Unique Vine Application - Treehouse Roof
Hi,
I have what I think might be a really fun application for a vine, if I can find the right plant. My son and I have built a tree house:
We've kicked around a lot of ideas for roofs, and one of the ideas that I really like is using a plant/vine to fill in the roofline and provide some relief from the sun. We aren't looking for a waterproof solution, or a year round solution either. I also like the idea of getting some green back into the tree.
A little explanation of the treehouse - it is in an ash tree that was on its way out from the ash borer. The trunk is about 24" in diameter, and the deck of the house is 8'x8'. The deck is about 6' from the ground. The tree passes through the center of the deck, and there are 4 chains that attach from the corners of the deck, run vertically to supports, then all meet at the trunk, about 10' from the deck, and 16' from the ground. The deck is anchored to the trunk at its center, and the 4 corners are suspended by the chains. If material were stretched across the 4 chains at the roof section it would form a pyramid, or hip roof. The tree trunk is currently about 30' tall. The extra section of tree trunk above the point where the chains meet will be removed. Here's another picture that better shows the chains and construction:
As for the roof I'm thinking that I'd like to mount a large planter to the top of the trunk (17' from the ground, immediately above where the chains meet the tree) and plant a vine there. I'd then string some supports between the four chains in the corners of the roof, and as the vine grew from the planter, I would train it to grow down across these supports like ladder wrungs and eventually fill in the roofline.
Our part of Ohio is zone 5b. The sun situation for this area is mixed sun/shade, and it is becoming sunnier as more ash trees are removed from the yard.
Does anyone have any suggestions for a vine that could grow - from a large pot, at the top of a 17' stump, without much attention like watering (other than rain) or fertilizing - to flow out and cover the roof as I have described? Or does anyone have any better ideas for getting a vine up and into the roof of this treehouse? Grown from the ground? I'd like to avoid adding more weight (soil weight) to the tree house structure.
Please let me know any thoughts or advice you might have.
Thanks,
Jeff
Comments (11)
Jeff R
9 years agoOK, I've been researching this further and I've given up on the idea of planting something at the top of the tree for the fact that it likely will not survive our winters. I'm now looking for a vine that I can plant in the ground next to the tree trunk, and send it up the trunk to reach the roof of the tree house and spread from there
Its been an interesting journey while researching these vines. Im looking for a fast grower that can reach a significant height, and Im not easily scared away by pruning & that type of maintenance - I enjoy it. This led me first to Trumpet Vine. It sounded like it could climb to the roof of the tree house in a season, and its not delicate or hard to grow. The flowers would look nice, but would also attract bees and insects that we don't really want... Then I started reading more of the posts about this vine and I had visions of this vine taking over the tree house, then the yard, my house, and also my neighbor's houses. I didn't want to bring this kind of destruction on my neighborhood so I started looking around for another vine. There are a lot of horror stories out there. One of the images that came to mind:
I then started looking for a fast & tall grower that didn't flower and bring the bees along with it. We already have hops growing in another part of the yard and love it for that area. However, for this tree house I am hoping to find a vine that will not die back to the ground each year, so it doesn't have to make the 16' climb each season before it can start to fill in the roof.Next up was Virginia Creeper. Doesn't have the insect problem, fast grower, woody stalks stay through the winter, so far so good. It sounded like it also would try to take over the neighborhood, and has to be kept in check and requires pruning - OK, I like pruning, I can run a mower around the base of it, and I have a chainsaw in case it goes Jumanji on us. I've nearly made up my mind about going with the VC and planting and then I come across posts like this one about how poisonous/toxic/allergenic this plant can be! Other sites and forums & sites dont mention it at all... And I was getting ready to make this a significant part of a children's play structure!
So far this experience has made me realize how clueless I am in this selection - apparently I am attracted to all of the wrong types of plants. Any input would be appreciated. I am starting to wonder if rafters, sheathing and shingles wouldn't be a better route.
My latest search has me looking at Hardy Kiwi vine. I like the first word in it's name. Im not really looking to harvest any fruit from it or deal with that mess, but it might be interesting in the future to get a male pollinator and have some hardy kiwis. I read that it can reach 60' heights and can grow as much as 20' in a season, which sounds good. Does anybody have any experience with this vine? Does it sound like a potential fit?
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