Here is another one

Two of three CC plants

hi..I've had cats claw many times and for this hot place it is
a great plant. It will climb the wall and tends to stack up or
heap up on top of the wall. It is very easy to take your pruners
and just cut it off wherever you want to.
We once had a whole wall covered with it and after many years
got tired of it and wanted to change to something else. It grows from a "tater" and when we dug up those taters they were huge.. some of them weighed six to eight pounds. course, they were there for many years and got a lot of water.
Its a nice plant and will help keep your wall cooler and you
can cut it down as you desire. It will come back and it won't hurt your little citrus tree. In this hot place we have to grow what grows well.. and cats claw does grow well.
jonan

As Jonan said your lemon tree should be fine. I recently hacked away a section of cats claw growing at my parents house that's been there for 30+ years and was relatively neglected. If left alone for years it will take over nearby plants but as long as you keep it in check it should be fine. Just be aware of tendrils that grow along the ground, if you don't cut those eventually they will take root and spread throughout the area, that's really the only trouble you could have! Enjoy the privacy and nice flowers it produces! Just don't leave it alone forever : p

Amber, I just depends on how much work you want to do to keep the vine contained. You'll notice both jonan and umedaman stress the point that you need to keep it whacked back. And once it's planted, it's pretty much there for life as those underground tubers get huge and are difficult to remove.

But - it is a hardy vine, the flowers are pretty and it's evergreen.

Thank you all so much for your support. I am glad I posted here before digging it all out.
Cannot believe that my CCs already grew about 10" higher than they were on these photos!!
The question is, do you guys think it will climb on the metal fence or stick to the brick wall only?

Yes, I indeed am committed to trimming it whenever needed. In fact, I think the HOA won't like it if I let CCs run down on the other side of the wall, so I will be cutting it back every week and I am fine with it

It will climb up and over the metal. Keep it out of the trees!

As long as it's away from the house, it's a good wall cover plant. But it does get thick, die out under the top layers, lose it's grip on the wall and fall off in a huge mess occasionally.

Thoroughly trim it back - to the ground - every few years, and yank it off the wall to get a fresh start. It grows back faster and faster.

Thank you Lazygardens for your tips. I did not know that. Will make sure to cut it back.
Meanwhile, it does not want to stick to the metal fence. It is probably too hot. I attached wood sticks to metal yesterday and guided cat claws, so we will see if that helps.

I also have a question about my english ivy. So far so good, most of these plants are doing good but they are not attaching to the wall at all, kind of just growing along it on the ground. Walls (all of them) get really hot by the end of the day and this, I guess, is the problem. Should I build wooden trellises and train ivy on them?

Also, could anyone recommend a vine that would grow good (and fast, if possible) in a pot by the wall facing west? I need to cover it. I also have 2 citrus trees planted in crates nearby, so nothing invasive would be great.

Thank you guys.