Whatcha’ Building?

Posted on by crazygreenthumbs

I am redoing my shade cloth cage. I have realized over the past two years that this is beneficial for the dwarf peach as well as the sweet cherries I have planted.

My original shade structure (see how to build one here.) over my high intensity fruit bed. Learn how to build a traditional hugelkulter/high intensity fruit bed here.

I started out with 3/4″ pvc pipe and I didn’t consider the length when I ordered the first shade cloth. I basically built the frame to fit the shade cloth, when I really needed it to fit the plants. The frame I built did not cover the dwarf peach, and even young peaches can enjoy a little shade down here. I take this structure off in fall and put it back on when it gets hot, around mother’s day. I also used clamps and found they don’t last very long. I have switched to zip ties, which is what I use on almost everything.

Clamps. You need the right size for your pipe and they don’t last long outdoors. Maybe a season.
Me and some of my favorite products: zip ties and pvc pipe.
This project took up my whole kitchen. It’s too humid and hot to do all of this work outdoors.

I also was gifted a whole mess load of 1″ pvc pipe, so I bought a few fittings and created the new cage. I’m using the old pvc from last year for height (because I have the right lengths.) and dropping some random length 1″ pvc pipe over that. Everything is anchored with rebar.

My giant mess of free 1″ pipe.
Interior of the old shade structure.

If you asked me what my favorite garden building items are: pvc pipe, rebar and zip ties are the most used. Those are followed by: cinder blocks and landscape fabric. I also use every piece of cardboard that comes to the house. I used to pull the tape off, but I use so much of it, so often, I don’t pay attention to the tape anymore.

I use cardboard everywhere. Thank God for Amazon. I don’t need to recycle, I use all of that cardboard in the garden!

One bonus I experienced while building my current shade cloth frame is: that my cats thought I built it for them! Maybe I’ll build a small one for my crazy kitties! It was kitty cat utopia. Especially since they like to hide and then pounce on each other.

This is Mimi. We decided this must be the cat version of the MMA fighting ring. My cats moved their daily fighting inside the shade structure.
My current shade structure. I do not recommend building something this large with 1″ pipe. It is much, much heavier than the structure I made last year with 1/2″ pipe. It probably won’t blow away: but it was hard to manage by myself. Also, the pipe itself is cheaper at 1/2″ size and the elbow selection is greater and price of those fittings are lower too.
I couldn’t lift this high enough to get it to slide over the old pipe that is about seven or eight feet high. I had random lengths on the corner joints and slipped them over the right height pvc pipe from last year. I could have made the supporting 1″ pipe shorter (to compensate for this), but it was already glued together so I just had one of my sons help me. (Things to think about: if you don’t have help.)
I may put another panel of shade cloth, below this, to make sure the trunks don’t cook. But, with this strategy I have been able to grow things that otherwise would not make it down here. This looks a little wonky because the center supports aren’t in. I’ll need more teenage boy power for that.
Inside the shade structure. This is a 50% shade cloth.

I’m going to build a few more structures. One for the persimmon (it used to be shaded by a full sized pear, but the pear died from fireblight last year. So, now that pear is not shading anything!) and one for each of the pawpaws. There are only a few hours of full sun where the pawpaws are situated. Even on the north side of my house: the full sun in the morning is still too much. Anything with wide leaves (cherries or pawpaws, in my case) can’t handle our heat and direct sun.

My little pawpaws. Apparently: they are quite greedy plants, that need constant fertilizer applications. Usually, nearly wild plants are pretty carefree. I’m using Garrett’s juice and miracle grow when I water. They leaf out last of all the plants I have. So, if you have pawpaws and you’re pretty sure they’re dead, give them more time and keep them watered. They may surprise you.

There is one wide leafed plant that can take our full sun, (and I have one outside ready to plant) called a loquat. I really like it’s fruit… Sort of apricot flavored. And since our grow zone went down from 8b to 9a, (in the last 15 years) they fruit way more often than they used to. Loquats form fruit over the winter. It has to be a mild winter for fruit to make it. I sought out a variety called “Christmas”. I got my plant from Just Fruits and Exotics. It’s supposed to be harvested before Christmas. January is when we get our few hard freezes. We’ll see how it works out.

Christmas loquat. I need to get it in something. I’m behind, as usual.

Meet you out in the garden to protect our plants from our heat and sun!

Crazy Green Thumbs

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6 thoughts on “Whatcha’ Building?”

    1. They lived near creeks and river bottoms and grew a whole lot of a few things. We also have bands of different types of soil and rock down here. I live on a hill with dry forests, but about a half hour, away at our kid’s old school they have deep soil where they grow corn. If I were a settler (or if I wanted a farm) my current area is not the area to choose. Plus, I’m growing things with the right chill hours but not the correct heat tolerance. I am in an area where exotic fruits make it, but it’s definitely not the correct region for grocery store fruit. I am planning on putting some tall trees (large crepe myrtles) behind this to create understory conditions for the cherries. Then I won’t need the shade cloth… Hopefully.

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