The building of Pea Palace(Pic Heavy)

[Urk-ah-urk-ah-urr']

It is not even finished and I am jealous!
You are going to have enough room for a huge flock!
Keep us updated, please!

 

[AquaEyes]

What type of roses do you suggest?

I'd suggest any of the old-fashioned ramblers with growth patterns that fit your needs and are hardy for your zone. They'll bloom in ridiculous abundance for about a month, and then put on growth fast. If you want to get some ideas of the varieties that are out there, see the links below for examples and a brief description. If you want to see more pics of the plants, go to HelpMeFind and search for the rose you like by name. You can buy them as small rooted cuttings from either of the nurseries I listed, or other nurseries. Pot them up into a 1- or 2-gallon container for the first summer, give them some extra attention while they put on growth, then plant them along the outside of the aviary by fall. As they put on growth, tie them to the aviary wire and let them grow over the top. Roses are non-toxic so you won't have to worry if the peafowl nibble on the plants. Use the last link to determine what zone you're in.

http://www.vintagegardens.com/roses.aspx?cat_id=29

https://www.roguevalleyroses.com/rose/class/rambler

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/plants.php

http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/


ETA -- Oh, and also check out "Darlow's Enigma." It has simple, small white flowers, but reblooms through the summer, and is very fragrant. The images you see of it as a mounding shrub are the result of growing it in full-sun and continually shearing it back. If you spread out the canes to a climbing shape, it will easily grow up and over the aviary wire.

http://www.helpmefind.com/rose/l.php?l=2.1455

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Aqua Eyes,,if you notice on the two pictures taken on the west side that I am going to leave as -is this year,there is tall skinny trees planted.Actually in the first set of pictures taken on the side I am working on now,you can see these trees.They are called Austrees,,a type of hybrid willow tree.I planted all of them 2 years ago as a wind break around this side of my property.They came to me as sprigs about 3/4" thick and about 1' long.You soak them in water for 2-3 days then shove the sprouted end into the ground. You can see now some of them are about 10' tall in just two short years.There was a double row of them spaced 5' apart but rabbits chewed on some of them when the snow gets deep and that killed some of them off.You can cut a sprig or thick branch of these and shove directly in the ground and they will start growing,provided the ground is very wet or you water it daily for about a week.When these green up in the next few weeks,this border around the pens will almost be hidden and will provide shade at least in the pen right next to them.

I am going to run electric fence all along the outside areas where predators may try to climb up the fence and get in from the top.I may run another wire across the upper tack board for the netting,Wire is cheep and I have a low impedence fence charger that can easily kill a large racoon if it makes the fatal "short" of the circuit.You can see starting 2 years ago with planting these windbreak border trees that I knew this would be my eventual area for my peacocks.

Urk-ah-Urk-ah-urr,,I can keep taking pictures,,,I have a lot to do this week to get-er-done!

 

[AquaEyes]

Well, like I said, I'm a rose-addict. When I see an outdoor aviary, I think "oooh, a trellis!"

I actually have plans in my head about outdoor aviaries using that double as rose trellises, but most of the species I'm interested in fall into the "cage bird" category. One additional benefit of using roses for this purpose is the aphids and other insects they attract -- free high-protein bird food. But I'll be in a different area of the country -- south Florida.

The willows are a good option for fast growth -- just be mindful that fast growth tends to go along with weak growth -- the sturdiest trees are the ones that grow slowly. Don't let them get too huge, or they might snap in high winds. I'd guess that keeping them as sort of "fast-growing shrubs" will work well.

I look forward to seeing more pics, so that I may continue living vicariously through other BYC members until I'm all done with school and buy some property.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Aqua eyes,if those roses climb as you say and could eventually reach the top,my netting would get overloaded especially with more snow adding to it's weight in the wintertime.If they would climb the side wire of the pen that would be okay but constantly trimming them to keep them off the top would be a neverending issue.

Urk-ah-urk-ah-urr,I will have India Blues,Midnite Black Shoulders,Charcoal Pieds,Purples,India Blue Black Shoulders,Blue Pieds,and 1 Pied w/e pen this year.Next year will add Whites,Bronze,Opals,Peach,Cameos,another Charcoal pen,and a Silver Pied pen.These will be the reason for expansion next year.It never quits and by next year I will want 2-3 more colors.

 

[AquaEyes]

Whoops, I missed the part about using netting for the top. Yes, then ramblers would be out of the question. You could stick to shorter-growing repeat climbers, which usually max out at about the height of the walls, or could easily be trained horizontally across the walls (and give you more flowers) rather than up and over the top. Aviary netting isn't really an option for some of the species I was interested in for myself, so I just took that out of the equation. And my whole reason for going south is to finally escape frost -- I'm so over winter.

OK, so less exuberant climbers would be found among the classes below:

Large-Flowered Climbers

Hybrid Musks (some)

Bourbons (some, see growth patterns)

English (some, see growth patterns)

Climbing Polyanthas (the less-rampant repeat-flowering ones)

Or, you could stick with ramblers, but rather than training them up, train them horizontally, wrapping around the outer aviary wire. You'll find applicable references by searching for "training roses along a fence" or some similar phrase. You take the long canes and tie them horizontally along the wire. They'll send up lateral shoots along their length, which is where the flowers come from. You just whack back the laterals whenever they get too crazy.

THIS pic of a rose trained horizontally along a wire fence shows you what I mean. The pic was taken during winter, so while not very pretty, you can more easily see the "bones" of the plant. HERE is another, showing leafless canes -- laterals will sprout along the horizontal length. If you want a rose to grow this way, you can't just get any hybrid tea from your local nursery and expect it to work -- you have to find types that grow long, somewhat flexible canes that lend themselves to training.

HERE is a blog post with instructions and photos for training ramblers horizontally to a fence. If you want something less rambunctious, choose a repeat-flowering climber with flexible canes -- from the classes I mentioned above.

Or just ignore my crazy rose fetish. To say goodbye to some special people I'll be leaving behind when I move, I decided to pick out some of my favorites and leave a gift-rose for each person. This turned into an excuse for plant-shopping, and now I have 41 coming in a month and a half. Probably 15-20 will be moving with me and finding their way to friends' yards back home. Almost all the varieties were bred 100 or more years ago. I'll share pics after they're planted.

 

[AquaEyes]

So, Frenchblackcopper, what are your thoughts? Maybe you can secure the perimeter of your pens with something that offers more beauty than an electrified wire -- at least you can tell your wife that you're adding something for her.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Aqua eyes,,I've been SERIOUSLY thinking of your suggestion here.Around the perimieter of part of our property I planted red dogwood bushes.Now these things are HUGE and really branch out and have done a great job at slowing down the trade winds we get here.I'm going to order the top netting tomorrow along with 1/4" cable to lay the netting on aside from the 2"x4" boards every 10' running lengthways along the pen walls.I would still need the electric wire for a year or so until the rose bushes are effective but looking at them is a lot better than welded wire fence,yes?? Just as well add astetics to the Pea Palace while I'm at it.Btw,,wanting to talk to you about some help with something,,if you get a chance PM me,,

I did complete the sheeting of the roof last night and have set 2 rows of posts but ran out of sakrete.Tomorrow is another trip to the lumberyard,,I can hear my billfold squeeking now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mamaluvschick]

wow it was intresting ready all about your Home for your peafowl, I am no where near that at all. I do like the ideas of roses as a protector I think I will do that for my chickens. I have one question for peafowl though, do you need such a large space for a peafowl? I was hoping to someday get one, but I don't have that much space. We live on 4 acres but not sure if I could build that.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

It is written here that an adult Peacock needs 80 square feet,about the same for a hen,,,my pens on average will be 300 sq ft,,3-4 birds at the most,but I've now decided to make 2 much larger pens ,,one being 20x20 and the other being 20x28,,400 and 560 sq ft respectively.Since I do have 4 hens that are suppoed to be Midnight B/S,,plus the new male I have coming,,I didn't feel like crowding them,and since I have the extra space,,they can have the largest pen.