A Patio Made Of Vines

[sun valley gardener]

Hello everyone, and thank you in advance for taking the time to read a question from a newbie gardener.

I'm planning to build a patio in my backyard that I'd like to be covered in Vines. I'm basically going to build a structure from wood and chicken wire, and train the vines through as the grow.

The kind of tricky part about it is, I'd like the vines to be a combination of blackberries, rasberries, grapes, and one or two other flowering vines.

Are there any potential problems with this? Are there any recommended fast growing vine plants that I should go with? Being in southern California, when would be the best time to start?

the last part of this question is probably the most ambitious...

I'd like to eventually train the grapes to fall on the inside of the canopy making up the roof of the patio, so that potentially you could reach up and grab a grape or two. Is this even possible?

Please let me know if I'm just pipe-dreaming with this one.

Thanks again for your help.

[Prairie]

I really have no advice to offer because I don't have experience with vines that grow well in your zone. However, it's a masterpiece in the making if you can somehow pull this one off. Cool idea.

[sun valley gardener]

Well thank you for the kind words. If I can get this thing up, I will definitly be posting pictures of the progress.

[Gnome]

sun valley gardener,

When I was a child the neighbor had an arbor similar to what you are describing, it was planted with Grapevines. I don't think Raspberries or Blackberries are appropriate overhead due to their short lived nature. Individual canes would not last long enough to establish the long term planting you desire. Perhaps they could be confined only to the sides of the structure with new canes replacing the old.

Sorry I can' be of more assistance.

Norm

[sun valley gardener]

Thanks Gnome,

The fact that your neighbor had something similar gives me a lot more confidence in this. The idea of Blackberries and Raspberries being used for the sides of the structure is actually what I was thinking. After letting the idea develope a bit, I've decided that with along with the Blackberries and Raspberries, I'm going to plant...

Clematis Avant-Gard

https://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=44864&PrevMainPage=advsearchresults&scChannel=Vines%20and%20Climbers%20AS&SearchText=p11.v90;p10.v71&OfferCode=V1H

Clematis Cassis

https://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=49876&PrevMainPage=advsearchresults&scChannel=Vines%20and%20Climbers%20AS&SearchText=p11.v90;p10.v71&OfferCode=V1H

I imagine the colors will all go very nicely together.

Thanks for the response!

[Gardenmom]

I love your idea!

I wanted to share that I was fortunate enough to go on a garden tour a couple years ago. Roses were the main subject, however I will never forget how this lady amazingly and creatively made separate garden rooms out of only 1 acre. The home was a beautiful Tudor style draped with creeping fig, ivy, wisteria and lush hanging baskets of fuschia, lobelia and all things trailing.

But what struck me most was how she separated each garden "room." For example, to walk from the Japanese garden to the Tuscan garden, you had to walk beneath a large arbor. The arbors were constructed of rebar and very simple materials, and on each one she planted at least 2-3 different vines to ensure bloom and color throughout the year. She had a combination of climbing roses, clematis, more climbing roses, potato vine, jasmine, morning glory, and even more climbing roses. It was incredible - a garden tour I will never forget.

I hope your project turns out well for you. It sounds beautiful.