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Representatives of the flora with aerial roots need a reliable support most of all. These include creepers, orchids, monstera and ficuses. For their best development in open ground, you will certainly need a spiral trellis for climbing plants.
What is a trellis
We are talking about lattice structures with a height of 1,5 to 3 m. They can be placed along the walls, at the bottom of the site or at the entrance to the house. Such devices are designed to facilitate the care of climbing perennials, which often replace real canopies and fences. For example, purple clematis not only mask the flaws of hard surfaces, but also contribute to a clear distinction between the private and public areas in the country.
For a hedge, you will definitely need unpretentious garden roses to care for. But creeping vines, thanks to a well-developed root system, can climb onto the roof of a two-story building. So that the plants do not scatter around the site and do not experience oxygen starvation in a dry summer, trellises are installed in the garden.
They can be plastic, metal or wood. The first show greater resistance to aggressive environments. The latter, with timely processing of products with anti-corrosion compounds, serve for decades. But designs from oak laths are in great demand. They can really be made by hand without the help of specialists.
For growing undersized varieties of girlish grapes, one-plane installations are needed. But decorative and deciduous crops, which literally grow from 5 to 7 cm in growth in just a month, need two-plane trellises. Each of these structures contributes to:
- creation of shady places on the site;
- decorating the roof and doorways;
- better development of raspberries, grapes and wisteria;
- zoning of the local area;
- effective and at the same time inexpensive decoration of the front garden.
Video “Making a trellis for climbing plants”
From this video you will learn how to make a trellis for a summer cottage with your own hands.
Varieties
In spacious areas, it is more convenient to use double trellises, suitable for growing shade-loving plants. Most often we are talking about metal structures of T-shaped and V-shaped forms. In height, they often reach 3 m, due to which the plants always receive more solar energy, and as a result, they grow and bear fruit more actively.
Yield indicators are no less dependent on the correct rationing of inflorescences. If this is not taken into account, you will simply lose money on the device of functional T-shaped devices. In the end, the place allotted for the supports could be filled with more profitable crops.
On areas decorated in the Baroque and Empire style, columnar and triangular trellises look good. The French style tends to use arched structures. They make excellent alleys, shady screens and open-type gazebos. As plants, it is better to use fast-growing crops, especially Amur and Lambrusco grapes.
The optimal height of the trellis is 180 cm. For convenient passage of agricultural machinery, higher installations will be needed. In 35% of cases, such supports are used exclusively for decorating household plots. For these purposes, experts recommend exclusive fan-shaped designs. Rectangular trellises can be used everywhere.
DIY design
First of all, it is important to determine the location of the future installation. These can be well-lit areas that contribute to the active development of climbing perennials. As an option, you can offer an open area surrounded by outbuildings. And since the trellises are bare for more than 3-5 months, they must be in harmony with other elements of landscape design.
Beech beams will come down as a support. In order for the installation to last at least 10 years, they must be pre-treated with antiseptics and immersed to the optimum depth. Between the support rails, fasteners should be installed that can withstand bulky shoots of plants. Particularly popular are installations with mobile elements. With their help, you can change the height and width of the trellis at any time.
To avoid technical errors, it is better to draw up a drawing. It is important to indicate on it not only the dimensions, but also the features of the placement of support posts, horizontal bars, side elements and arch beams.
Of wood
Well-dried materials are useful in the work. Ash or beech wood should be taken as the basis. The basis of the structure can be made of beams with a width of at least 3 cm. For internal filling, larch or pine slats will be needed. By connecting these elements with self-tapping screws, you should get neat triangles, squares or arches. In the works, it is important to follow the step-by-step instructions for creating the most popular wooden trellises:
- Dig a trench for support posts with a depth of at least 55 cm. The optimal distance between the bars is 2 m.
- Attach longitudinal bars to the base with screws or steel corners.
- Form the correct form of the installation using the building level. All corners of the rectangle must be right.
- Fill the gap with slats.
- Impregnate the wood with antifungal compounds and paint.
It is better to assemble the structure on the ground, and only then attach it to the wall of the house or install it in the garden.
From branches
The optimal thickness of such supports is 2 cm. For self-assembly of the trellis, you will need secateurs, wire and pliers. This is the fastest and most inexpensive way to build a structure designed for growing cucumbers and climbing flowers. First you need to introduce a few rods into the ground. Then, every 13-15 cm, fix the remaining elements of the home-made installation. This will continue until a span of 1,2 m is obtained.
The intersections of the rods should be fixed with metal wire, and the protruding branches should be cut with secateurs. The result should be a design with cells in the shape of a rhombus. In late autumn, branches can be removed from the ground and stored in a barn. In the spring, they will again be needed for the manufacture of lightweight supports.
The best raw materials for such installations are branches of weeping mulberry, Babylonian willow, apple tree and decorative peach. If the owners plan to grow grapes in the country that bear fruit along the entire length of the shoot, denser shoots of rough elm or tree-like caragana will be needed.
Other options
The most durable trellises are made from plastic pipes. In work, it is better to use products with a diameter of at least 50 mm. Their advantages include light weight, good weather resistance and the possibility of quick installation without the help of specialists. Self-tapping screws contribute to better fastening of horizontal supports, and the viability of the pipe itself often depends on the quality of the reinforcement.
If plants are grown for sale, you need to make an inclined trellis. Semi-arches are more suitable for creating shady areas near the house. Corrosion-resistant composite rods can be used as supports. With a limited budget, but a rich imagination, bicycle wheels and tractor tires will do.