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Hello Workshop Community Friends !! 😊 I would love to share with you how we are growing a ‘ Green Living Fence ‘ that is part of the Chicken Run. Giving the girls some partial shade but also wanted to use it to grow Passionfruit with its stunning flowers and yummy fruits !!
The fence we used is Reo Mesh , we used Star Pickets as the posts and the mesh is attached with wire. Simple and easy.
Here is a better photo of the Reo Mesh
I picked up a few old Sinks from the Tip to plant them up with Edibles. We planted two Sunshine Special Passionfruit, one plant at either end to train them to cover the fence.
I use a Premium potting mix. They were planted July last year. This photo was taken straight after a Hailstorm.
I grow Borage in Winter / Spring ( rich in Nectar ) right next to the Passionfruit to attract more Bees and Beneficial Insects to encourage higher Pollination.
Also growing right next to the vines is Perennial Basil, which is also rich in Nectar and perfect for attracting more Bees and Beneficial Insects encourage higher Pollination . Also, I prune it regularly and it will flower pretty much all year round. I have a lot of it growing throughout our Garden.
The vines were knocked hard over Summer months as we had quite a few Heatwaves as did the whole garden. They certainly required quite a bit of water throughout the Summer months but it was worth it.
I top up the soil regularly with a thick layer of Blended Manure, improving the soil.
I always feed regularly with Rock Minerals. Love it !!
I also add Sulphate of Potash to encourage more flowers and strengthening the fruits.
I have Rubber Snakes entwined through them to help deter the Rats from eating the fruits, so far so good !!!
Still producing flowers and fruits
The Honey Bees are always busy working amongst the flowers.
Pollen Sacs on their legs filling up !!
This is what the two vines look like now, growing well, recovered from the Heatwaves , covering the fence and producing lots of flowers and fruits.
I hope this may inspire you to try growing Passionfruit. Also if you have a Chicken Run and not sure what to grow.
The Chicken run is full of edibles right around it growing in planters that are old kitchen sinks, great way to recycle and enjoy growing Edibles 😊
Hello @filthy
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's wonderful to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about using chicken wire for passionfruit.
Chicken wire can be very deceiving as it makes you think that it will actually hold a great deal of weight. I suggest getting the next gauge up such as Whites 90cm x 50mm x 50mm Flower Mesh - Galvanised. There is a bit of choice on wire thickness and spacing that you can choose from. If the mesh is doing double duty just make sure that the chooks can't pass their heads through the wire spacing.
If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.
Eric
So this is the fruit from our Sunshine Blue Passionfruit that set fruits quite late in the season, back in May.
Full of pulp, beautiful to eat.
Now with Spring on its way I will be regularly adding Sulphate of Potash ( Potassium ) to the soil monthly to encourage more flowers and fruits on the vines.
Also my Perennial Basil is getting bigger and continually flowering, right next to the vines to attract more beneficial pollinators , especially the Bees to help increase pollination. 🐝🐝🐝
Hi @mich1972
I'm doing great! Making plans for my 2022 veggie spring attempt this year. Last year was a complete disappointment as my tomatoes did not survive. Hopefully, with all my new learnings from our members, I will be able to make this new batch survive. It's still a bit chilly here in Brisbane during the evenings. Hopefully, it will not last much longer and we'll be getting some warm weather soon.
Eric
