I intend to plant a grapevine and train it up to the roof top of my house so that during the summer time we get a protection from the sun. To acheive this the grapevine has to climb up 9 meters. Is this possible? Thank you for your input
Many thanks for your reply! Do you have an idea which type of grapevine is most suitable for this and how long it would take to climb up 9 metersw? Thanks agsin
Ooh, for Europe I'd be uneasy making a reccomendation. I'd say that the best is to go to your local plant sellers, tell them about your project, and then ask what they reccomend.
We have three grape vines growing, primarily for shade but also fruit, on our house. My avatar was taken from the second story balcony and the vines I am sure would carry on over the roof if I let them. The balcony is quite long and I deal with the vines in three different ways, where I need more shade I prune it very little so that it is a wall of green, in the middle where we get the best ocean view there is a "window" framed by green and for the third section I do a medium prune. It certainly is very effective and visually pleasing. We inherited the garden from an Italian gentleman who built the house and I don't know the variety but the grapes are very forgiving of my lack of knowledge in dealing with them and we have never had any disease on them (fingers crossed). Good luck with a beautiful, environmentally ideal shade. Margaret
If you only want it for shade, and live in a cooler region, I'd go with Vitis Coignetiae. The fruit is not that good, but it can grow an awsome amount of leaves in one season, and have heard the shoots can reach 50 feet in one summer. It is also very showy, " if you buy a good selection from a nursery".
Malta has a long history of grape growing. You can grow a great many varieties there. Malta has two indigenous grape varieties, Girgentina(white) and Gellewza(black). It depends on whether you want grow a wine grape or table grape. I understand it can be quite hot and dry there so make sure the vine gets adequate moisture. Any of the classic wine grape varieties will do well there. Good luck Cheers Kim
