Trellises for your garden

Trellises are not only useful, they are vital for growing climbing plants and keeping them neat (and growing where you want them to!). Without them climbers will sprawl over your plants and smother them, and you won’t get a good harvest either. Let’s take a closer look at 5 trellises for your garden!

Staking Trellis

This is a ready-to-use option that comes in different shapes and sizes. This particular one is narrower at the base than it is at the top, which makes sense as plants tend to grow straight up at first before they start to bush out. Smaller staking trellises are perfect for containers planted with a climber like a jasmine or a shrub that needs support, like a bougainvillea.

To use one, simply push it into the ground/potting medium and then plant your climber close to its base.

A-Frame Trellis

Here’s a very simple DIY option that you don’t need any tools for and which will take just a few minutes per A-frame. These A-frame trellises for your garden are great for growing beans and other smaller climbers.

To set this up, tie two pieces of bamboo together about two-thirds from the bottom using twine. Spread the legs so that they form an ‘A’ and push them into the ground. Repeat, placing a second ‘A’ 50cm away, in line with the first one. Repeat until you have a row of bamboo ‘A’s, then place another bamboo pole horizontally on top of where you tied the bamboo legs together. Fasten it in place with more twine.

READ MORE: DIY Cucumber Trellis

Netting Trellis for Climbers

This trellis makes use of plastic netting to support climbing plants. It is cheap, quick and easy to install and you can make one to fit any size garden or container. All you need is a few metal droppers, cable ties and a length of plastic netting with big holes. To install, knock in the droppers at regular intervals, about 1 – 1.5m apart. Starting at one end, cable tie the plastic netting to each of the droppers, making sure that it is taut enough to support the plants that will climb up them. When it is in place, plant rows of climbers at the base.

This is another really nice option for peas, beans and tomatoes.

Horisontal square support for cut flowers

Tall flowers grown to cut for the vase are beautiful, but they are more often than not top-heavy and require staking. To keep them growing straight and upright, make this simple horizontal staking system using stakes and twine. Place 12 stakes into the ground around the seedlings to create a square grid format. Connect the stakes with twine to form squares about 15cm off the ground. You can also use Horticultural Horizontal Square Mesh Netting for this task. It already has the squares and is available online or from selected garden centres and hardware stores.

When the plants reach the netting, they may require guiding through the supports. For very tall flowerheads you can always add a second layer of netting about half a meter above the first.

Concertina Trellis

Ready-to-use concertina trellises for your garden are so easy to use and are very versatile. Made of thin wooden slats joined in a criss-cross concertina pattern, they can be pushed or pulled to change their shape slightly, making them taller and thinner or shorter and squatter. They are just the thing to install against a wall or to use as a screen to hide unsightly geyser or dustbins. These trellises work well in a formal courtyards when neatly planted with a climber that is then trimmed to shape, or they can simply be used to support a less-tidy climber wherever you want one. They come in various sizes and are readily available from nurseries and garden centres.

READ MORE: Refresh an Old Trellis