How to support a vine without making my neighbors view less attractive

August 27, 2017 11:36 AM

We planted bouganvilleas on our side of a shared fence. Some of the vines really need to be supported and we don't want to loop supports around the fence as part of the fence is 3' from our neighbor's living room window. How can we support a heavy vine without making our neighbor's view less attractive?

(if it matters the "finished" side faces towards us, neither us nor our neighbors know who put in the fence as it predated both of our ownership) the fence is wood and not terribly attractive but it seems like loops of plant tape would make it uglier from their side. Our best idea so far is securing plant tape with a stapler from our side (stapling on both sides of the vine)

posted by stewiethegreat to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

Can you screw some kind of support into your side of the fence?
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 11:50 AM on August 27, 2017

Yeah, you have a wooden fence? Just screw stuff onto it. Even just screws by themselves would probably be fine (although I would be sure to get good exterior-grade ones as I don't imagine your bougainvillea would appreciate being wrapped around rusty metal) or you could get those wooden pegs that are just a bit of dowel with a nail coming out, and bang a bunch of those in. Anything to give the vine something to grab onto.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 12:18 PM on August 27, 2017

Ask your neighbor what they think?
posted by aniola at 3:59 PM on August 28, 2017

Depending on which way your fence faces, I might be concerned about metal heating up from the sun and burning your plant. Happened to my sister's.
posted by kate4914 at 5:55 PM on August 28, 2017