Vertical Versatility - Gardens Growing Up
What's in a name? Trellis.
Tuteur.
Teepee.
Tower.
Obelisk.
Arbor.
Pergola.
Different names, same function: to provide support for "climbing" plants.
These uprights are perfect for ornamentals as well as for fruits and vegetables.
And once the plants have covered them, birds love them too, as protected nesting areas.
Some plants don't actually climb; they may scramble, creep, or trail, but with a little help, it will look like they do.
The scramblers and thornbearers, like roses and bougainvillea, can grow upward through shrubs, but for direction and design, need to be secured to a structure.
As for the self-supporting climbers, their attaching methods vary.
Clematis, grapes, and sweet peas use their leaf tendrils to grab, twist, and secure the stem to practically anything they touch, even themselves.
You know what a tangled mess that can be! Others, such as ivy or climbing hydrangea, have either tendrils with adhesive pads or little aerial roots that attach to rough surfaces.
Lastly, there are the twiners like honeysuckle, jasmine, and scarlet runner beans whose own stems do the actual twining.
Research the climbers you're interested in to understand their attaching method.
Some can weigh down a trellis, split apart fencing, tear down an exterior wall, or get under your gutters and roof.
Growing vertically is a particularly good idea if you have limited space.
Encourage gourds, beans or tomatoes to stretch skyward instead of sprawling over the ground; this way, you make room for additional vegetables or a path.
Vegetable-covered teepees can also cast welcome shade for other plants unable to withstand withering hot afternoon sun.
From a design perspective, towers or arbors are a visual focal point in the garden, adding height, structure, and drama, or acting as dividers for your garden "rooms".
A rose- and clematis-covered trellis nostalgically invites us into an unseen, secret garden space.
A pergola or arbor provides cover and a place for a bench.
In the absence of trees, these pieces add vertical dimension; they are the "bones" of the garden, standing at attention in the winter when deciduous vines have dropped their leaves.
The designs for any of these structures are varied, reflecting the personalities and imaginations of those who use and/or build them.
For a quick fix, purchase ready-made trellises or lattice sections at home improvement stores.
Or you can create one yourself.
Here are some other ideas for growing vertically: • Use a ladder or two as a support for peas, scarlet runner beans, sweet peas, morning glories, nasturtiums, or roses! Old wooden ladders can be stained or painted to complement your floral palette, plunked into the garden, stabilized with a couple of stakes or short rebars, and planted with your favorite climbers.
For twiners, tie some wire or string from bottom to top to help the vines get going.
• Try sections of wrought iron fencing, stock fencing, and turkey wire as support for clematis, honeysuckle, and hardy Mandevilla.
• Turn a bedspring frame on end and fasten to a fence for climber support.
Iron or other metal bed head- and foot-boards can be used as well.
• Plant a naked market umbrella in your garden, with vines twining right up the pole, out onto the ribs and arms, hanging down like lace curtains.
• Or, use an old-fashioned revolving clothesline or discarded TV antenna! • If you're a welder or know one, weld eight foot lengths of rebar at the top and then again with shorter lengths in two or three horizontal locations on the uprights to resemble a teepee frame.
• For more a contemporary look, use PVC poles and elbows glued together, or electrical conduit or copper pipes gracefully shaped with a conduit bender and then wired, screwed, or welded into your design.
• Use rope tied to a tree or pole and then staked to the ground in six or eight locations in a circle for the maypole-look.
• And for a very rustic and natural appearance, use bamboo, willow poles or other gnarled wind-felled branches, lashed or screwed together at top and sides.
• One of the least expensive, most sturdy, and easiest trellis is 16 foot-long "hog panel", a heavy gauge stock fencing in 36" and 48" heights.
You can buy these at home improvement or ranch supply centers.
First, pound two or three 24" pieces of rebar 12-18" into the ground at equal intervals on either side of the path.
Next, two or three strong people must bend the panel upwards and place it inside the planted rebar.
With wire, lash the panel to the rebar in several places.
Place three or four panels in a line for an alley effect.
You can clothe any of these structures with your favorite climbing roses and/or clematis, trumpet vine, honeysuckle, passionflower, grapes, kiwi, jasmine, climbing Hydrangea, potato vine, or climbing vegetables.
If you are going to plant Wisteria, remember that it becomes huge, woody, and heavy, requiring an extremely sturdy structure such as a pergola or arbor! Be creative and enjoy growing vertically!
Tuteur.
Teepee.
Tower.
Obelisk.
Arbor.
Pergola.
Different names, same function: to provide support for "climbing" plants.
These uprights are perfect for ornamentals as well as for fruits and vegetables.
And once the plants have covered them, birds love them too, as protected nesting areas.
Some plants don't actually climb; they may scramble, creep, or trail, but with a little help, it will look like they do.
The scramblers and thornbearers, like roses and bougainvillea, can grow upward through shrubs, but for direction and design, need to be secured to a structure.
As for the self-supporting climbers, their attaching methods vary.
Clematis, grapes, and sweet peas use their leaf tendrils to grab, twist, and secure the stem to practically anything they touch, even themselves.
You know what a tangled mess that can be! Others, such as ivy or climbing hydrangea, have either tendrils with adhesive pads or little aerial roots that attach to rough surfaces.
Lastly, there are the twiners like honeysuckle, jasmine, and scarlet runner beans whose own stems do the actual twining.
Research the climbers you're interested in to understand their attaching method.
Some can weigh down a trellis, split apart fencing, tear down an exterior wall, or get under your gutters and roof.
Growing vertically is a particularly good idea if you have limited space.
Encourage gourds, beans or tomatoes to stretch skyward instead of sprawling over the ground; this way, you make room for additional vegetables or a path.
Vegetable-covered teepees can also cast welcome shade for other plants unable to withstand withering hot afternoon sun.
From a design perspective, towers or arbors are a visual focal point in the garden, adding height, structure, and drama, or acting as dividers for your garden "rooms".
A rose- and clematis-covered trellis nostalgically invites us into an unseen, secret garden space.
A pergola or arbor provides cover and a place for a bench.
In the absence of trees, these pieces add vertical dimension; they are the "bones" of the garden, standing at attention in the winter when deciduous vines have dropped their leaves.
The designs for any of these structures are varied, reflecting the personalities and imaginations of those who use and/or build them.
For a quick fix, purchase ready-made trellises or lattice sections at home improvement stores.
Or you can create one yourself.
Here are some other ideas for growing vertically: • Use a ladder or two as a support for peas, scarlet runner beans, sweet peas, morning glories, nasturtiums, or roses! Old wooden ladders can be stained or painted to complement your floral palette, plunked into the garden, stabilized with a couple of stakes or short rebars, and planted with your favorite climbers.
For twiners, tie some wire or string from bottom to top to help the vines get going.
• Try sections of wrought iron fencing, stock fencing, and turkey wire as support for clematis, honeysuckle, and hardy Mandevilla.
• Turn a bedspring frame on end and fasten to a fence for climber support.
Iron or other metal bed head- and foot-boards can be used as well.
• Plant a naked market umbrella in your garden, with vines twining right up the pole, out onto the ribs and arms, hanging down like lace curtains.
• Or, use an old-fashioned revolving clothesline or discarded TV antenna! • If you're a welder or know one, weld eight foot lengths of rebar at the top and then again with shorter lengths in two or three horizontal locations on the uprights to resemble a teepee frame.
• For more a contemporary look, use PVC poles and elbows glued together, or electrical conduit or copper pipes gracefully shaped with a conduit bender and then wired, screwed, or welded into your design.
• Use rope tied to a tree or pole and then staked to the ground in six or eight locations in a circle for the maypole-look.
• And for a very rustic and natural appearance, use bamboo, willow poles or other gnarled wind-felled branches, lashed or screwed together at top and sides.
• One of the least expensive, most sturdy, and easiest trellis is 16 foot-long "hog panel", a heavy gauge stock fencing in 36" and 48" heights.
You can buy these at home improvement or ranch supply centers.
First, pound two or three 24" pieces of rebar 12-18" into the ground at equal intervals on either side of the path.
Next, two or three strong people must bend the panel upwards and place it inside the planted rebar.
With wire, lash the panel to the rebar in several places.
Place three or four panels in a line for an alley effect.
You can clothe any of these structures with your favorite climbing roses and/or clematis, trumpet vine, honeysuckle, passionflower, grapes, kiwi, jasmine, climbing Hydrangea, potato vine, or climbing vegetables.
If you are going to plant Wisteria, remember that it becomes huge, woody, and heavy, requiring an extremely sturdy structure such as a pergola or arbor! Be creative and enjoy growing vertically!
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