Lou wrote in reply:

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?

snipped
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

BTW - annuals are not a problem if I can get to the planter.

so you'd also want it to be perennial.. I can see it prying
off
the siding.

NO 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.

No shingles.
The house in question will have a concrete foam sandwich wall and roof deck.
And the plants would not be anchored to the house or roof, but to amn
offset trellis, wires, or arbor, etc., or suspended from pots hanging from
an armature.

In essence, the foliage will form a shell, with an airspace between.

Any suggestions on minimum / maximum spacing between a wall and a trellis?


You
want
shade, plant some trees.

Shade trees aren't the best solution in this area. Unfortunately, due to the
clay soil, trees are susceptible to knockdown after soaking rains and
windstorms.

Plus the east / west walls need side shading more than overhead shading.

Make sure they're not too close to the house.

That's a good point. I know folks who had removed a mature tree, and found
their basement suddenly started flooding. Apparently the tree was sucking
out the excess moisture.

jetgraphics wrote:
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.

Thank you.

Pasta

Beleive it or not pasta makes a great seasonal sunshade, it is edible,
and can be colored to suit.

Pasta comes in many varieties: macaroni, spaghetti, and lasagne, to
name three. You can cover your whole house in pasta, and after the
summer, you can bring it inside and cook up some wonderful and tastey
meals, to last the winter. http://www.tdc.ca/pasta.htm

Where does spaghetti come from? Switzerland.
Thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded
spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop.
They are literally pulling strands of spaghetti down from their
spaghetti trees.

So, there you have it pasta is my choice for a sunshade. You'll have to
contact the Swiss if you want a spaghetti tree.
http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=299048

:/

Katra wrote:
In article ,
jetgraphics wrote:


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.

Thank you.




Grapevines? :-)
The only problem with those is that they lose their leaves in the winter.

You could also try Passiflora edulis or Passiflora incarnata.
Those both produce edible fruits, and they tend to be evergreen.

My Passiflora cerulea stayed green all winter thru 4 or 5 good freezes.
I want to find some of the other two species and get them planted here
as well.

Plastic lattice as a trellis looks nice and is more durable than wood
lattice. It's more expensive but lasts forever, and it comes in colors!


Any suggestions on how to get Passiflora edulis seeds to sprout. I
received a bunch as a gift last fall, so far I've tried pete tabs and
sowing them straight into potting soil in 4 inch pots. So far nary a
sprout is to be seen. Should I pre-soak the seeds? score them, soak them
in alcohol or peroxide?

Thanks in advance.
David

David writes:

Any suggestions on how to get Passiflora edulis seeds to sprout. I
received a bunch as a gift last fall, so far I've tried pete tabs and
sowing them straight into potting soil in 4 inch pots. So far nary a
sprout is to be seen. Should I pre-soak the seeds? score them, soak
them in alcohol or peroxide?

Urine works a treat.

Soak them in urine for 3 days.

In article t, says...

William Wagner wrote:
In article ,
jetgraphics wrote:


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.

Thank you.


Consider Malabar Spinach an annual. Grapes may be of interest also.
Mix in moon flowers and other flowering vines for interest...NOT Edible.

Bill


Kudzu is edible, vining, grows fast and I believe it does VERY well in
Zone 7.

April Fools.
But seriously I'm sure you know better than to plant Kudzu.

If Kudzu WERE edible, world hungry would be a distant memory.
All the starving hordes in China could not eat those vines
as fast as they can regrow...

As it is, flamethrowers and nuclear weapons may be our only hope.

O_O

FW

Chayote (sp?) Vigorous vine. Very edible.

John!

jetgraphics wrote:
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.

Thank you.

In article ,
jetgraphics wrote:
Lou wrote in reply:

snipped
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
[ ... ]
The house in question will have a concrete foam sandwich wall and roof deck.
And the plants would not be anchored to the house or roof, but to amn
offset trellis, wires, or arbor, etc., or suspended from pots hanging from
an armature.

In essence, the foliage will form a shell, with an airspace between.

That's going to have to be a pretty hefty shell, just to be freestanding
all the way around. Are you planning on a wood structure, or steel pipe
and I-beams?

How big is this going to be?

Any suggestions on minimum / maximum spacing between a wall and a trellis?

I'd allow at least four feet, both for ease of access during harvest
and pruning and to minimize the likelyhood of creepers bridging the
gap.

You
want
shade, plant some trees.

Shade trees aren't the best solution in this area. Unfortunately, due to the
clay soil, trees are susceptible to knockdown after soaking rains and
windstorms.

Use trees with tap roots--like pecans. When planting, dig a hole as deep
as you can with a posthole digger (rent a power augur if doing more than
a few holes; much less work, and you can go deeper). Dump a pound or two
of fertilizer into the holes, then add 10-15 gallons of water (I just
fill the hole a couple of times). Break up some of the clay from the
holes, mix with some peat moss, compost, topsoil, and a bit of plant
food; use this to backfill the hole and surround the tree roots when you
plant the tree. Save a bit of the mix for filling in around the trees,
as the mix will settle. Use the leftover clay for landscaping.

This approach gives the tree a good environment to start growing, an
easy path for the tap root to follow, and a great boost at the bottom
to really anchor it.

And, using pecans also means a crop to gather in late fall. Pecans
should be planted at least 40' apart.

Plus the east / west walls need side shading more than overhead shading.

So will the south wall.

Make sure they're not too close to the house.

That's a good point. I know folks who had removed a mature tree, and found
their basement suddenly started flooding. Apparently the tree was sucking
out the excess moisture.

Sounds like a few roots were growing near or into the foundation and
became conduits for water when they rotted out. Roots can leave some
big holes, and they don't close up quickly in hard soil like clay. I
have more filling work to do in my back yard from that very problem.


Gary

--
Gary Heston

Windows is like SUVs; a bad idea, poorly implemented, unsafe, with a
lot of inept users, but a fact of life we have to put up with.

Frank White wrote:

Kudzu is edible, vining, grows fast and I believe it does VERY well in
Zone 7.

April Fools.
But seriously I'm sure you know better than to plant Kudzu.


If Kudzu WERE edible, world hungry would be a distant memory.
All the starving hordes in China could not eat those vines
as fast as they can regrow...

As it is, flamethrowers and nuclear weapons may be our only hope.

O_O

FW


Ah.. but Kudzu IS edible. It is a legume, and every part of the plant
can be eaten. I have never had it myself since I am from the non-Kudzu
blighted zone 4.

But you can eat the 'bean', the leaves, the root, and as I understand
it, in its native parts of Asia it actually is a desirable culinary plant.

Here is a page I found listing some 'recipes' for Kudzu. Perhaps this
summer if you're from the South you can reduce your grocery bill eh? My
Google search did turn up other pages with recipes, happy hunting.

http://www.kudzucuisine.com/

Troy

Gary Heston wrote:
In article ,
jetgraphics wrote:
Lou wrote in reply:
In essence, the foliage will form a shell, with an airspace between.

That's going to have to be a pretty hefty shell, just to be
freestanding
all the way around. Are you planning on a wood structure, or steel
pipe
and I-beams?

Ferrocement catenary tubes for the roof top
http://karen.top.net.nz/echo/Default.htm

How big is this going to be?

Vaulted arch on 28' x 28' footprint, height hasn't been decided

Any suggestions on minimum / maximum spacing between a wall and a
trellis?

I'd allow at least four feet, both for ease of access during harvest
and pruning and to minimize the likelyhood of creepers bridging the
gap.



Use trees with tap roots--like pecans. When planting, dig a hole as
deep
as you can with a posthole digger (rent a power augur if doing more
than
a few holes; much less work, and you can go deeper). Dump a pound or
two
of fertilizer into the holes, then add 10-15 gallons of water (I just
fill the hole a couple of times). Break up some of the clay from the
holes, mix with some peat moss, compost, topsoil, and a bit of plant
food; use this to backfill the hole and surround the tree roots when
you
plant the tree. Save a bit of the mix for filling in around the
trees,
as the mix will settle. Use the leftover clay for landscaping.

This approach gives the tree a good environment to start growing, an
easy path for the tap root to follow, and a great boost at the bottom
to really anchor it.

And, using pecans also means a crop to gather in late fall. Pecans
should be planted at least 40' apart.

In article ,
David wrote:

Katra wrote:
In article ,
jetgraphics wrote:


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.

Thank you.




Grapevines? :-)
The only problem with those is that they lose their leaves in the winter.

You could also try Passiflora edulis or Passiflora incarnata.
Those both produce edible fruits, and they tend to be evergreen.

My Passiflora cerulea stayed green all winter thru 4 or 5 good freezes.
I want to find some of the other two species and get them planted here
as well.

Plastic lattice as a trellis looks nice and is more durable than wood
lattice. It's more expensive but lasts forever, and it comes in colors!


Any suggestions on how to get Passiflora edulis seeds to sprout. I
received a bunch as a gift last fall, so far I've tried pete tabs and
sowing them straight into potting soil in 4 inch pots. So far nary a
sprout is to be seen. Should I pre-soak the seeds? score them, soak them
in alcohol or peroxide?

Thanks in advance.
David


I am new to passiflora... so have no experience (yet) to pass on.
Did a brief google tho' and this site looks promising for this:

http://www.passionflow.co.uk/seed211.htm

I am hoping to get seeds this year, but will also experiment with
starting from cuttings. Mine is P. cerulea.

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

There is no need to change the world. All we have to do is toilet train the world and we'll never have to change it again. -- Swami Beyondanada

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

In article ,
(Frank White) wrote:

In article t,
says...

William Wagner wrote:
In article ,
jetgraphics wrote:


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.

Thank you.


Consider Malabar Spinach an annual. Grapes may be of interest also.
Mix in moon flowers and other flowering vines for interest...NOT Edible.

Bill


Kudzu is edible, vining, grows fast and I believe it does VERY well in
Zone 7.

April Fools.
But seriously I'm sure you know better than to plant Kudzu.

If Kudzu WERE edible, world hungry would be a distant memory.
All the starving hordes in China could not eat those vines
as fast as they can regrow...

As it is, flamethrowers and nuclear weapons may be our only hope.

O_O

FW


Kudzu IS edible!!! Seriously.
Do some googling on it.

It also makes fantastic graze for both cattle and sheep.

I've seen recent articles on great success in controlling kudzu using
sheep.

--
K.

Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

There is no need to change the world. All we have to do is toilet train the world and we'll never have to change it again. -- Swami Beyondanada

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

you have many edible choices. I would only have a perennial vine, so I
would not consider Malabar spinach or chayote. Besides grapes, hardy
kiwis (but not fuzzy kiwis, unless it is a sheltered location - they
will take 20F for short periods, no more), akebia, and schizandra.
Hardy kiwis and schizandra are the best looking plants.

On Sat, 02 Apr 2005 16:30:36 -0600, Katra
wrote:

snip
Kudzu IS edible!!! Seriously.
Do some googling on it.

It also makes fantastic graze for both cattle and sheep.

How to Grow Kudzu
http://www.locksley.com/kudzu.htm

I've seen recent articles on great success in controlling kudzu using
sheep.

Lots of sheep!

--
"A Springfield woman who began lobbying against gun violence after
her son was shot to death in 2002 was arrested last week when
police allegedly found an illegal gun and drugs in her home."
--- The State Journal-Register Online - Springfield, Illinois,
1 March 2005. More details at: http://www.tincher.to/stevens.htm

"Troy Lubbers" wrote in message
k.net...
Ah.. but Kudzu IS edible. It is a legume, and every part of the plant
can be eaten. I have never had it myself since I am from the non-Kudzu
blighted zone 4.

But you can eat the 'bean', the leaves, the root, and as I understand
it, in its native parts of Asia it actually is a desirable culinary plant.

Here is a page I found listing some 'recipes' for Kudzu. Perhaps this
summer if you're from the South you can reduce your grocery bill eh? My
Google search did turn up other pages with recipes, happy hunting.

http://www.kudzucuisine.com/

Looking at the nutritional composition of the kudzu powder described on the
site, it appears to have an insane amount of fiber. Like, 5 times as much as
an equivalent amount (calorie-wise) of whole wheat flour or 3 times as much
as an equivalent amt. of pinto beans. So I imagine it's kind of "woody."

jetgraphics wrote:
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.

Thank you.

Cascade Hops. Put them in your homebrewed beer.

Also, string beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and melons will climb a
trellis. Consider dipper gourds and loofahs.