Golden kiwi

Sun

Full sun, sheltered from strong winds and spring frost; light afternoon shade can help in hot inland gardens.

Water

Keep the root zone evenly moist during growth and fruit development, but never waterlogged. Water deeply during dry spells.

Soil

Deep, fertile, well-drained soil, preferably slightly acidic. Avoid chalky soil, compacted ground and frost pockets.

Height

20-30 ft (6-9 m) with support

Spread

10-20 ft (3-6 m) when trained; unpruned vines can spread farther

Flowers

Late spring to early summer; fragrant, creamy-white flowers that age towards yellow.

Foliage

Large, rounded to heart-shaped green leaves, often softly hairy beneath; young shoots can have reddish hairs.

Growth

Fast once established

Care needed

High

• Pollinators
• Heat tolerant
• Low allergen
• Fragrant
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Hard

Toughness

Needs looking after

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   2 ft (0.6 m)

2. After 1 year

   3 ft (1.1 m)

3. After 2 years

   5 ft (1.5 m)

4. After 3 years

   6 ft (1.8 m)

   full size

About 3 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Growth rate

Fast

• Install a strong pergola or braced wire trellis before planting; mature vines and their fruit are heavy.
• For fruit, plant a named female selection with a compatible male Actinidia chinensis that flowers at the same time; one male can usually pollinate several females.
• Water deeply in dry weather, especially while fruit is swelling.
• Apply a balanced fertiliser in spring according to the label; avoid heavy nitrogen feeding that encourages excess leafy growth.
• Mulch annually with compost or well-rotted organic matter, keeping it clear of the trunk.
• Protect emerging shoots from late frost with horticultural fleece where practical.

Pruning. Prune in winter while fully dormant, before sap starts rising: retain a permanent framework and replace older fruiting wood with well-spaced young canes. In summer, shorten excessive leafy growth beyond the fruit and remove tangled or unwanted shoots without exposing fruit suddenly to strong sun.

Named plants commonly give their first useful crop about 3-5 years after planting, depending on climate and training. Pick fruit in autumn before damaging frost, when it has reached full size and the seeds inside a sample fruit are black; skin colour alone is unreliable. Cut or clip fruit carefully and let firm fruit soften indoors before eating.

Winter

Prune dormant vines before sap rises, renew fruiting canes and inspect the support structure.

Early spring

Plant container-grown vines once the soil is workable; feed established plants and refresh mulch.

Spring

Protect opening buds and young shoots when late frost is forecast.

Late spring

Check that male and female flowers overlap; avoid insecticides while pollinating insects are visiting.

Summer

Tie in replacement canes, shorten excessive growth and water consistently as fruit develops.

Autumn

Test a sample fruit for maturity and harvest before damaging frost.

• Train over a sturdy pergola to provide summer shade and an overhead fruit crop.
• Grow along braced horizontal wires at the sunny edge of a kitchen garden.
• Use against a warm, sheltered wall on a separate wire framework to improve ripening in cooler districts.
• Train as a seasonal leafy screen beside a seating area, allowing access for pruning and picking.

Garden styles it suits: Potager (kitchen garden), Edible landscape, Backyard orchard, Homestead, Food forest and Modern courtyard.

Plant it with: Chives, Calendula, Sweet alyssum and Borage.

Wildlife: Flowers attract bees and other pollinating insects. Dense summer foliage offers cover for small birds, which may also peck ripe fruit.

• Late frost kills young shoots and flowers: choose a sheltered site outside frost pockets and cover accessible growth when frost threatens.
• Poor fruit set: provide a flowering-compatible male, encourage pollinating insects and check that spring frost has not damaged the flowers.
• Root and crown rot in wet soil: improve drainage before planting, avoid standing water and keep mulch away from the trunk.
• Bacterial canker, including Psa, causes shoot dieback, cankers or reddish ooze: buy healthy stock, disinfect pruning tools and seek local plant-health advice if symptoms appear.

Not known to be toxic to cats, dogs, horses or people. The ripe fruit is edible, but kiwi can cause serious allergic reactions in susceptible people, and its enzymes may irritate the mouth; leaves and stems are not normally eaten.

• Fuzzy kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa)

  Usually has fruit with a thicker coat of persistent brown hairs and green flesh. Actinidia chinensis fruit generally has finer, sparser hairs, but the species are closely related and a labelled cultivar is more reliable…

• Hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta)

  Has smaller, smoother leaves and small, smooth-skinned fruit eaten whole; it is substantially more cold-hardy.

• Variegated kiwi (Actinidia kolomikta)

  Often has striking white and pink leaf patches, especially on male plants, and bears much smaller, smooth-skinned fruit.

Actinidia refers to the radiating arrangement of the flower's styles, chinensis means 'from China', and 'golden kiwi' describes the yellow flesh of selected varieties.

Propagation. Propagate named selections by softwood or semi-ripe cuttings, grafting or layering to retain their fruit characteristics and sex. Seedlings vary, may take many years to flower and will not reliably produce golden fruit.

Accepted botanical name

Actinidia chinensis

In the US and Canada

Introduced in the lower 48 states.

Native range

China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast and Taiwan.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.