Vine or creeper?

Firstly, please excuse the poor superimposed picture - strictly for illustration purposes only!

I'm hoping to grow a vigorous grape vine in a pot on a first floor terrace to climb up a back wall and to cover some wires / trellis / pergola ( see image ). I want it to trail along the full width of the wall ( 8.5m total ) and to make a good 'seal' over the top to create a sort of 'canopy' ( to protect from the neighbours ). I'm in the far South of France where it is hot. The wall you can see is SW facing.The distance from the pot in the picture and the far wall is around 5m and the height from the pot to the top is around 4m. The downpipes should give some idea of scale.. The lower level is a courtyard.

I need something quick and dense/bushy. I'm not bothered about a fruit crop, in fact the less the better as I don't want a nightmare with wasps!! Also cleaning up will be a mess too.

Will I want more than one plant ? Will the growth stretch sideways enough to reach all the way accross ( in the picture over to the far wall that can be seen ) ? Will another plant be more suitable? I thought about a Virginia Creeper or Boston Ivy ?

Any good suggestions ??

Many thanks.

 

My first thought and concern is that if you're planning to grow it in a pot, it won't do the job you want it to.... Apart from anything else, you'd have to keep watering it, even if it's often as shady as it looks in the photo.

I can't off-hand think of an answer - but I'm sure someone will! :D

 

i think the pot would need to be deeper to allow for srong roots and watering and feeding could be a problem as they can be greedy plants

 

Thanks for the replies. 2 Thoughts :

- The pot was for illustration only and I can find a bigger one! Also, the plan was to set up an irrigation system and keep it well watered, It gets VERY hot down there and thing dry out is a very short period.

- Secondly, I have an option of starting the plant on the floor below in open soil ( I suppose it would need to be the Ivy then ). This would be a further 4m below and will require the plant to climb even further..

Does this change things?

 

It does make a difference! Any plant will grow to the light, and I'm sure a virginia creeper or vine would do the job - and give you the shade you're after. They do have quite sizeable stems, trunks even as get older, though - is there space for that?

I wouldn't go for a normal ivy, one of the Hederas, as I don't think it would give you the shade you're after, and would block out light in the winter, but the boston ivy is fine, since it's a vine anyway!

It might be a good idea to send a PM (private message) to Mona Lisa, who also lives in the south of France - she would have a god idea of how things grow there.

Good luck!

 

Great... Although I had another brain wave. Immediately to the right of the pot in the photo you will see the terrace drop off to the below courtyard ( all still a building site! ). What I could do there is place a 4m long plastic pipe say 10in diameter down to the ground in the courtyard reaching up to the terrace level. Then brick it in and creat a nice opening/raised bed to plant the vine. It would be like a long drain down pipe hitting the water table. I have done this at the front of the barn with a climbing rose in a 100mm plastic pipe - and it has taken. This seems quite common down there.

The photo is a little deceiving as it was taken on a grey day in Feb. From spring on it can get scorching!

I suppose the 4m pipe may still need irrigation for the first couple of years, but hopefully a vine would take after then?

 

azillo I have now replied to your PM ... delay due to power cut !!!