The Arbor
Ten or Eleven years ago I built an arbor out
of old heat exchanger tubing. The idea of course was to
get something to grow on it. We tried to get something to
grow on the frigging thing for over five years and everything we tried,
died.
At that point I was smart enough to only try stuff that could survive
the climate and picked stuff I saw
actually growing around the neighborhood. It all died,
regardless of what we planted.
The
original reason for the arbor was to provide enough shade to
plant something a bit more unusual
in the bed underneath.
So, one year we planted five different things at the same
time, drowned them with Miracle Gro, Ironite, bone
meal and vitamin B1.
And what happened? Everything survived. Go figure.
On the right side of the arbor is Silver Lace and a species
of honey suckle whose name I
have forgotten. The silver lace has to be mown down several
times during the summer.
The
left side sports Virginia Creeper and a Climbing Iceberg.
Virgina Creeper leaves get
wind and sun damage in this location but it does ok. The
birds like the fruit.
This is an example of damage to the leaves of the Virginia creeper on
the Arbor.
This Virginia Creeper has wind protection provided by the Tamarisks in
Back.
Notice how much healthier these leaves are compared to the
one's on the arbor.
Virginia
Creeper and Silverlace. Fall, 2006
Two
Wisteria vines grow on the back side. We figured,
what the hell - nothing else will
grow - might as well try that too. Wisteria is one of the
first things that blooms. You see
blooms before you see leaves. The trunks of these fines are
now over two inches in diameter.
A Trivia Question
:
What does this
have
in common
with this?
Give yourself three
brownie points if you know the answer and no, it is not that they both
have stubby tails. Think Ireland.
