Plants for shade?? Wysteria

[dipence71]

I know it is on the toxic plant list but so is everything else lol. Any one use this as shade covering the run? Any other fast growing viney plant that is good for shade and hardy?

 

[[email protected]]

I had wysteria at my old house and it overran the whole place. The more you cut it back the more and bigger it grows...it's pretty and smells really good but i could never keep it under control. It attached itself to every tree within an acre...I finally had to cut the main roots and tried to kill it off but it still kept growing.

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

I love Wisteria and have lots of it. It will grow in the shade or sun. It smells like heaven!!!!!!! Nothing I have has ever gotten sick from it...I don't ever seen any of the chickens or horses eating it either. I just planted a vine last year to grow up the side of my chicken coop. It hasn't covered it yet but hopefull it will.....

 

[muell112]

I planted grape vines around my coop - I think this is one of the non-toxic plants. You can get them from a lot of online sources (e.g. Gurneys) for ~$12 a plant.

 

[dipence71]

grapes take soooo long to become mature enough to provide shade
I just bought a grape vine because the 2 I already planted arent doing anything.
I am thinking about getting the wysteria to provide shade around the run. Thanks.....

 

[LoreenH]

Wisteria seeds are poisonous and there is no known antidote. One of our neighbors has wisteria but I have never seen it go to seed. It does grow extremely fast, I have to cut it back from our side of the fence at least 3-4 times during the spring & summer.

 

[lleighmay]

Wisteria will also drag down your coop and run (literally) unless you've built it like an interstate bridge. It actually ripped a porch off my friend's house... not to mention that it runs unbelievably and you will find it crawling out from under the other side of a building just when you think you've gotten it under control.

 

[ivan3]

Chick_N_Horses wrote: I love Wisteria and have lots of it. It will grow in the shade or sun. It smells like heaven!!!!!!!

Keeps the bees and hummingbirds busy, as well.

Here is another Wisteria thread from the other day:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=231073​

 

[Renee]

Ahhhh! Not wisteria!
Oh, okay, if you have a staff of gardeners or can keep it in the middle of a meadow that you mow.

 

[muell112]

Ignore these suggestions if you are sold on wisteria - I guess the toxicity would cause me pause.

What about putting up a trellis - I only have it on one side right now but it does a pretty good job providing shade by itself while plants get going. If you space if right, it also does a pretty good job blocking out plants from coming in the coop. If you're looking for seasonal shade I'd recommend beans. They grow right up it and fast. Sunflowers (maximillion) have worked pretty well too.