ideas for a free standing trellis for lady bank roses?

will PVC pipe work? I think it would be too hot.

Any other cheap (way cheap) and easy suggestions?

thanks!

If your PVC isn't painted a dark color, I don't think it would get too hot. We started mine on a temporary fence made of t-posts and wire. For our anniversary, hubby bought me two sections of split rail fence. One is already up next to my patio with Mexican Flame Vine. The other will replace our temporary fence for the Lady Banks rose as soon as hubby gets time (I'm recovering from cervical spine surgery and he's having to mow our 5 acres of grass right now--that's LOTS of work and he's working a part-time job too!).

Naturelover, so sorry to here you have been unwell, hope the surgery has been success for you and you will be on the mend soon, rest up and take all the spoiling you can, give your husband a hug from me, he's doing a great job with his garden work, employment and worrying about you, he deserves a big hug too. very best wishes and good luck. WeeNel.

Hi Nan, whatever you choose, you need to make it a good strong support for your roses as they can become heavy with all the foliage and flowers, I worry that the PVC will become brittle and crack/break with the fluctuating climate it will have after a couple of years, but I could be wrong on that.
what about a good strong fence post, onto this you loosely add chicken wire or nail some short tree ties, then as your rose branches grow, when still young/soft, you low down start to tie in the branches till eventually they reach the top, roses flower better if tied and bent low down as the sap goes along the branches for better flowering where as, if they are allowed to shoot right up, the sap all goes to the top and you end up with no flowers at the base, they are easier to prune and handle if you start early to bend lower down and wined them around the support. you need to add as load of organic manure to the soil at the planting hole as this will help feed the roses as well as allowing air into the soil, also helps keep some moisture into the soil, remember to dead head as much as you can too so you keep the flowers going over a longer period. good luck. WeeNel.

WeeNel,
Thanks so much for your well wishes. I'm doing very good (and yes, soaking up all the spoiling I can get from the family, lol). I give hubby lots of hugs--he's a really good guy and I wouldn't take anything for him. I agree with you on that PVC becoming brittle but assumed nannie was looking for something temporary until she could afford better in which case the PVC would be O.K. for short-term use. I reread her post and I could very possibly have assumed wrong. If I did, then I agree with you that she needs something stronger to begin with. Nannie, if you choose to use something temporarily, you could easily swap out for a stronger/better support when you do your annual pruning back on your rose.

Hi and thanks for your responses. My dad was the one who suggested PVC pipes; I think I wanted you all to say 'NOooo don't use that', so I could tell him it's not recommended. =) A few years ago, I helped him build/add trellises on the corners of his house (now, we did use small pieces of PVC as 'spacers' between the house and the trellis) and it really added to the cottage look. I don't care for the ones you find at the home building/department stores and I can't afford the ones you find at the specialty garden centers.

And thanks so much WeeNel...I didn't know about bending them down. It seems like I've moved every 3 or 5 years for the last 20 yrs and while I have dug up some of my plants, I usually leave the roses. I hope to put down some real roots (HA ... literally) now that I've moved back to TN.
For the last 3 summers, I've not physically been able to work or garden but I'm determined to learn how to garden even if I can't kneel or crawl in the dirt.

Container gardening and raised beds...here I come =)

I had a pvc pipe trellis that lasted for a long time, until I got tired of looking at it! It is good for plants you tie up, but not for vines that wind around, like clematis.

Nannie, one of my dear friends has just had a new hip replacement done and she used to do her gardening on her backside, she had a cushion made so she put it inside a Polly bag so it could slide along with her, she had a lovely garden, taller plants and there needs were easy for her as she could do them standing up.
You go for it girl, you will soon find your own way of getting around the garden, raised beds could be on your next wish list eh. Good luck and enjoy. WeeNel.

I built an arbor for a client once using 1/2" PVC reinforced with rebar. We covered the pvc with dark green duct tape (covered lengthwise, not "wrapped") and just slipped it over the rebar. which was down about 24" into the ground.

It's held up fine and that was about 15 years ago. Our climate here isn't severe, so I don't know how it would work where you get a lot of snow. The tape stayed put until the rose filled in.