Idea for the ideal winter-safe fig wall (with picture)

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Encanto Farms Nursery > Topics > Idea for the ideal winter-safe fig wall (with picture)

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FigFan

Registered:1439985408
Posts: 15

Posted 1482009814 · Edited	Reply with quote #1

Hello! :-) Today, I digitally scetched my idea for my future fig wall, that I want to build next year. It should protect figs on the open lawn/garden as good as possible. Explanation to the following scetch (it is in German): The arrow with the S points southwards, "Feige" means "fig, 120 cm = ~47 inch, 50 cm = ~20 inch "Mauer" means "wall", "hoch" means "high" "Kompostfuellung" means "compost filled", "Split/Schotter" means "crushed stones". My idea is that the walls protect the juvenile plants from wind, store warmth for nights/winter (like the crushed stones, too) and the compost filling even produces heat, too, even in cold winters. That could provide the crucial 1-3°C plus for cold winters to let the plant survive. The wall could be buried with some kind of fundament, so that the roots may profit from the warmth, too. Furthermore the wall could be build ascending towards the back, so the fig has more windshielding and stored heat. What do you think about that idea? Can it work? Robert_K@figs4fun already explained me, that the direction would be better facing westwards to prevent early blooming in warm winter phases. As I am always thankful for his advice, I will think about that - perhaps I'll do the compromise (direction SW). Here is the dropbox link to my scetch: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jmvp3f1v14kqr2l/_Feigenschutzmauer%20FigFan%2012-16%20-%20mit%20Wasserzeichen.jpg?dl=0 (I will try to implement the pic into this forumspost, but I assume it won't work) Greetings, Kai __________________ Greetings, Kai - Please overlook my (rather bad) school english, thx! :-) Germany, Zone 7-ish, 200 m altitude, cold westwind valley. Owned: 'RdB', 'Olympian', 'BT', 'Black Plate Giant', 'Trnavska', Ficus palmata ssp. virgata, Ficus afghanistanica, "B&W", 'Ignaz 1000' (Mt Etna 1 km. alt.), 'Ignaz 1200' (Mt Etna 1.2 km alt.), 'Ribe' (unkn. Denmark), 'Bratislava' (unkn. Slovakia), unkn. Denmark/Sweden 2, unkn. green Italy, unkn. fig (possibly BT), unkn. fig (possibly 'Dalmatie' or 'Doree'). All of my figs are still "babyplants" (0-3 y, all still potted/rooting in 2016), so don't expect cuttings too early ... Want: 'Michurinska-10', ultra hardy lokal figs, [hardy carnivor plants, (hardy and non-hardy) cactuses & succulents, (hardy and non hardy) orchids, miniature varieties of plants, corals/anemones/algeae] - if you have some offset of plants that could be interesting for me and you live in the EU (for shipment/customs issues), please don't hesitate to contact me! :-)

haslamhulme

Registered:1467664052
Posts: 244

Posted 1482030367	Reply with quote #2

An interesting idea Kai,it would be good to hear others thoughts,I don't protect mine at all because they are not on an open lawn,I have one massive wall( hause) and I am in midlands UK but it's interesting to see experiments. In your scetch I can see that the ground slopes downwards towards the south so the figs get the sonne for a long period of time and this should help warm the soil and the wood,if you get an early warm spell maybe that would cause beds to break too early and get damaged by a late frost as has been suggested. As your Mauer is 50cm hoch,you might loose some top growth if you have freezing cold wind blowing over the top of the wall but the stems will be protected. the most interesting bit I thought was the kompost gefullung,you would need to get the compost activated and producing heat,but if you do that's a heat source,I have seen bio heat used like this for cloche growing in old houses in the UK,the gardeners put manure into pits or boxes around the outside of a glass structure with the heat vented into the structure,this was used to grow tropicals and citrus etc. Are you planning to use animal waste or something else?. Have you considered the impact of different types of materials and colour of materials for storing the heat of the sonne?. I also noticed you referred to this as "Modulare",would this be a temporary structure you could take apart and remove after winter?,if so that compost could then be used to fertilise the plants Interesting stuff __________________ Haroon,Birmingham UK,Europe,USDA zone 8 Growing:B.Turkey,Jerusalem,V.Dauphine,Pd.Dalmatie W.Adriatic, RDB,Goute D'or,W.Marsailles,Bavarian Violet,Ali Pasha,Falls Gold, Alma,W.Broggioto,Conadria,G.Ischia,Celeste,a dozen unknowns Deceased:Mission( received new cuttings from a generous member today,thank you!)

hoosierbanana

Registered:1287901146
Posts: 2,186

Posted 1482039819	Reply with quote #3

Have you read of the historical use of fruit walls? They are much more massive than your plan and rely on espalier. http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/12/fruit-walls-urban-farming.html Your tree spacing is very close, they will form a hedge within a few years. My trees planted next to walls receive frost protection but during the coldest part of winter only the growths within a half meter of the wall seem to get any benefit. __________________ 7a, DE

rcantor

Registered:1309799312
Posts: 5,724

Posted 1482043867	Reply with quote #4

How cold do your winters get? __________________ Zone 6, MO Wish list: Galicia Negra, De La Reina - Pons, Genovese Nero - Rafed's, Sbayi, Souadi, Acciano, Any Rimada, Sodus Sicilian, any Bass, Pons or Axier fig, any great tasting fig.

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