Nick Bailey’s top 10 ideas for using skinny trellis
Here are my top easy, useful and affordable projects to try with trellis
Infill segments of a pergola
By screwing skinny trellis panels to a pergola you can enclose one side of it or add a secondary space for plants below the main horizontal overhead structure. Either way, it’s possible to make the pergola more room-like, with more growing opportunities for plants.
Create an obelisk
Obelisks make for great focal points and ideal places to grow climbers. Make one yourself with four skinny trellis panels screwed together to form a cuboid column?
Create a chunky archway
Following the same approach as above, it’s possible to create a simple but stylish archway. Start by screwing together two lots of four skinny trellis panels to make the cuboid columns for the uprights of the arch, then top with a single trellis panel and bingo – a chunky arch suited to roses, clematis and honeysuckle.
Top an existing fence
For an extra degree of privacy and the opportunity to grow more climbers, attach 180x30cm (6x1ft) trellis panels to the top of an existing timber fence? It’s easy to do and can be painted to match your existing wood colour.
Paint it
Bring a new and vibrant colour palette to your garden by painting skinny trellis and attaching it to sheds, buildings or fence panels as a feature.
Frame a door
Little is more romantic than a doorway flanked with roses and honeysuckle. Skinny trellis panels either side of a front door and over the top provide the perfect support for these glorious plants.
Open up a view through a fence
‘Borrow’ a bit of your surrounding landscape by cutting a slot in an existing timber fence and filling the gap with skinny trellis. This way your garden will remain secure but gains a whole new view.
Divide a space
Skinny trellis panels, evenly spaced out across an area and attached to vertical support posts, instantly create the sense of an outdoor room.
Make a fold-down climbing plant frame
Trying to paint behind trellis attached to a building is a pain so why not hinge the bottom of the skinny trellis which can then be attached to a 5x5cm (2x2in) timber and secured to the wall. Following this technique means the trellis (and the climber attached to it) can be folded away from the wall for maintenance.
Make a temporary cloche
Two skinny trellis panels screwed together in an upturned V shape and covered in either fleece or sheet plastic make for a light, easy, portable cloche.