thoughts on shady vines and under the porch

I'm hoping to put a vine on the chain link fence around my dog pen. It's in a shady spot. I did a little research and found climbing hydranga and star jasmine. Anybody have any other thoughts?

I've also got an unsightly area under my front porch steps of bare dirt. Weeds some times come up through it, one determined little mimosa tree I'm just going to have to kill, some scrabbly crab grass and the like. My fiance and I are going to run a soaker hose to the front flower beds on either side of the porsh so the hose will go right under the porch. I'm trying to think of something interesting that will grow there...maybe a moss? Irish Moss, Scotish Moss and baby tear's, although baby's tears maybe to tender for me. Other things I found surfing around: Laurentia, creeping dogwood, sweet woodruff,
rewood sorrel, wild ginger

My first answer would be shade loving Clematis vines. Chalk Hill Clematis Nursery offers a list of Clematis that thrive in a partly shady location. Climbing Hydrangea are lovely, but they take several years to get established and start blooming. Star Jasmine would be beautiful, but does it need more sun?

blue,
Just be careful that whatever is put on the chain link fence doesn't fall into the "toxic" category - unless it's a distance from the dog's pen. Mints always make a great ground cover...and then some...LOL The vinca vines always stay "fresh" looking and suprise you thought-out the season with their teeny-tiny flowers.
Chantell

for your bare patch of dirt consider ajuga or sweet woodruff (the later if you are sure you want it). Also had good luck with snow on the mountain

mondo grass looks good all the time and would be good under your porch. For a vine around the dog pen try Akebia quinata or Bignonia capreolata.

Be warned about vinca vine, it can take over in a hurry! Also maybe not something you want to think of the nicer it is under the porch the more welcoming it can be to snakes and other critters. We cheated and put lattice up around the bottom of our porch as dh hated the idea of snakes living under the porch lol!

As for the vine how about a native clemitis or maybe the native wisteria?

Wisteria will take her porch down

it is working on mine as we speak