Trellis Work…

Hide, grow and hang

Trellis panels are a great solution if there is screening required at some point in the garden to hide a shed or a compost bin. If they are not part of a fence installation, they will need supporting by treated 100mm x 100mm posts set in concrete foundations. Trellis panels with smaller holes of say 5cm rather than the standard 10cm, give a certain Japanese/Zen-type style to a garden, especially when fixed to a wall or as stand-alone trellis screens.

A trellis has multiple uses.  The obvious one is to allow you to grow beautiful climbing plants, but it also serves to hide or enhance parts of the garden.  You can also use it to attach other planters or temporary lighting like string lights for a gathering.

Growing tips:

• A trellis screen is enhanced massively with the right choice of climbing plants such as Clematis, Honeysuckle, and Jasmine or if in a shady area, then variegated Hedera ivy. Always keep the climber under control with light clipping otherwise, particularly with Clematis, a thick woody layer builds up underneath with only a thin layer of green on the outside.
• A regular application of sea-weed-enriched liquid fertiliser during the growing season can make a big difference to the flowering capacity of the climber.

Trellis maintenance…
Apart from the occasional trim of your climbing plants, your trellis shouldn’t need any care.  Obviously, after decades, any wooden structure might need some attention, but by that time, the climber and trellis in combination will likely have their own self-sustaining structure and be a beautiful feature of the garden.