter what time of year we plant it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porchman Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Very durable. Great fill. However, beware the woolie aphids...little fuzzy bastards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelguy_73 Posted September 22, 2009 Share Posted September 22, 2009 Thanks everyone!We have no experience at landscaping. Can someone elaborate on what's necessary to properly train this vine? The fence is a series of iron rods, rather than a lattice... will this make it more difficult?Does it matter what time of year we plant it? October is prime planting time, as the winters here are better for new plants than the summers (gives them many months to get settled and prepare for the heat).Jasmine grows just fine on iron fencing, as you can simply train it up the rods, and then from rod-to-rod. Eventually it will fill in and form a pretty solid hedge. We are about to do just that with a 48" iron fence that surrounds our AC units. Will take 2-4 years to completely fill in, depending on sun.A final word of advice: If you have grass growing up to the fence, you would do well to add a narrow (1') border down the fence line for the Jasmine. As it grows, it will be hard to trim back the grass without hacking the lower part of the jasmine. You can then cover the new bed with mulch and run your weedeater along it without worry of the new plants. BTW, Houston Garden Center on the west loop has nice tall 3 gallon plants for about $9 each. We just bought 4 for our AC project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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