Best Vine for Chain Link Fence

TillinWithMyPeeps

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Does anyone have any good recommendations for a vine that would grow well on a chain link fence? It would be nice if it could cover the fence fairly well, and it would be really nice if it would look nice by flowering or fruiting.
 

RedClayGardener

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This is unusual but I bought a hops vine this spring to climb over our garage. It has already started growing and putting out leaves. It is supposed to be a fast grower. It produces little pine cone like hops. They are useful if you are a home brewer too. Hops would probably grow great and quickly over a chain link fence.
 

setter4

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I have Virginia Creeper that Mother Nature planted on my chain link fence. It runs about 50 feet down one side and I have to beat it back from the gate to keep it open. lol Last year the Japanese beetles chewed it to pieces but that kept them out of my garden. :)
 

Greensage45

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I really like the idea of both the Spinach and the Hops. I heard recently that Hops are so hard to find for the Micro-Brewer that some of them are forced to reduce the amount of beer they are producing. I bet Hops could help pay for all the extra goodies that one would like to add to the garden.

Myself, my fence is covered in Virginia Creeper as well. I love it when Fall sets in and the entire fence turns a crimson red. My chickens actually keep a lot of the creeper from running to far away from the fence.

Of course I am covered in Morning Glories every year. I think I have every color in the book and then some. It goes through the Virginia Creeper and everything else.

At my front porch I have Hyacinth Bean. I love how tender it is and the color is so fun.

http://home.att.net/~larvalbugbio/hyacinthbean.html

If it is a long fence you might try a little bit of everything.

Goodluck, Ron
 

TillinWithMyPeeps

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I looked into both Hops and Malabar Spinach, Hops sounded good until I found out that they can be poisonous to dogs, which I definitely don't need.

I might look back into Malabar Spinach, it said that it can be invasive, but I don't think that would be too much of an issue.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for vines that could grow on a chain link fence?

Could I grow Zucchini, Melons, or something like that on the fence?
 

simple life

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Andy, you can grow anything like you mentioned on a fence.
In fact that makes good use of space for a vertical garden.
You can grow many types of squash and melons that way.
You can do the scarlet runner beans too.
The wisteria comes back year after year and once it gets established it covers a big area and blooms profusely.
There are two types that I have seen that grow up to 15 feet and 25 feet.
Rather than have it grow up, train it to grow across.
As it grows just start weaving the vine in and out of the links.
You should be able to do that with any type of vine but that one is the largest that I know of outside of the hops.
There are trumpet vines, climbing roses,clematis, moon flowers...
Check out some of the vines in this link and if you need more info just google flowering vines or vines.

http://www.mountainmeadowseeds.com/Flowering-Vines.html
 

TillinWithMyPeeps

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This is great! Originally I was just trying to find something purdy to cover up the fence with, and now, I can actually grow something productive on there!?!

I'm Excited! I'd kind of like to try pole beans, is there any certain good variety? (I was thinking Blue Lake or Kentucky Wonder)

Would the squash or melons be able to grow vertically on the fence? I kind of thought that they might break off from the vine or something.
 
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