Is this your fence or your neighbors? Are you going to be maintaining it? If this is his fence to keep his cattle in, then he needs to be able to see the fence wire and maintain it. If this is the usual fence used on farms and ranches to fence in livestock, things growing on the fence deteriorate the fence much quicker than keeping the fence clean. If this is the case, then how poisonous Wisteria is doesn't matter.

Hello Pris,
Well from the looks of the "fence" it hasn't been maintained
in years. Maybe since it was put in in the first place.
It has pieces and parts holding it together. But I get
your drift. I'll plant things at least a couple of feet from
the fence line and put in a trellis for anything that needs
support. Don't want problems with the neighbors. In some
places the wild brush is the only things keeping the cows
from coming through. We will put up something temporary
to make sure none escape. I never see anyone tending to
the livestock but we are only there on weekends. They look
healthy but I'm a city girl. Thanks for your advice.
Hope you and your family are well. Have a Happy Harvest.

Hi Deep South,
wisteria is toxic to domesticated animals. Most wildlife,deer included probably won't touch it. I would make sure to put whatever you decide to plant along the fence at least far enough away from the fence so that you can get a riding or push mower between the fence and your plantings. If you do decide to plant the wisteria close to the fence, you'll have to make sure the tendrils don't reach out and latch onto the fence and start spreading. I'm in the deep South myself, so I know how particular we can get about our fences .. lol ! I have horses and ran a 3 board fence around my property and my neighbor had the audacity to plant honeysuckle ( a toxic plant to horses ) up against my fence ! Imagine her surprise when she came home from a week-end out of town and that crap was laying dead on the ground ! Gotta love Round-up .. lol ! She's only renting the place and I had already spoken with the owners and they told me to take it down. They have horses also and couldn't believe she planted that without discussing it with them. You may want to check with the owner of the cattle. He may not want his fence messed with and it's better to leave it alone than have to deal with a ticked off neighbor, especially since he and the cattle were there first. Maybe the owner would let you run a board fence along that side. Barb wire and hot-wire won't necessarily stop a cow from going where it wants to. If the neighbor will let you put up a board fence, just make sure to nail the boards to the posts on the cow pasture side or they'll lean into it and knock it down to get to something they think may be good to eat ! Hope this helps.

Susan

Yes, fences can be a touchy subject. Our neighbor (always drunk by the way) called my husband the other day blasting him out about 2 of our horses. He said the horses were pushing the fence down in the back pasture and he has had to round up cows every day.

Well, he caught hubby in a bad mood and hubby told him in no nice terms that's the 1st he's heard of it. He also told him that everytime we walk the fence, it's always pushed over toward our side. Meaning the cows are reaching into our pasture.

Hubby called drunk mans son and was told the cows were getting out all over the place. Besides, if they got over the fence the crazy man was talking about they would have been in our pasture. And there's no evidence they've been on our property.

So I guess what I'm getting at is that some people look for any reason to start something.

Ramona

Here is a link that might be useful: MY BLOG

Hi Ramona,
I love cows, but sometimes they are a pain ! If his cows are getting out, maybe he's over-grazing his pastures, not putting down any hay for them,etc. Maybe he needs to re-think the drinking and feed his animals! Lack of something to eat is usually the reason they'll bust down a fence. My neighbor runs several hundred head of cow-calf pairs and has done so for years and none of them have ever torn down a fence. My horses have their pasture,plus round bales of hay,plus their grain and so far, none of them have tried to pretend they're hunter-jumpers and sail over or through the fences. And yes, good fences do make good neighbors ! Which is why planting something on a fence that could quite possible tear it down is not a good idea,especially if the fence owner is running livestock. I agree with you. People will file a lawsuit now if you just look at the funny, so it's best to play it safe and leave fences alone.

Susan

Gosh I would not plant Wisteria unless I could mow around the whole planting. Down South it must be a nightmare! I can see wanting some visibility screen, but Wisteria is a monster even up here in the North!!

I had one plant, which as TINY when planted. It grew incredibly fast, turned into a heavy, thick root within a year. I trimmed it heavily, almost monthly, because it grew so quickly. By year four, the stem was two inches thick, and though short, the stem branching was bending the trellis over. I probably cut 4-5ft a summer off it, to keep it contained.

Year 5, obviously outgrowing the space allotted, I moved it. Lucky for me it died after. Stem was over 3 inches by then, height was short, but only because I was so harsh in pruning. Still had a 6-8ft spread sideways with over inch thick branches. I have never been tempted to purchase another one! This was with severely cold winters, heavy snow and frozen ground.

The thought of how big it would get with mild weather, untrimmed is scary!

You might REALLY enjoy Clematis as vine cover much more! Some varieties get quite tall, but you can shear them off. Many kinds have random flowering over the whole mild season after the early big bloom. Tremendous variation in flower shapes and colors available if you hunt for them.

A line of taller trellis' or fake old split rail fence, in front of the cow fence, could easily be covered with Clematis. Would make a good visual break, at the edge of the yard. Being able to mow up to the cow fence will be to your advantage in keeping yard chores minimized.

There are other vines available too, but so many turn into menaces once they settle in. Silver lace Vine is another thug, grows over 20ft a year, will eat the whole fence! Some of the Hydrangea vines are equally bad.

Maybe seasonal vines, Morning Glory, Cypress and Cardinal Vines, Moonflower vines, Purple Hyacinth Vine, could be equally attractive. They give lots of vine coverage, pretty flowers, yet do not go crazy with time like the perennials. Die back in "winter" seasons, though they may reseed easily in a warmer climate. I like their bird attraction qualities too.

Just be really careful with those hardy vines. You do not want to be sorry later.

"Don't want problems with the neighbors."
If you planted wisteria (or any other invasive species) anywhere near my fence we would have major problems. Be kind to our environment and plant only native species please.