By Jandrews
United Kingdom 
hello.
I have a virgina creeper which fails to turn red in late summer, autumn. It is about four years old and has grown to about 18' . The leaves just die off in autumn and fall off. I also have an old labrodor which use to wee on the shingle below the creeper. We have now stopped her doing that in that place. Is the creeper failing to turn red anything to do with the urine? If so what can we do? Should we replace it and start again?
James Andrews
6 Aug, 2015
Whether or not they turn red is down to two things, well one really, but two causes - if the autumn has cold, frosty nights early on, Virginia creeper will go very red very quickly - in milder autumns, not so much. The other thing is, if your garden is small, say in a city or built up area, or the Virginia creeper is sheltered by an overhanging tree or building, then it won't be sufficiently exposed to sharp cold to get this effect, even if the weather is cold and frosty. We have this plant growing over a long run of garages near where I live - its quite noticeable that the furthermost part, which is fully exposed to the elements, usually goes red and it does it quite early, whereas the rest, nearer the buildings, often doesn't go red at all before the leaves drop off.
6 Aug, 2015