How to Garden With Obelisks

Obelisks, tall pillars with a square base that taper like a pyramid toward a pointed top, can add drama and height to a landscape, and can be incorporated into a flower or vegetable garden. A stone obelisk can stand as a regal focal point to a rose or perennial garden, and a wooden lattice obelisk can serve as a trellis for flowering fines like clematis and morning glory. In the vegetable garden, beans and peas can be trellised on the lattice obelisk.

Things You'll Need

• Wood or stone obelisk
• Shovel
• Heavy rocks
• Vining plant

Instructions

1. Position a stone obelisk away from any trees in a flower garden that features plants of varied heights.

2. Dig up a 4-foot section of the flower or vegetable garden for a wooden trellis obelisk.

3. Place a wooden trellis obelisk in the vegetable or flower garden, and secure it in place by positioning heavy stones around the base.

4. Plant flowers or vegetables near the base that will vine up the obelisk trellis.

References

• "The Oxford Companion to the Garden"; Patrick Taylor; 2006
• "Private Gardens of Georgia"; Polly McLeod Mattox; 2008