How to Install a Garden Trellis

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A garden trellis is a great way to add interest to your outdoor space. Trellises add height to your garden, and are great dividers for your garden area. If you want to add climbing vines to your garden, a trellis is a necessity. A climbing vine on a trellis is a beautiful way to hide an ugly wall. Follow these steps to properly install a garden trellis outside your home.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Trellis
Hammer or mallet
Level
Mounting brackets (if necessary)

Step1

Choose a location for your garden trellis, making sure the area receives the required amount of sunlight needed by your climbing plant. You can install your trellis in the ground or in a large pot.

Step2

Determine if the bottom trellis posts are sufficient for driving into the ground or pot. If the trellis is freestanding, it needs to be driven about 2 feet into the ground for stability. If the trellis is in front of a wall, post, or other solid object, the trellis can be secured with a bracket. If the posts are not long enough, add a length of wood or metal post.

Step3

Drive the trellis into the ground (or potted soil) with a hammer or mallet. If the ground is too hard to drive the posts into the ground, dig a hole, insert the trellis posts, and then fill and pack the hole with soil.

Step4

Use a level to determine if the garden trellis is level vertically and horizontally. Adjust the trellis if necessary.

Step5

Secure the center of the trellis to a nearby wall or post, if necessary. This will prevent the trellis from shifting or falling over time due to the weight of the climbing plant.

Step6

Plant your climbing plant at the base of the trellis and weave all long vines through the trellis as desired. The plant will continue to grow, weaving through the trellis, but might require occasional adjustment to achieve your desired look.

Tips & Warnings

If your trellis is large and/or heavy, you might consider securing it with concrete. Dig a hole, mix the quickset concrete in the hole according to package directions, and then set the trellis posts in the concrete. You can hide the concrete with soil or mulch when it is set.
If installing a garden trellis in a large pot, secure the trellis to the pot with brackets for stability.
If you install your garden trellis within a few inches of your house, you may be inviting trouble. Insects such as termites can quickly transfer from the trellis to your home. The climbing plant might also begin growing on your home instead of the trellis. Over time, vegetation can destroy brick mortar and wood siding.

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Comments

LSUSandie said

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on 4/14/2008 Thank you for such clear and concise instructions. I must have gone to at least 6 different web sites that were supposed to describe this job. some of them didn't come close.

Just one remark I'd add: I, too, always believed that vines would damage a brick/mortar house. I recently read online or saw on TV that this was not true. I will damage wood, but apparently not brick/mortar. I wish I could cite the reference here, but I have forgotten. I do know that the site where learned this was credible enough for me. I mention it here only so that others might want to check into it. I expect no one or take it as fact based on my flimsy info.

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