Hi there,

We're looking at putting in some sort of shade structure for our BBQ area.
He (my other half) isn't keen on shade sails, I have concerns about the
traditional tacked onto the house wood structure. So we need to toss up a
few different ideas before we get into the serious stage of talking to a
builder.

The basic details for our place is - we are on the Gold Coast. The area of
our house we are looking at is on the western side of the house. Heat is a
problem in summer, 'cold' can be a problem in winter (we live on the eastern
side of a hill, direct sunlight disappears about 4.30ish in winter). The
area doesn't need to be weather proofed but we would like some sun
protection. At the moment we have a couple of self cleaning palms which
provides some shade in the late afternoon in summmer.

I was appreciate it if anyone had dealt with this problem before, and if you
had any advice, tips or comments. I've checked out several websites (there
are a lot of 'Stratco Outbacks' out there - No thanks!).

TIA
Susan

"Peter and Susan" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

We're looking at putting in some sort of shade structure for our BBQ area.
He (my other half) isn't keen on shade sails, I have concerns about the
traditional tacked onto the house wood structure. So we need to toss up a
few different ideas before we get into the serious stage of talking to a
builder.

The basic details for our place is - we are on the Gold Coast. The area of
our house we are looking at is on the western side of the house. Heat is
a
problem in summer, 'cold' can be a problem in winter (we live on the
eastern
side of a hill, direct sunlight disappears about 4.30ish in winter). The
area doesn't need to be weather proofed but we would like some sun
protection. At the moment we have a couple of self cleaning palms which
provides some shade in the late afternoon in summmer.

Perhaps a pergola with a deciduous vine might be an idea?


Ruth

"Peter and Susan" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

We're looking at putting in some sort of shade structure for our BBQ area.
He (my other half) isn't keen on shade sails, I have concerns about the
traditional tacked onto the house wood structure. So we need to toss up a
few different ideas before we get into the serious stage of talking to a
builder.

The basic details for our place is - we are on the Gold Coast. The area of
our house we are looking at is on the western side of the house. Heat is
a
problem in summer, 'cold' can be a problem in winter (we live on the
eastern
side of a hill, direct sunlight disappears about 4.30ish in winter). The
area doesn't need to be weather proofed but we would like some sun
protection. At the moment we have a couple of self cleaning palms which
provides some shade in the late afternoon in summmer.

I was appreciate it if anyone had dealt with this problem before, and if
you
had any advice, tips or comments. I've checked out several websites (there
are a lot of 'Stratco Outbacks' out there - No thanks!).

TIA
Susan



Demountable shadecloth sails are currently popular, and not hugelly
expensive.

"Ruth Lawrence" wrote in message
...

"Peter and Susan" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

We're looking at putting in some sort of shade structure for our BBQ
area.
He (my other half) isn't keen on shade sails, I have concerns about
the
traditional tacked onto the house wood structure. So we need to toss
up a
few different ideas before we get into the serious stage of talking
to a
builder.

The basic details for our place is - we are on the Gold Coast. The
area of
our house we are looking at is on the western side of the house.
Heat is
a
problem in summer, 'cold' can be a problem in winter (we live on the
eastern
side of a hill, direct sunlight disappears about 4.30ish in winter).
The
area doesn't need to be weather proofed but we would like some sun
protection. At the moment we have a couple of self cleaning palms
which
provides some shade in the late afternoon in summmer.

Perhaps a pergola with a deciduous vine might be an idea?


Ruth



Seconded. This combination is sturdy and attractive, cool in summer and
warm in winter. Under a living canopy in hot weather always seems
cooler than under a non-living one. There are a number of climbers that
fit the description - see your local nursery. You will have to deal
with the leaves in autumn though.

David

I would go with the replies of Ruth and David.
A deciduous vine of a type that suits the area and your taste.
You could grow it over lattice work or strong wire strung across. I have
seen pre fabricated made out of fibro board, which is simply a sheet of the
stuff with squares punched out for "fake lattice". Looks good from a
distance, but obviously fake up close, but if it's getting covered with a
climber it could be a possiblility. Just check on the strength. I would
guess it's stronger than the "stapeled" together stuff.
Even a deciduous tree (small though), or deciduous shrubs turned into a
screen (similar to a hedge).

Good luck
--
Remove "not" from start of email address to reply

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Perhaps a pergola with a deciduous vine might be an idea?

Seconded.

The problem is that the OP lives on the Gold Coast, and deciduous plants often
stop being deciduous when the climate is as mild as that.

I favour a climber over pergola too, but recommend strongly AGAINST
bougainvillea as it's both aggro and thorny -- not at all fun to cut back.
The newer cultivars aren't supposed to have these problems, but I would still
treat them with caution.

A passionfruit vine?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

The most consistent empirical proof from history is the doctrine of human
depravity. -- Chuck Colson

"Chookie" wrote in message
news:ehrebeniuk-


The problem is that the OP lives on the Gold Coast, and deciduous plants
often
stop being deciduous when the climate is as mild as that.

Now that I didn't know.
I didn't notice the OP saying that until you mentioned it, only noticed that
they said both heat and cold can be a problem.

Here on the Mid North Coast of NSW (Forster), our summers are quite warm,
and winters aren't too cold. Last year we got a few heavy frosts, but the
days still turned out to get to around 14-18degs cel.
I know other years we would be lucky to get 1 or 2 frosts. Still, our
deciduous plants are "deciduous".

I moved to Lithgow for work for 6months (very cold!!), and decided to get
into bonsai there. I dug up some naturally growing Chinese Elms, and bought
a Japanese Maple "bonsai starter" (overpriced seedling).
Moving back here, the first winter none of the elms lost their leaves, but
then the next 2 winters since they have. It seemed they had to adapt. Same
thing happened with the Maple, but it did lose a few leaves the first
winter, just not all. I put this down to it being from a Nursery, where it
was protected under shadecloth, so it didn't take as much to adapt.

So in theory, if the OP buys a deciduous from their local Nursery, then it
should lose it's leaves.
I would be interested to hear if anyone from the Gold Coast, or the warm
climates has deciduous plants that don't lose their leaves. It's something I
never knew.

If they can't get hold of something deciduous, then I guess some options
a
1) Put up shadecloth in Summer, take it down in winter
2) Using potted trees or shrubs, move them to block sun in summer.
3) As chookie said, something like a passionfruit vine. Yeah, it will block
the sun in winter, but at least in winter you can put more clothes on to
keep warm.:-)

Good luck

--
Remove "not" from start of email address to reply


I favour a climber over pergola too, but recommend strongly AGAINST
bougainvillea as it's both aggro and thorny -- not at all fun to cut back.
The newer cultivars aren't supposed to have these problems, but I would
still
treat them with caution.

A passionfruit vine?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

The most consistent empirical proof from history is the doctrine of human
depravity. -- Chuck Colson

"Peter and Susan" wrote in message
...
Hi there,

We're looking at putting in some sort of shade structure for our BBQ area.
He (my other half) isn't keen on shade sails, I have concerns about the
traditional tacked onto the house wood structure. So we need to toss up a
few different ideas before we get into the serious stage of talking to a
builder.

Thanks all for your suggestions.

I like the idea of growing a vine but can see this will take major work in
convincing hubby who doesn't really like the idea. As for whether decidious
trees drop their leaves in my part of the world my response, from what I
have observed is that some do and some don't. The cassia and jacaranda at
the end of the street do but my wisteria doesn't seem to completely
defoliate. Its leaves will thin but it doesn't lose them all.

So as a result we are still looking.

Thanks again,

Susan
Gold Coast

Chookie writes:
I favour a climber over pergola too, but recommend strongly AGAINST
bougainvillea as it's both aggro and thorny -- not at all fun to cut back.

A passionfruit vine?

Morning Glory?

A cucumber vine? Those African cucumbers with the sharp spines like
to climb trees, and they are hardy. Very expensive if you can ever find
them in the greengrocer's, and you can scoop the contents out of the
shell with a spoon and eat that way, sweetened with sugar. Would need
a number of vines to get good coverage, I think. (Postscript: you're not
gonna actually sit in the pegola are you???? You might not want spikey
fruit dropping on your head. Wire netting over the pegola would fix it.)

If you are a thoroughly practical person, you might try a pumpkin vine.
There are some climbing beans that might do a good job of covering a
pegola, but you'd probably have green shield beetles dropping out of it.
--
John Savage (for email, replace "ks" with "k" and delete "n")

In article ,
John Savage wrote:

Morning Glory?

If it isn't a noxious weed in QLD, it ought to be!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

The most consistent empirical proof from history is the doctrine of human
depravity. -- Chuck Colson