The Garden Trellis

An easy and attractive way to support twining and vining plants is with handcrafted trellises, available from garden retailers and mail-order suppliers. Some sources carry an impressive array of trellises, ranging from hand-forged metal to woven willow, that can serve as decorative elements as well as plant supports. Woven wooden or vine trellises bring a casual or rustic touch to the garden, while the architectural wooden and metal ones generally look more formal.

"The Garden Trellis", continued from page 1.

These trellises are simple to use. Most come ready to install. just push the posts into the soil next to a wall or in a planter box, plant a vine nearby, and wrap the stems around the supports. A few need minor assembly, and some wooden ones with "feet" should be anchored to a wall. For the creative do-it-yourselfer; hardware stores and home centers also stock lattice panels (both red- wood and pressure-treated), copper pipe, chicken wire, and assorted fasteners that can be fashioned into a trellis. Cut a lattice panel with a circular saw, and fasten to fence posts or a wall. Use lag screws or galvanized nails for fastening to wood and expanding anchors for stucco or masonry. Leave some room between trellis and wall. Both of the trellises shown here are simply constructed. At top-right, four arched, prefabricated trellises were lined up, anchored in concrete, and fastened to the walls with barbed nails.  You'd probably want one of our local pro's to do this one for you.  Would you like a quote?-- click here  The trellises were joined with overhead 2 by 2s. The trellis at left, cloaked with clematis 'General Sikorski', is constructed of gray-stained cedar strips fastened to the brick wall.