Check with your county agricultural extension office. It may be listed
under the state college (in New York, it is Cornell Extension office).
Their information and publications are mostly free and will be geared to
your exact location. They also usually are the base for 4-H groups and you
could get information through them.

In China, they grow grape vines that shade pig runs. The floor of the runs
(cement) is slightly sloped so that when hosed down, the water and manure
flow to water and fertilize the vines. Multiple use.

JonquilJan

Learn something new every day
As long as you are learning, you are living
When you stop learning, you start dying
Lou wrote in message
...

"jetgraphics" wrote in message
...
I would appreciate any suggestions, ideas, or criticisms of the idea of
using a trellis & wire system to support vines (climbing or drooping) to
shade a rooftop and house side walls in Zone 7 (hot & humid).

Would suspended planters for droopers also work?

Furthermore, if anyone has information on suitable candidates for an
edible
sunshade, please post it.


You said you'd be interested in criticisms as well as suggestions. I've
tried planting a couple of viny things near the house will less than ideal
results, though neither was edible.

One was ivy. The stuff crawls everywhere, and the day I found it growing
_into_ the den on the ground floor was the day I decided to get rid of it.
It managed to get a tendril into the house where the frame meets the
foundation. The other was a fast growing vine that put out masses of
small
white flowers, don't remember the name. Pretty, but it managed to work
it's
way up the house behind the siding and into the cellar both by the same
way
the ivy got into the house and by growing through the space where the
cellar
windows met the window frames.

My Dad planted wisteria so that it would climb up the pillars supporting
the
little roof over the front door. He had the same sort of problem - the
plant is invasive and persistent, it doesn't stay just on the outside of
the
house, it'll worm it's way through any little crack or gap.

You apparently want something pretty hefty if you want to shade the roof
as
well as the sides of the house, and I'd guess you don't want to start
fresh
every year so you'd also want it to be perennial.. I can see it prying
off
the siding. If you have a brick or stone house, it'll try to creep in the
windows. If it makes it to the roof, it'll pry the shingles off. You
want
shade, plant some trees. Make sure they're not too close to the house.