Moonseed

Somewhat sheltered from the wind, sunny to shady locations locations. Not too poor, rather normal, nutrient-rich garden soil with a good water supply. Planting distance: 0.6 - 1 m.

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A weak-growing but healthy climbing plants from East Asia with a maximum height of 3 - 4 metres. Ivy-like foliage from May to October, yellow autumn colouring. The leaf stalk is indented approx. 5 mm away from the leaf edge towards the centre of the leaf. The flowers in May / June are insignificant, but an insect pasture. The small, inedible fruits, which resemble grapes (bird food!), are only produced when male and female plants grow together. Several plants propagated by seed should then be planted (our plants are propagated from root cuttings). The seeds resemble a semi-circular moon, hence the name ‘moon seed’.

Winter pruning every 1 - 3 years to thin out the tender shoots is recommended. If blight (dried shoots) can be ruled out, all shoots are shortened to a height of approx. 1 m every year in late autumn. Overall easy to care for, the clippings can be easily removed from the trellis system.

The second species ‘Menispermum canadense’ from North America has hairy shoots and the leaf stalk is not ‘indented’, i.e. it sits on the edge of the leaf.

Prefers vertical axes only 15 - 25 cm apart. In addition to ropes, nets, railings, trellises of all kinds and thin rods are also suitable as climbing supports. The height of the climbing support should be adapted to the desired growth height, i.e. not be unnecessarily high. Look to the bottom of this page for compatible cable systems. The easy and light versions are usually sufficient, but the medium-premium or medium-classic are visually the most appealing designs for these plants. As the twining shoots will not climb and attach to a horizontal access by themselves, they need help and will have to be tied on.