Can Vinca and Virginia Creeper grow together? Any general advice for getting vines to grow on a seawall?

[rooting4u]

Hi all, does anyone know if Vinca and Virginia Creeper will grow together? Or have general advice on vines? I'm trying to cover up a sea wall and create some habitat.

My mom put up a steel sea wall on family lake property in southwest Michigan, which my sisters and I hate because they are terrible for the environment. (And also, terribly ugly.) I recently saw a sea wall along the Chicago river that was beautifully covered with some kind of thick vine. I couldn't get close enough to see what it was, but I realized vines are a great solution to cover up our sea wall and provide some habitat.

I love that Virginia Creeper has berries for birds and turns red in the fall. I also feel it will grow faster and lusher than the vinca (though I could be wrong, and vinca already does well on our property as a groundcover.) However, I love that vinca is evergreen.

I'm thinking maybe I can get the best of both worlds. But would love to get opinions on this as I'm a novice gardener. I'm also attaching the picture of the sea wall I saw in Chicago and the seawall in SW MI that I'm trying to cover up.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I think of those as growing up walls. the second picture looks like something that is hanging down.

 

[rooting4u]

I think of those as growing up walls. the second picture looks like something that is hanging down.

That's what I was worried about, but when I look up cascading plants a lot of people mention Virginia Creeper. Also, I'm pretty sure I have vinca in my yard cascading over a fence, so I think it will work.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

What were you going to grow in? It is difficult to see, but the steps make it look as though there is a path. Have you considered hanging containers? You could have a series of oblong hanging baskets with all sorts of cascading plants, but I am getting carried away

 

[DirtMechanic]

We have both together. Its not something you want to weed or clean out so a steep setting will help.