I have just finished whitewashing my west wall and installing galvanised brackets to support vines . In time the bougainvillea will flower again , at present it is recovering from a massive pruning . check link for photos .. go to shelley drive set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/energy-efficient-design/
supporting vines off of brick walls and other western wall cooling tricks
(8 posts) (5 voices)-
Posted Wednesday 15 Dec 2010 @ 1:22:42 am from IP #
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matas
MemberI like this shading solution.
Cost effective and looks good.
I am thinking of doing this on my west brick wall (it has no windows)
One minor drawback, at my place, might be that possums and roof rats would use it to get on my roof easily.
Though I think purple bougainvillea has thorns - they may be deterrent.Posted Wednesday 15 Dec 2010 @ 7:19:20 am from IP # -
Bearamundi
MemberI enjoyed looking at your photo's Dave. I liked the verandah void too.
This year I built a window shutter out of laserlite with aircell underneath. In the morning i hang it over the Eastern window and in the arvo it gets shifted to the Western window. Even though the latter has a canvas awning sheltering it the shutter makes a difference.
I have two 3m wide canvas awnings shading the Western wall, side by side. I am thinking of building some more detachable shades out of laserlight to completely cover the Western wall. I read somewhere here, maybe thatmosis, about leaving the windows open during summer and I intuitively like that idea. So the extra shading makes sense to me.
I have gotten pretty handy at building demountable shades. I have a whole series on the Northern Wall that I pull up, erect by pulleys at the start of summer. They interconnect to form a large outdoor shaded area that covers all the tiles. Laselite with aircell underneath.
The internal temperature in the house rarely exceeds 26 degrees.
Posted Wednesday 15 Dec 2010 @ 7:41:24 am from IP # -
termite
Membermatas -
Bougainvilleas have more thorns when they're not flowering. It's not related to the flower colour. I don't think the thorns will deter pests, though, except the two-footed kind.
If building a frame in metal, this may prevent some cooler-climate climbers from growing on them, as the hot metal can burn tendrils. Bougainvillea won't be a problem though - it's tough as nails. Another good climber is Chinese star jasmine (trachelospermum jasminoides) - though evergreen, it is a nice forest green and has sweetly-perfumed white flowers. Wisteria tends to be thuggish - also beautiful (with white or mauve racemes) and perfumed but needs a strong hand to tame it. Unkillable - my parents' plant is named Albert, after the cut-and-come-again Magic Pudding.Bearamundi -
I'm sure that if you could design a system that could automatically move the shades to the right spot around the house, have the mechanism reasonably uv- and wind-resistant, and do it with an internet-driven application, that you'd have takers all over Australia...Posted Wednesday 15 Dec 2010 @ 8:28:39 am from IP # -
bearamundi , can you post photos , sounds intriguing .
Posted Wednesday 15 Dec 2010 @ 7:00:15 pm from IP # -
I am a newbie here and just wanna say Hi to everyone. I am Daniel from Pennsylvania, US.
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[url=http://www.photoshop-garden.com]free photoshop tutorials[/url]Posted Thursday 16 Dec 2010 @ 3:47:59 am from IP # -
Bearamundi
MemberUnfortunately not as intriguing as you might think I fear Dave although you and termite have got me thinking. I'll put up photo's at some stage as I'll be away over the holidays.
My interest grew out of the realisation that in a few years AIR-CONDITIONING WILL BE A THING OF THE PAST.
I built my first shade structure over the rear porch with its adjacent window that faces North. This corner used to capture morning and midday sun and end up as hot as hell.
I haven't been too impressed with laserlite in isolation so I put aircell underneath. The 2 sqm result was heavyish and unwieldy but had excellent thermal resistance. With a pulley system it was easy to install. Then I built lighter structures. Because my wife is pregnant and cannot easily move the shutter I have been thinking of building another and mounting them like sliding doors. Some sort of internet activated servo and you'd be in business. Shade devices on the market are not insulated enough IMO and emit too much infra-red.
Posted Thursday 16 Dec 2010 @ 10:10:44 am from IP # -
interesting comments about bougainvilleas from termite re : pests.
part of the appeal of it for me is it also acts as a form of security, would YOU want to crawl over it to break into my house ?
and it is completely avoided by all plant pests and diseases that can besiege many other softer leaf vine . it does have a few downsides though (of course, what doesn't ) it requires constant pruning and my wife who grew up with watching her father battle with it for years wishes we had a friendlier vine. I also have a love hate thing with it but due to the stunning sculptural qualities of its trunk for now it wins out. The point of posting the photos though was to show the concept. You could use any vine you wished ... it is the brackets that are of most interest ,and they also allow access to high walls... i recently laid planks overs the top of them to apply the whitewash to the top of the wall.Posted Thursday 16 Dec 2010 @ 8:26:44 pm from IP #