Morning Glories: Any advice for container gardening with MG's, 1 by Seamus_tt

Seamus_tt wrote:
Last year, I experimented with building a "green wall" to shield my third-floor balcony from the neighbors, a dog-walk, and half a dozen A/C units. I just used a handful of "windowbox" containers, plus a few assorted pots. The morning glories quickly climbed to the top of the balcony railing, and continued up a trellis of cotton twine that I had constructed for them. The twine ran between a board with a bunch of screw eyes that were equal in number and spacing to the vertical parts of the balcony rail. The board was suspended from the ceiling of the balcony by a pair of lightweight chains that looped around two large hooks of the sort usually used to hang bicycles upside-down. Having just the two points of suspension worked well, as it provided a bottle-neck at the top end of the trellis, where I could keep the tips of the vines trimmed, and prevent them from getting out of hand, climbing up onto the roof, etc.

While the window-box planters worked, they were probably too little container for the twenty or so vines that were growing in them, as they had to be watered daily at the height of summer. This year, I think I'll use larger containers along the end of the balcony where I want privacy, and use the window boxes on the long end, for less dense growth.

Overall, the experiment worked - I was shielded from my loud and nosy neighbors (who have since moved out, though the dog run and air conditioners are still there), and as an unexpected benefit, the foliage shaded the glass door that opens onto the balcony from direct afternoon sunlight, and kept the apartment cooler and my electric bills lower. I'm looking forward to the improved version of the green wall this summer, with some interesting new varieties of Morning Glory vines.

(This photo was taken in June - it filled in even more before it peaked and started to lose its leaves in the fall.)