Structural Elements

climbing flowers on a trellisThere are many ways to start a garden, but one essential, often overlooked, element is structure. It not only adds dimension to your garden, but structure in any garden provides stable, beautiful areas with which to stabilize your plants. There are three types of structures that work in just about any garden — I’ve outlined them below.

Teepee Trellis:

This structure can be made of wooden stakes, bamboo poles or limbs of a tree (as long as they’re fairly straight). This type of framework provides a nice place to grow climbing vegetables.

Concrete Reinforcement Wire Trellis:

This structure will soften and cool down the walls around your home and give you a great place to grow melons, grapes, cucumbers, vines, bougainvillea or hardenbergia violacea.

To make this structure, mount one 6-foot-by-8-foot sheet of concrete reinforcement wire to two 4-inch-by-4-inch-by-6-foot redwood posts that have been mounted into concrete. Just let the vines grow up the concrete reinforcement wire and soon you’ll have a beautiful trellis.

Wire-wrapped Post Trellis:

This simple trellis will help secure climbing roses, pyracantha or other thorny plants.

To make this structure, wrap a 4-inch-by-4-inch redwood post with wire. Secure the post in the ground with concrete. Build a 1-foot-by-1-foot platform with a 1-inch lip. Secure the platform to the top of the post. Fill platform with birdseed and you’ll have a lovely, thorny bush trellis and a great place for birds to rest.


Dave Owens the Garden Guy
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