Does anyone grow climbing plants over a wire frame for shading the
greenhouse in summer.Deciduous so allowing sun light in winter.
I am putting a timber frame around the greenhouse to attach my shade
cloth,then thought of plants!Once established would be pretty much low
maintenance,probably cutting back here & there + saving on shade cloth when
the plants are covering the greenhouse .
Haven't thought about which climbers as yet.
Any thoughts on this appreciated!

--
Thanks Keith,England,UK.

keith ;-) wrote:
Does anyone grow climbing plants over a wire frame for shading the
greenhouse in summer.Deciduous so allowing sun light in winter.
I am putting a timber frame around the greenhouse to attach my shade
cloth,then thought of plants!Once established would be pretty much low
maintenance,probably cutting back here & there + saving on shade cloth when
the plants are covering the greenhouse .
Haven't thought about which climbers as yet.
Any thoughts on this appreciated!


Hops... Humulus lupulus. Grows fast, really fast. To 20 feet, or
more, by the end of the season. Perennial. Dies back to the ground in
the winter (at least around here...). Most bugs don't like it. You
could (if desired) 'dual crop' your greenhouse. Orchids all year round,
and sell the hops to the local microbrewery in the late summer.

If you do wish to use the hops for their god given purpose (beer), you
would want to invest in rooted cuttings of varieties that are popular in
your area. If you just want shade, you can get seed grown plants. I
don't think there is really that much of a difference in price, at least
at the number of plants you would need.

There are numerous books on growing hops, and a lot of information in
the internet.

Second option - grapes (Vitus vinifera). Eating or juicing varieties,
rather than wine grapes. Unless you are really insane, of course. Wine
grapes are fun, but you will find better adapted grapes that aren't wine
varieties. Third option, espaliered fruit (apples look nice). You may
as well get some sort of food out of the deal, if you are going to spend
time pruning anyway.

Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a) See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to obtain more
orchids, obtain more credit

LittlefrogFarm - Growing the plants Rob likes. )

"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
keith ;-) wrote:
Does anyone grow climbing plants over a wire frame for shading the
greenhouse in summer.Deciduous so allowing sun light in winter.
I am putting a timber frame around the greenhouse to attach my shade
cloth,then thought of plants!Once established would be pretty much low
maintenance,probably cutting back here & there + saving on shade cloth
when
the plants are covering the greenhouse .
Haven't thought about which climbers as yet.
Any thoughts on this appreciated!


Hops... Humulus lupulus. Grows fast, really fast. To 20 feet, or
more, by the end of the season. Perennial. Dies back to the ground in
the winter (at least around here...). Most bugs don't like it. You
could (if desired) 'dual crop' your greenhouse. Orchids all year round,
and sell the hops to the local microbrewery in the late summer.

If you do wish to use the hops for their god given purpose (beer), you
would want to invest in rooted cuttings of varieties that are popular in
your area. If you just want shade, you can get seed grown plants. I
don't think there is really that much of a difference in price, at least
at the number of plants you would need.

There are numerous books on growing hops, and a lot of information in
the internet.

Second option - grapes (Vitus vinifera). Eating or juicing varieties,
rather than wine grapes. Unless you are really insane, of course. Wine
grapes are fun, but you will find better adapted grapes that aren't wine
varieties. Third option, espaliered fruit (apples look nice). You may
as well get some sort of food out of the deal, if you are going to spend
time pruning anyway.

Rob

Great ideas, but I worry about scale or aphids or other infestation from the
vines dropping to the orchids...

K Barrett

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 13:37:56 -0800, "K Barrett"
wrote:

"Rob Halgren" wrote in message
...
keith ;-) wrote:
Does anyone grow climbing plants over a wire frame for shading the
greenhouse in summer.Deciduous so allowing sun light in winter.
I am putting a timber frame around the greenhouse to attach my shade
cloth,then thought of plants!Once established would be pretty much low
maintenance,probably cutting back here & there + saving on shade cloth
when

clip ----------------

Great ideas, but I worry about scale or aphids or other infestation from the
vines dropping to the orchids...

K Barrett

I was going to say the shade might be too dense. I run an odd
set I know. We have 50% shade year around. But the South end is
shaded by a 6' tall fence that is just about 6' away... lot line
and all that.

I find the shade cloth is a great barrier to prevent hail damage
or minimize it. We have a glass house and got one heavy hail
storm. Lots of pulls in the shade cloth. The adjuster had never
seen anything like it so he was ready to replace it. I told him
no and had him grab the other end, a tug and the whole cloth
pulled square again. But it was interesting. Convinced him to
pay for the 3 panes that broke. Two in the vent which did not
close fast enough and took the brunt of the direct attack I
think.

The bugs can be a problem. We grow Tomatoes along the West side
and have had a white fly problem when they got into the tomatoes.
To the point that we no longer raise seedlings in the gh or
winter over fuchsias or bougainvillea.

Good Luck either way.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

In article ,
"K Barrett" writes:
|
| Great ideas, but I worry about scale or aphids or other infestation from the
| vines dropping to the orchids...

Hang on - inside or outside the greenhouse, and where do you live?

Hops are a cool-climate plant, from choice, and vines like a warm
summer. There are a dozen or so suitable species of climber for
outside where I live, and hundreds if you get a couple of hundred
miles south (like 90% of the contiguous USA). Few of those I can
grow outside will grow inside a greenhouse, where I would have to
grow some of the heat-tolerant climbers (even with our minimal
summers).

Vines aren't terribly prone to pests when grown outside in cold
winter areas, though there are some, but most plants are when grown
in warm greenhouses. And so on.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.