divaqs's Blog
divaqs's posts about: pergola
Apr 11, 2007 | 10:42 AM PST
Tags: Kiwi , pergola , arbor , arctic beauty kiwi , hardy kiwi , landscaping , edible
When I set out on a landscaping project I have 3 objectives:
- It must incorporate edible plants
- It must be attractive
- It needs to be low maintenance
An example of this is when I turned an ugly side yard filled with scrubby patches of grass and weeds, and nasty Juniper bushes, into a nice gravel pathway through a series of arbors hooked together to make a pergola. I then planted Hardy Kiwi and Arctic Beauty Kiwi at the base of the arbors.
I planted Kiwi of these varieties due to their lower light requirements, which is perfect for my side yard. I put the arctic beauty kiwi to the front, where it will be visible from the road with its nice variagated foliage, and where it will be in the area of less light, which it prefers. When planting kiwi, be sure to get at least one male vine, for up to 8 female (fruit baring) vines. In this project I did 1 male to 2 female vines.
I used gravel on top of a weed barrier for ground cover since it will be a lot lower maintenance then the previous scrubby grass and weeds. I used two different kinds of gravel to give a more visually pleasing affect. And I rooted the arbors in concrete footings, since Kiwi can put a lot of stress on structures. I also connected the arbors together with metal fittings, to increase their combined strength.
As the Kiwi vines grow, they will cover the arbors, to create a green tunnel of foliage, which I expect to have something of a mysterious look to it.
I am expecting a lot of tasty kiwi fruit in the coming years.
Kiwi can also be used to cover ugly chain link fences, just like I have seen done with grape vines.
