I'm fishing for ideas on how to make cheap supports for MG's to grow on. Someone mentioned "cane"....what is that and how do you get it? I have ten acres to fill (see photo), my farm house is way over on the left. I could grow a ton of MG's if I could think or a cheap way to put up miles of supports for them to grow on.
That'll be a sight to see! What about the cattle panels? You could make tunnels to walk thru and far enough apart to walk between or just have them be short running longways for more space for your money.
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/684265/#post_3084495
I have the cattle panel arches in my front yard and they work great! But setting up ten acres with them is just too costly. Way out in the field I am trying to think of something really cheap.
There's always stakes and twine? 10 acres of MG's, what fun! I hope you get some great ideas Beth.
Probably the most economical large scale support system would be rows with posts every 20 feet or so, with taught wire strung between top and bottom. Then take string and zig-zag up and down, with the bottom point at each MG plant. This gives two strings for each MG plant to climb. I did this last year and it worked very well....except that when you plant different varieties side by side, they mingle as they approach the top...
This year I'm using the same structure (top wire only), and using a single stake at each plant, with the stake tied off to the wire, which gives it support. This way I can also keep individual plants separate. I'm using cane for the stakes, as it grows locally and is free for the cutting. It is a tall, tough, perennial grass (can grow 12 - 15 ft tall) and the dried stalks are a lot like bamboo..though not quite as tough or strong.
What do you want to do with 10 acres of MGs! Large scale seed production? Do you envision large blocks of a single strain, or multitudes of individual strains. You could do some massive F2 growouts!
Here is a picture of some of my set up this year: http://davesgarden.com/forums/fp.php?pid=3418431
Here is a picture of one of my plants twining on the cane. - Arlan
I'm not sure cane grows around here, but I have seen some bamboo. I would sure like to multiply the varieties of MGs I grow every year and start doing some crosses. Seedwise, I suppose I could start my own seed repository for posterity...I don't know. I think acres of MGs would be a nice change from empty pasture.
Maybe you could look along some of the river banks and find alder seedlings. As I recall, they often are abundant in the Willamette Valley, and grew straight and tall when they were in thickets. I remember the massive support systems they grew hops on...maybe something could be adapted from their systems...scaled down of course!
You do have the one asset that most of us covet...space! I agree, acres of MGs would look nice...
Ive Started Useing Bamboo i have a whole bunch here This ones on a Ten foot Bammbo Pole
Beth Bamboo will grow good where you are Paul
Beth,
I also used to use my own bamboo shoots in CA. Most of the bamboo I purchased was from a fellow there in Portland, Or. Also, the timber bamboo grows quite fast and TALL & THICK..
The only one I have been able to purchase here is the Black Bamboo runner type, and Golden Groove, but if you could get yourself some clumpers like timber, you will have a great supply of your own stock shoots.
I need your 10 acres..lol.., my neighbors are already getting worried about the morning glories taking over their farms (they think they are bindweeds) and now they saw the bamboo (I'm sure they wish I'd move), but I found some metal tubs to use as barriers for the runner boos. You may not need to use metal barriers if you keep cutting the culms down, we just do not have the space, so I must use the metal barriers.
Nice property there. A.
Beth, there is a wonderful picture book for the coffee table on bamboos, translated from the German book so popular. There are a good number of bamboo nurseries in Oregon that you can google. Most ask you to make an apppointment, because they are not a typical nursery.
The Japanese Black Bamboo that I have, I planted for purely aesthetic reasons, and don't mind the fenceposts and rope it takes to keep it beautiful to us. Not a day goes by with us exulting over the bamboo. It is to cool at five or six in the morning to see the birds that are nesting in it, to fly to the bottom, and then fly straight up, dissappearing like magic
About 10 years ago, a guy at work, doing a landscape job on the weekend removing it somewhere, brought me a good starting clump that weighed about like a sack of grain. Bout the same size dirt ball too. Today it is about 10' x 20' x 25' high, and it has 6 seven foot fenceposts in the middle with 8' x 3" plastic pipes to tie ropes to to keep it up and looking elegant.
If I lived in town I would never consider this kind. The culms get to be 1.5 inches in diameter and it brushes the phone lines at the top.
A field trip to a nursery that is exclusively bamboo, is far better than a museum trip, and is so uplifting. I recommend this kind of trip to everyone , and don't even think of leaving your camera home or picnic.
basket. Frank
Beth, what if, in addition to a grow-out MG section, you had other sections devoted to different kinds of MG species?
That could make quite a varied walk, and some of the sections could be relatively easy to maintain if they were to specialize in bush-types of native species in one type of section (Evolvulus nuttallianus, Ipomoea leptophylla sp., etc.) and non-natives in another.
You could obtain a wonderful contrast to some of these low-lying sections with a "Monster Alley" which might have a relatively sturdy, permanent arbor that could be walked under that might support something like Ipomoea horrida (aka I. setosa) or Poison Morning Glory (I. muelleri) - or just of a monstrously large growing habit (noxious invasives excluded).
Perhaps various paths could come out on a central clearing with a fountain in the middle, benches, pots of small treasures (caudiciform MGs, etc.)?
I haven't researched what plants do best in your part of the world (let alone what its natural habitat(!) is or might be becoming), but I would definitely mix in other types of plants to make it a 4-season garden -- the ideas above already suggest interrupting too-predictable geometry with groves of bamboo or something like alder you could naturalize (a small holly grove for winter? Ilex 'Dragon Lady' has a natural narrow, slightly weeping habit.). Early and late bulbs could be naturalized among the groves, and maybe some kind of narrow evergreen woody (off-hand, don't know what it would be - Virginia cedar is said to be invasive in some parts of the west - would a tall cactus be happy there?) plant in small clumps for winter in the clearing.
Ron, there must be oodles of MG species Beth could expand these ideas to accomodate...?
And then there's companion plants to play with - they must be happy in your circumstances, include more natives, invite birds, hummers, butterflies, bees, etc (sages, agastaches, penstemons - NARGS seed exchange would be right up your alley for low plants to naturalize with low species MGs ( http://www.nargs.org/ ). Seems like there's a possible infinity of ideas here for everyone to play with.
This message was edited May 1, 2007 10:34 AM
Can you see the volunteer hawthorne shrub/trees out there in the photo? How could I kill them while leaving their tree trunks for MG's to grow on? We have rose, peony, iris, and daffodil gardens open to the public nearby....why couldn't I get a MG garden going (eventually).
Your land is nice and with some work over time it will develop into a beautiful garden!
I bet it would be a big hit - perhaps include a a few variations on the labyrinth pattern (both closed and open overhead) playing on "clearings" (within and without)? ...whimsical sculpture/scare scrows sprouting Convolvulus sabatius or C. tricolor or?...you have some very exciting possibilities here
A cut-out of a lath house featuring morning glories "at the windows" with a plaque in front with that quote that used to begin this forum: "A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books" Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass ( http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/w#a600 )
I really miss having that quote at the beginning of this forum. Here's a webpage of garden poetry I found while looking for the above link -
http://www.quotegarden.com/flowers.html
Can't resist mentioning a poetry walk
Beth,
Do you get wind in that area there? It is so bad here, that I am having to try some other methods for my MGs and other plants. You may need windbreaks in place before you start.
A.
We get nearly no wind here on the valley floor, except for rare occasions in the winter. Barely a breeze in the summer.
Oh my lord, you lucky you.. I hate these winds here. Too strong.
A.
Very lucky, we get horrible winds here, too :(
This is our average wind (in Red) compared with the national average. You can see it is much lower than average.
Now you're just being mean lol
wow, I just lost 270 plus tomato plants this weekend and some other veggies to the wind. Do you get enough circulation going there? It seems like you still need that breeze to get the bugs going away and provide some fresh air..
We had tornado warnings this afternoon for awhile, hail and whatnot..
Our properties in Colorado and New Mexico get a lot more wind than here in Oregon. I guess that's part of the reason we're here!
It's not just because of the garden...when my husband was a little boy his brother poked out one of his eyes with a stick. He has a glass eye but rarely wears it because it tends to cause infections. Whenever he gets in a windy situation (like when we travel) his bad eye gets all dried out and uncomfortable for him.
This message was edited May 2, 2007 4:30 PM
