Plants for reducing solar gain

[thebugguy]

Howdy folks-

I'm not sure if this question is better asked here or in the gardening forum, but here goes...

The west end of our house (the short side of a 36'x60' Morton building) gets a lot of sun in the summer, adding a lot of unwanted warmth. I would like to plant something along that end of the building that would 1. grow rapidly, 2. provide good leaf cover to shade the house, 3. is easily trainable, and 4. would die off (or at least lose its leaves) every fall. The area I'd like to cover with leaves is, again, 36' long by about 26' high at the roof's apex. We're in NE Kansas- zone 5b. It would be cool if the plants bore interesting flowers or fruit/beans, etc, but that's not necessary.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

thebugguy

[RoseGarden]

You could try scarlet runner beans or hyacinth beans for a quick, annual cover. They both are very easy to grow and have colorful beans. The scarlet runners are edible, but I don't know about the hyacinth beans.

Grapes, either natives like fox grapes or muscadines, would be another alternative, but the vines need some detailed pruning and will eventually get rather heavy.

[blue gecko]

Hops vine, morning glories, hardy kiwi and clematis (MayLee is a fast grower) come to mind. Reflective films or an awning might be worth considering too.

[Liese]

There is a book about permaculture landscaping which covers this issue of unwanted summer solar gain but I just can't think of the title and it isn't showing uo in the biblio of other books I do have. It was written in the 70's or early 80's. Maybe if you do a google for Permaculture and landscaping it will show up. It was helpful because you can figure out thru your lat. where to plant trees, etc. Well, if it comes to me later..geez. Liese, Piedmont region, NC

[WisJim]

I would go with hops. After the 2nd year, they should cover almost anything, and can be cut down to the ground in the fall so you can get sun in the winter.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

I am growing a fig on the west side right now for the purpose you describe, I don't know if there are any varieties that would do well in your area. You can also get black berries to grow to 8ft very quickly around here, that may be something... Highbush blue berries would qualify on every aspect except fast growing, maybe you could couple them with something like the hops, then remove the hops. There is also grapes...

[thebugguy]

Thanks, folks, for your suggestions- I'll be looking into them!

cheers,

tbg

[uncle Will in In.]

While you are waiting for shade to grow, get some aluminum paint, and put a reflecting coat of paint on it. Doing the roof also would make a big difference if it isn't a very light color already.

[Paul Wheaton]

This is a good point to explore short term and long term.

The long term solution would be trees with leaves. Fruit bearing would be good. St Lawrence Nursery sells a "sweet sap silver maple" that grows fast and can be tapped in nine years for maple syrup! The same nuresery also specializes in full size apple trees!

For short term, I think hops is the most popular solution. I think the kiwi would be good if there were some shade - otherwise I think the grapes would be good (although it could be a while until they provide a lot of shade). All will need something to hold onto as they grow.

If you look around you can find some goofy corn and sunflower seed where the plants can get up to 18 feet tall! That might be good to plant a few feet away from your house. This would be for the idea of having, say, the hops right next to your house and another layer of growies just a few feet further away. Thus creating two layers of shade.

paul wheaton
certified master gardener
certified permaculture designer

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Originally Posted by Paul Wheaton

If you look around you can find some goofy corn and sunflower seed where the plants can get up to 18 feet tall! That might be good to plant a few feet away from your house.

paul wheaton
certified master gardener
certified permaculture designer

I had this idea too, but figured it would be late July before they would really be effective...

[Paul Wheaton]

I once had a fella tell me about a pea vine that would grow to 20 feet. The neat thing about that is that it would grow in the spring!

I'm pretty sure that all of the other stuff we've talked about is going to need some time to grow - and it will get started after your last frost. Probably of not much help to you until early July - and then only a little.

The trees and grapes are going to the best for you in the long run! When the trees get tall enough, you will probably want to replace the grapes with kiwi.

[fishhead]

We used morning glories and scarlet climbing beans on strings spaced about 12" apart and 24" from the house. It kept the house 10 degrees cooler even with the canner running for days on end. Plus the blooms were really nice to look at.

[WisJim]

Hops are a long lived perennial--some of mine are 15 years old or more, come back quickly every spring.

[debra in ks]

I also vote for clematis or morning glories, or better yet a combination of both. I did that on the west side of my house and had morning glory and clematis blooms all day and then when the morning glory blooms shrivel up in the sun for that day I still had clematis left. You can make some interesting color combinations with these 2 so that your bloom colors change during the day. Example-plant a purple clematis and a pink morning glory and you have purple and pink in the morning and then just purple in the afternoon. They die back nicely in the winter so you can enjoy that sun.

I also live in NE KS, near Bonner Springs. May I ask where you are...we might be neighbors!

[agmantoo]

For immediate relief mount one of the bamboo type roll up screens on the exterior of the building at about 16 to 24 inches off the wall. This will work terrifically. To have a natural shade later, build a trellis and grow luffa plants. The are wonderful multi use plants that you will enjoy. http://www.luffa.info/

[thebugguy]

Excellent suggestions, folks.

I hadn't mentioned this, but there is a reason I don't want to grow shade trees on that end of the building: it's the one that faces the pond. I figure if I grow beans or hops or whatnot, I can train them around the windows and not lose my view of the pond- trees are another matter.

I'm considering grapes, but I'm a little concerned about the effort to prune the darn things 20 feet off the ground, and I'm not sure I want to go through the effort of building a semi-permanent trellis for them. Right now I'm just looking for something quick and easy...

debra in ks-
I live in central Jeff Co., kinda between Ozawkie and Oskaloosa. Sorta.

cheers,

tbg

[Liese]

Just wanted to point out that since this is the west side you'll need to think about dew problems-since the plants won't dry off quickly in the a.m. That's what stopped me from suggesting espaliered fruit trees-mildew issues. Liese