What to Grow on a Trellis


If you can keep the kids from scaling them, trellises are the first step toward creating a landscape lush with flowering and climbing vines. With a little forethought and minimal effort, you can transform any ordinary front or backyard into a verdant, park-like setting. In fact, even before your vines and ivies grow and blossom, trellises come in a variety of attractive styles to deliver immediate visual appeal.

Estate Trellis

Join theIvy League
Start by choosing a trellis. With arched trellises, fan trellises, obelisk trellises, and planter box trellises to choose from (just to name a few), you're certain to find one that suits your taste, landscape, and budget. Thereafter, it's simply a matter of deciding what vegetation you want your trellis to support.

Magic Beans
Anything you choose to plant beneath your trellis likely will be available in seed form, which is by far the most economical option. But if you lack the patience or greenness of thumb, you can always find seedlings for a head start. Most vegetable trellis vines, such as cucumber, squash, and beans, take easily as seeds and grow quickly to produce enchanting blossoms. Cucumber trellis, for example, yields bright yellow flowers and, eventually, an abundance of cucumbers if your trellis is adequately sturdy.

Walk in Beauty
On grape trellis, rose trellis, mandevilla trellis, and other relatively delicate plants, it may be to your advantage to plant seedlings. These vines are more vulnerable to adverse weather conditions such as frost, wind, and rain than most vegetable trellis. While you may be paying more up front for seedlings and tending more closely to the vines as the mature, the resulting beauty is well worth the investment. Imagine the exotic feel of a landscape filled with grapevines, or strolling across a backyard blossoming with roses and mandevilla. These delicate pleasures are all within reach. It all starts on the simple foundation of a trellis.