Ivy for privacy screen?

I have a deck up in the tree line on my property that is quite secluded in summer because of the natural shrubbery in front of it. But, when winter comes, much of the vegetation loses their leaves and my deck is wide open for anyone on the lake to see.  

I've got a few everygreen shrubs planted adjacent to the deck, but they are very small and are struggling with the low light (I was actually rather surprised to find them still alive and growing this year). I was thinking about putting up lattice around the deck and then growing ivy on it.  

Does ivy grow particularly fast? What about in a low light, forested area? North slope? No sunlight for most of winter? Any other shrubs or plants that would grow quickly that could be used as a privacy screen?  

Isaac

The ivy on my property is only in a shady area, and it grows fast.

John F Dean wrote:The ivy on my property is only in a shady area, and it grows fast.

That is what I'm hoping for. Good in shade and quick growing. The workshop/deck area only gets about 2-3 hours of sun a day in summer and no sun during winter. Only issue would be the flooding in winter, but I guess I could just try it and see how it goes. I did that with my trees and was certain they would die, but now they are taller than I am. They seem to do very well under water for part of the year. Might be a problem down the road, but if so I'll just find some new sprouts up in the woods and replace them. Despite their progress, though, they take years to establish. I'm hoping ivy will make up the difference. I would like for it to not only take over the deck area but also grow inside the treeline and climb a lattice work along my other deck.  

Isaac

What height are you looking at? Ivy is *really* invasive in my area, but a native evergreen is Salal. It only grows to about 8 feet tall I recall, but it does like north slopes, has an edible berry, and grows under cedar and in shade.

Jay Angler wrote:What height are you looking at? Ivy is *really* invasive in my area, but a native evergreen is Salal. It only grows to about 8 feet tall I recall, but it does like north slopes, has an edible berry, and grows under cedar and in shade.

I'm hoping to get the ivy to grow up and over my entire workshop, or at least the front: uprights, rafters, even on the roof. It's probably 10 ft from the ground to the peak.  

Ivy is pretty invasive here as well, at least in places. I've heard it kills tress, but where I want to put it there are no trees, just a lot of undergrowth that lose their leaves in winter. Growing up the lattice by the upper decks would be probably 7-10 ft, just depending on how I set it up.  

I think I have Salal growing up by the upper deck. It doesn't grow very tall and doesn't seem to want to transplant well. Seems to stay in that one spot around a really large stump.

Isaac

Some honeysuckle varieties are evergreen, they smell great, and some are excellent nectar sources for hummingbirds.  They may be another option for you to to consider.  

Not entirely sure where you are, or if you're still looking, but if you're in NE US or Eastern Canada, I found a native plant called Moonseed that might work--

https://www.prairiemoon.com/menispermum-canadense-moonseed