Name (also garden grapes, wall vines, espalier vines, fence vines) for mostly very vigorous lianas of the Vitaceae family (vine family), which are mainly used to beautify house walls or walls and are grown on trellises. Fruit enjoyment is not the main focus here, but may be a pleasant side effect. The most important criteria for ornamental vines are beautifully shaped large leaves with attractive colouring in autumn, as well as actively twining tendrils that hold the spreading leaf shoots in place.
Suitable species
European vines (Vitis vinifera) are not well suited due to their susceptibility to fungal diseases and phylloxera. For this reason, the Asian species Vitis coignetiae (Japanese vine) and fungus-resistant varieties of various American vines such as Vitis californica, Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia and Vitis rupestris are used.
Ornamental vines of the genus Parthenocissus and Ampelopsis are also included, as well as the genus Cissus as a houseplant. These purely ornamental vines are usually dioecious (as opposed to wine grapes), which is why grapes cannot develop when planted singly without fertilisation. If fruit is desired, table grapes can also be used as ornamental vines, which are then grown as house vines on a trellis or in a pergola. The picture shows a house vine of the White Resistant variety providing shade in front of a south-facing wall.
Grape varieties
Varieties often used for this purpose in the past were Alphonse Lavallée, Blauer Portugieser, Canadice, Chasselas, Frühroter Veltliner, Goosefoot, Isabella, Luglienga Bianca (yellow silk grape), Muscat, Queen of the Vineyards, Madeleine Royale and Schiava Grossa. Today, fungus-resistant new varieties such as Angela, Birstaler Muskat, Calastra, Campbell Early, Decora, Fanny, Felicia, Ferdinand de Lesseps, Hecker, Ignea, Mitschurinski, Muscat Bleu, Nero, Osella, Rosa, Rosetta and Terez are used. See also vine training and grapevine.
Vines on a house wall: by Mundartpoet, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
