S. Marshall

Wow, hearing how the Kiwi could use 1-2 meters separation is quite worrisome.  I may need to stick to the Virginia Creeper and maybe that is going to be too problematic as well.  My cattle panel is only 5" away from the siding.  I had hoped the canopy would be so dense that nothing could grown underneath it (leaving the siding free from vines).  

Am I highly mistaken?

Anne Miller wrote:We have a forum dedicated to Kiwi so it cant be all that bad.

Hi Anne!  Didn't I post this in the Kiwi forum!?  I thought I did!?  

It says Forum:Kiwi at the top of my webpage, but please let me know if for some reason I'm confused.  Thanks

I live in dry Colorado at 8000' elevation (zone 4).  I installed cattle panel suspended 5" away from my house cedar siding - facing south east and south west.   I want to train vines to shade the side of my house.  One section already has 2 year old Virginia Creeper.  I'm ready to cut anything back if this goes awry.  

I bought Meader Actinidia (2 female, 1 male).  Then I say this Edible Acres video where he warns of how destructive Kiwi can get and urges not to place near your home.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GSH0xH7Ug4

Of course he is in a wet climate and I'm not sure mine would grow this aggressively.  

I'm ready to commit these Kiwi's to a different area if people think this is a bad idea.  In addition he says how cattle panel can't hold up to the weight these Kiwi's get!?!  I'm ready to build a different frame with posts and/or EMT conduit if the weight is really that much an issue - in an entirely new location or against the house like my original intention.

Does anyone have advise for me?  Thanks!

Anne Miller wrote:This article has some suggested plants
...

Thanks!

I feel like I've seen this before but can't find it.  Please redirect me if I should post this elsewhere.

I've redone some retaining walls with available boulders and would like to plant something with long roots to hold it all together.  I've got plenty of comfrey already and for this location want something a bit shorter.  Bonus if it fruits.  Can anyone thing of something with long roots that would hold things together?  It would need to survive zone 3.  thanks

Dave de Basque wrote:…

I love these suggestions!  
I didn’t intend to cover those windows but to cut the cattle panels around them. I did assume that wall may be too high for the dry and tough conditions in my climate, but thought VA creeper may work. I love the idea of trying these other plants and did not know about this database!  I will certainly check this out.

An awning would be great for these windows but we get 80+mph gusts and would hate them to rip off. I use exterior sun shades on those which considerably made a difference keeping our home cooler— with the interior cellular shades up it’s even cooler than before we have the exterior shades). The only problem was the wind, so I secured wires to keep it in place.

I love the idea of simply training vines up wires!

Robert Ray wrote:My experience has been positive. The self watering beds have been able to go over 40 days without watering. A pepper bed 7x3 with ollas was prolific and usage of water was, an incredible 35 gallons for the season. Does the underbed reservoir mitigate overheating ? Possibly. The hugel beds don't seem to be overheating. Our trials are still in their infancy but so far we have been pleased.

It seems the post you’re replying to was deleted?

I’d love to hear more details about how this self watering thing works. Sounds like you had a reservoir underneath it?  Did that limit the depth of roots for veggies like tomatoes?  

In your later post it sounded like you put wood in this reservoir?  Was there a lid on it or was the soil just placed on top so the reservoir simply filled with water?  

Did you ever experience the issue below your original post where the metal caused the soil to dry around the perimeter by being too hot?  Thanks!

I figured only a photo could explain the unique situation of mine.  Very aware of the IBC tote no-no.  I'm up for the battle (and have 3 more).  I've considered installing drip line to argue I'm not actually "storing" anything, just slowing it down.  I'm pretty secluded, one neighbor.  I need new siding, but can't afford it at this time.  Not sure if I can afford this trellis experiment either but cattle panel is cheap if I can tie into the framing like you suggest to hold it.  

Despite how poor the soil looks I can get certain things to thrive.  And VA Creepier would.  (also, luvage, and a gooseberry, haven't tried much else).  

If I held cattle panel in place 6" away from the siding I would still have plenty of room.  I wouldn't mind it disappearing when the leaves drop instead of having a wooden screen there.  I like the patina of a natural screen unless ungalvanized would need to be replaced after rust eats it.  I'd be interested to hear what small clamps to hold it up you were thinking.  Small diameter pipe as spacers would look better than exposed Lag Bolts.  The hooks sound great for additional weight support.

The idea was vertical placement on all to keep it uniform.  Even if it were horizontal it would be supported along the length.  When time comes to replace the siding I would detach, add the much needed air barrier, and reside around the bolts.  

I've had my eyes on Japanese Shou Sugi Ban finishing method (on cedar?) if I win the lottery.  Or an organic option if I want to ease maintenance and be certain about wild fire risk.  (although Shou Sugi Ban is supposed to withstand fire).

Thanks Tommy.  I was going to remind everyone I live in an extremely dry climate but it looks like you do too.  And Timothy, noted about the weight.

Here's pics of the location. The corner is due South. The wall on the left is SW and gets hit the hardest, but I wouldn't want to block the windows.  It's also three stories because the wall out basement.  The SE wall has more real estate and is 1/2 the height (considering weight of everything).

You'll notice I don't have much room.  I'm on the edge of mountain and the grade is steep.  There's only a small path to go around that corner. Camera is aimed down and that's a retaining wall outside the path.

You can see where I started a makeshift hardware cloth version to test this idea.  I pulled it away from the wall on the right to do some painting this fall.  I used long screws into the underlayment and wire to connect to the hardware cloth - this was just a test.  

If lag bolts are really that bad I'll remember that, but it's very dry.  Bugs already get into the house because when it was built they didn't bother to use an air barrier, it's so dry mold has never been an issue.

Wooden posts will take up a lost of space, Tommy.  What about steel pipe set in concrete?  I appreciate your advice so do you really think attaching the steel pipe periodically to the siding and underlayment with a decorative flange would be a bad idea?    

Hi, thanks for the replies. I like the top rail idea instead of fastening it although I'd have to see how well my eaves can support it.  It looks like mine are 1/4 - 1/2" painted OSB with a cutout screen for bugs.  It doesn't seem to be secured well and we get tons of flies.  Maybe I can do a combination of the two.  

I actually want to Virginia creeper because it's so strong.  My climate is super dry and it's hard to get anything that can stand the punishment.  I do see creeper used this way, and haven't found anything else suitable.  I would want it to come back every year and hopefully cover the whole side of the house.  The trellis a foot off I would hope could help me keep things under control and provide a space to cut anything that attaches to the house (in theory).  I would hope when it gets thick the shade would also weaken the parts that reach for the house.

I'd love to try these other annuals too.  Including Kiwi.  But again, it's so dry, it's very hard to get anything to survive in this location.  Luvage does great though.  I'm working on getting shade so some of these other ideas could possibly work.