Can I use a wall instead of a trellis for a hardy (A. arguta) kiwi? Could I just fasten small eye bolts into the wall and then tie the vine to that with wire loops or maybe even with some kind of string with a good outdoor life?
Using a wall seems easier than building a whole trellis, and it would be a good way to optimize use of space, and I might even get a little frost protection from the roof overhang.
Would the kiwi get enough sunshine? If they would it’s a fantastic idea. Kiwi are very very heavy so whatever you attach them to must be rock solid. Kiwi basically need lots of sunshine, lots of water, and a really great support structure.
You definitely can, I saw a kiwi (arguta or kolomikta) against street pole once so whatever works for you.
Yeah, it would be a south facing wall, and the overhang would be nearly 15’ above them, so they’d get plenty of sun.
My only other experience growing vines is with grapes (mostly muscadines) which have tendrils and seem to pretty much attach themselves to a trellis wire, but I don’t really understand how to trellis kiwis. It seems like with a T trellis they’d just lie on top of the trellis, but that obviously wouldn’t work with a vertical wall, so I’m trying to figure out what might work well for attaching the kiwi to the wall.
The absence of tendrils and the vigor of hardy kiwis present a BIG vine management problem. The often seen horizontal trellis, even of moderate width, lets gravity do some of the distribution work for you (i.e. no need to tie up and secure unruly vines regularly).
Perhaps a horizontal offset attached to the wall (akin to a shelf bracket, a STRUDY shelf bracket) will save you some headaches down the road.
If the vines get out of reach of your pruner it could take over! These are extremely vigorous plants once they get going and benefit from dormant and summer pruning to keep them under control and get sun onto the fruit.
That would take a lot of eyebolts. JustAnne has a good idea. Use brackets that will accommodate horizontal pieces placed about a foot from the wall. Air circulation is important. The utility pole example above would have allowed air circulation, a broad wall is much different.