About Actinidia kolomikta

Sometimes called the Kolomikta VIne, Variegated Kiwi Vine or Ornamental Kiwi, Actinidia kolomikta is a twining climber growing to 6 metres high and nearly as much across. It can be kept smaller and is easy to prune if you want to do that. The plants are either male or female and it is not practical to sex them before sale so your Actinidia will only carry fruit if it is female and if there is a male close enough to be found by a wandering bee. If you want to grow Kiwi fruit we recommend you grow a variety such as Actinidia arguta Issai or Jenny both of which are self -fertile and carry much larger and better-tasting fruit although it does not have the foliage of Actinidia kolomikta. For a climber with more prominent flowers, why not browse the rest of our range of climbing plants

Actinidia in your Garden

Actinidia kolomikta is a good sized woody climber. It does not form those trunks as thick as a prop forward's thigh that you find with Wisteria, but over time it can produce branches that are a few inches thick. These need support so thought should be given to straining wires or the like before planting. Use strong wire - it will be there for a long time. Choose a sunny wall or fence - the variegation of the leaves is much more pronounced and lasts longer when in the sun.

Actinidia has masses of leaves and so is a good choice for covering eyesores such as ugly brickwork. Perfect on the southern wall of a breeze block garage...!

Young plants need to be protected from cats - they find it as attractive as catmint.

Actinidia Characteristics

Height to 6m
Spread to 5m
Foliage: Pink, White Green variegated foliage. Deciduous
Flowers: Small, single sexed white flowers in June
Scent: None
Position: Best colouring in full sun
Other: RHS Award of Garden Merit

Look out for

Not a lot is the answer. Actinidia is just about disease free and it is the hardiest member of its family. If it has a weakness it can be touched by a late frost as its buds are breaking, but we have one at home that has been happy since 2002. Prune it in winter or very early spring to keep it in shape and to remove any dead wood and crossing branches.

Actinidia Trivia

Actinidia kolomikta was first imported into the UK in 1878 from the island of Hokkaido in Japan. It also grows in temperate areas of eastern Russia and "kolomikta" is probably from the region - meaning "mixed colours" - referring to the leaf colouring.

Like every climber, Actinidia needs some form of support. This can be straining wires, an arch or pergola, trellis, a tree or even another climbing plant. The requirements are that the support allows your climber to grow in a favourable position and aspect and that it is strong enough to carry its weight. Please remember that weight can be considerable and that it may need to be borne for many years.

By the same token, as climbers are not usually the sort of plant you transplant, they will generally be in the same place for the rest of their lives, so soil preparation should be as good as you can make it.

Dig a good sized planting hole: at least twice the diameter of the pot in which your plant arrived. If the soil is poor, dig a bit deeper than the pot is tall so you can get some planting mix under the rootball to encourage roots downward.

If there is any risk of poor drainage, really break up the bottom of the hole with a garden fork. If you can, do the same to the sides without them collapsing that helps drainage and establishment as well.

Mix the soil from the hole with about 25% by volume of well-rotted garden compost. Return the mix under and around the rootball keeping the top of the rootball level with the surrounding soil and adding Rootgrow as you go trying to ensure it sticks to the rootball. Firm the planting mix around the rootball and water in well. Continue watering in dry spells until the plant begins to grow away.

If there is any risk of cats coming into your garden, then protect young plants with something like chicken wire - they find it irresistible.

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Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £6.50 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
We will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.

*Surcharges to the Highlands and Islands still apply.

Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.

Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.

Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.

Misc	RHS AGM, Wildlife Value
Area	Frost Pockets, Scotland & The North
Colour	Pink - Light, White/Cream
Type	Climber or Rambler
Also Good	Foliage

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SIZES	1-2	3+
3 LITRE POT	Out of Stock £16.80	Out of Stock£15.36
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Actinidia kolomikta - Variegated Kiwi Vine