Southern 87....vines?

[Alcazar]

OK, our property is situated in the very southernmost tip of Haute Vienne, about 4km north of the Dordogne, near St Mathieu.

Last year we holidayed in the Dordogne, and wifey fell in love with the shade provided by vines hung from wires supported about 8 feet off the ground, by a wooden framework, like a pergola.

She now wants to start the same sort of thing in our French garden.

Before I spend hours and euros on this, is there a gardening rerason NOT to do it, (vines won't grow etc), as we have seen no vines growing commercially within 50 miles of the house?

And if we CAN grow them, can anyone suggest good varieties? We want fast growing shade, rather than good grapes, (sacrilege, I know!)

TIA,
Alcazar

[Alcazar]

No-one knows?

Can someone verify that they WILL grow, then? Thanks.

Alcazar

[Kevinmc]

I'm in north 87. Vines will never be commercially viable but yep, they'll grow. I've got one on a southern wall that's grown from a stump to about 10ft tall in 3 summers. I don't do anything with it. It produces bunches of tiny grapes but they're quite bitter. I'm sure when I get round to caring for it it'll wither!!

Have a go with a few vines. If that doesn't work there's always wisteria, which grows abundantly here as well.

[Loiseau]

Hi Alcazar,

I've contributed to another thread on vine-growing a bit further down,
http://forums.livingfrance.com/shwmessage.aspx?ForumID=282&MessageID=93163

I don't see why vines shouldn't do OK in the Dordogne area; I even have a couple growing in London - though haven't tried to do anything fancy like training them over pergolas.  But I am sure I *could*.

Anyway, your hoped-for structure is exactly what my husband erected in the Vendée some years back, and planted a different vine at each point (hedging his bets!). They grew quickly, and have been brilliant.  You do need to cut them back dramatically in late winter (see other thread), and then I have always had another go at them in about June, to remove nine-tenths of the embryo bunches of grapes - otherwise the weight of fully-developed bunches might well pull the wires down.

He used stainless steel wire, and some rather fancy tensioning things at the edges.

Angela

[Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas]

Parts of the Dordogne are very well known for their vines and wines... in my corner they didn't replant after phylloxera because the improved transport systems made it unnecessary as far better stuff could be imported cheaply; the wine was perfectly lousy but they grew all right; I imagine the same is true where Alcazar is, just try to make sure the ground is relatively well-drained. Severe winters will cut them down to the ground every now and then if you are unlucky. I would go for something edible if I were you, chasselas seems to be popular around here and there are probably more modern varieties which are more resistant to the fungal diseases which probably blight your area as they do mine.

[Anton Redman]

Isabel's reaction was that it is too expletive deleted wet, however she grew up near the Hunter and Bourassa Valley in South Australia. We have one vine which has survived outside the house despite all the neglect. For shade I do not think you will have a problem but I would grow roses which thrive despite acute neglect. 

[Alcazar]

<<<He used stainless steel wire, and some rather fancy tensioning things at the edges.>>>

Thanks for that Loiseau, I'll remember that now. Do you happen to know where stainless wire can be had from?

Thanks to others who have replied.

Wisteria is another option, but how fast does it grow? The area it/the vines will be planted is SSW facing.

Climbing roses? Hmmmmmmmm. I planted one in my first house garden, from a runner I dug up in the countryside, so a real wild one. 3 years later, the fence behind it fell down in a high wind, and it was the devil's own job to get near! How would you avoid the thorns on the stems, running up the supports?

Any more replies gratefully received.

Alcazar

[Loiseau]

Sorry, apart from remembering that my late husband bought it in the UK, I can't remember where the wire came from. 

It might have been a nautical shop of some kind - you know, selling the sort of stuff that the shrouds of yachts are made from...  In fact that's probably what the tensioning bolts would have been designed for, too.  Makes sense, as he would have thought of having something to withstand all weathers.

It's a good point, made higher up, about the vines needing to be in dry ground.  If you've got high rainfall (and I can't pretend that it never rains in the Vendée!) you could give the plants some help by adding stones to the planting hole to make sure that it will be free-draining.

 

Angela

[Mersons]

If you know someone with vines, save yourself some money and ask them for some prunings.  Our neighbour pruned his vines and gave us some of the bits.  He cut them to about eighteen inches long, near a lumpy bit where a bud would come, and told us to plant them about six into to the soil and give them plenty of water.  Two years later, we have vines climbing up a SE wall to at least six feet high so far.  We had loads of sweet grapes at the end of last summer.  No idea of the variety though.  I never thought vines would be so easy.  They've grown more than one that we bought and planted in the same area. We're in north 87.