Let's See Your ARBORS and TRELLISES! Part 3

Patience really is a virtue that gardeners know best.

yes agreed and the folage does look nice covering it so its ok just want blooms lol

By sheer chance, I saw this thread come up on the active list of threads spotlighted on DG. The title of the thread got my attention! I love vines! All kinds! So the minute I saw Arbors and Trellis ... I popped right on over here. I think the title should also include "Pergola" too! First off, I just have to say what an excellent thread topic this is! Second, I am very impressed with all the beautiful vertical structures everyone has created! They are amazing!! And third, thanks for some absolutely inspiring ideas!

I have a sloping backyard and have been wracking my brain on how to create beds down the slope. Thanks to IRIS for the fabulous step-up garden beds! That is exactly what I need to build! What a great idea!!! Yours looks beautiful. And guess what ... I have lots of daylilies that I grew from seed this year that would find step-up garden beds the ideal location to thrive and bloom! I love your pathway, too! And your arbor is beautiful! WOW! Perfect!!!

So many unique ideas on these 3 threads! I am wanting to build a small pergola at the back of my house that currently looks so bare in that area. I already have Sweet Autumn clematis growing and blooming in two pots. I want to plant them in beds at the sides of the pergola and let them climb up and over the top of this small pergola that I have already planned out in my mind. But I couldn't figure out how to add seating to that pergola until I saw someone's photos of the benches attached to two sides of the pergola. That is exactly what I am going to build. But I am also going to add built-in small tables attached to the benches that will be built right into the 2 sides of the pergola. That will give me a place to place drinks, magazines, even a container of potted plants!

I can not tell you how many great ideas I got from just these 3 threads! Thank you. :-)

My dh and I used a concrete mold to create a cottage stone outdoor patio. Then we added a picket fence around the patio, added garden beds along the fence, and built an arbor to top it all off! Going through the arbor leads out to my butterfly and hummingbird garden. My idea is to create several different garden rooms in my backyard. I want to eliminate most of the grass and replace with paths and garden beds. I want more arbors, trellises, and something to divide the rooms ... be it shrubs, fencing, or short walls made of stone or whatever I can get my hands on for cheap! LOL!

Here is a photo of my arbor and patio area.

And here is how it looks now with some plants growing on and around the arbor. :-)

Art, I LOVE your front gate! That is so pretty and inviting. I have fond memories of Milwaukee... my grandmother was from Wisconsin. She was the youngest of 13 children in her family, so we spent a lot of summers up there with my grandparents, visiting her brothers and sisters in Milwaukee, Lake Mills, Waterloo, and all points in between!

Becky, your garden is beautiful. You have the makings of a lovely and intimate cottage garden going there. Thanks for sharing your inspiration!

Art great pictures your vines will look great
Becky I thought I was a pretty good gardener but DavesGarden has expanded my garden visions quite a bit.When you see what dozens of gardeners do to solve ugly space problems It inspired me to work with areas I would never thought of

Becky - all pergolas are welcome and tuteurs and obelisks. Anything that a plant can use to climb on is welcome. Love your cottage garden look, the fencing and the arbor!

I had a few eye opening moments when I went to Google, then Image and typed in Pergolas. So many fantastic ideas there as well as on these threads.

We saw this one in NH on vacation and I love it but it would be so much nicer with plants growing on it.

Art, Really love that gate to the back garden How much nicer than an open walk thru. I wonder how much sun does your wisteria get between the buildings. Maybe that is why it hasn't bloomed yet? I would love to have a climbing Hydrangea but haven't picked a good spot for one. I would love to grow one on the side of the house but I think they like a shadier area and I'm not sure it would do well there. Looks like your new pergola is pretty sunny? I've been reading where plants that usually grow in the shade in more southern climes can do well in the sun in a more northern clime. I was wondering how your hydrangea is doing and how much sun has it been getting?
Becky, Lovely garden, The fence and arbor are beautiful and I can see the patio you made with the concrete mold. Really looks good, how big is it?

During the summer I would 6-7 hours less on the base of the plant, The hydrangea I was told should do well for the climate and locating being zone 5 with the amount of sun. And need the gate to keep dogs in the yard.

Art, I am hearing that the zone or geographical location can make a big difference in the light requirements. I'm in Pa. with a zone 6. Think I should go on over to the vines and climbers forum and ask a few ?? about growing them in my zone. Perhaps I can get my wall of climbing hydrangea. I have a west facing wall that is shaded all morning but gets hit with afternoon sun.

Luis is great with hydrangeas, especially the climbing ones. He's always a gentleman and will give you help.

Thanks everyone!

HollyAnnS - My outdoor patio is about 11' x 15'. Not very big, but perfect for my dh and I and visitors. I eventually want to move the PVC table and chairs to another area out in my yard and put a smaller table set on the patio. The PVC furniture is just too big for that area.

I love all the vines that everyone is growing on their vertical structures. I wish I could grow roses here. They do not do well here in this heat at all unless they are in containers. I have 3 small bushes in containers right on that patio. Knockout Red, Knockout Pink, and Blush Pink. All bushes with smaller blooms. I grow Passifloras, Corkscrew, Morning Glories (my faves!), gourds, Blue Sky, etc. are the ones that I am growing in my gardens.

What is your favorite vine or climbing plant and why?

If your question was a general one to all of us I'd say Clematis. As for why - because there's such a wide variety to choose from and they're so beautiful.

This is 'Omoshiro'.

Pirl - Yes, the question was for everyone...

Your photo of 'Omoshiro' is picture perfect! I have 3 clematis. Ernest Markham, Jackmanii, and Venosa Violacea. They don't do as well here because of the heat.

Here is Venosa Violacea from this past Spring (when the weather was cooler).

Well, well, isn't that just a perfect picture! I love how you got color echoes from fencing! Is that the low vinyl fencing purchased in 10' sections? Now I may have to replace my old picket fencing and I'll know where to put my Venosa Violacea that's been waiting 18 months for the perfect spot.

Thanks for a terrific idea!

I believe BlissfulGarden (Evey) has a site or a list with all the clematis that do well in hot zones. You could Dmail her to find out.

Beautiful, Becky! So many great ideas on this thread. We're lucky to get blooms from our Clematis here and my DH gets so frustrated if I cut them back.

Hello everyone. Yes, Holly Ann, the geographical location does make a difference for hydrangeas. Here in the South, the summer sun is so strong that I have to limit sun exposure from 6am thru 11am or 12pm. Exposures past 12pm+ will scorch the hydrangea leaves that are in direct contact with the sun and make the leaves turn completely yellow (like when they have iron chlorosis but the leaves are all yellowed out, including the veins).

But you are in the northern half of the country and that means you are lucky because the climber hydrangea will do well in the conditions that you describe. Generally speaking, H. anomala petiolaris will be happy in either full sun or shade but that is mostly in the northern states and some middle of the country ones. As you get closer to the Gulf of Mexico, the leaves will suffer a little and the blooms may brown out much faster due to our intense sun and hot temperatures....

:o(

You could also review Schizophragma hydrangeoides (or S. hydrageoides Roseum) as it has slightly larger white lacecap blooms (Roseum has rosy-colored bracts and a rosy tinge in the outer sepals) but since it does not produce as much bloomage as Petiolaris, I rarely mention it. Petiolaris just looks so much more impressive when packed full of open blooms! All three are hardy on your zone.

Picture of Schizophragma hydrangeoides :
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/121398/

Picture of Schizophragma hydrangeoides Roseum:
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/114355/

Luis, Thank you so much for the info. Looks like I will be getting a much desired plant and Ric will be building a new trellis. If the house was brick I would probably let it climb the wall like those I have seen in N.C. but with vinyl siding we will need to come up with something suitable. Maybe a bench trellis combo. This side yard has remained un-planted for years. Plans for a small formal garden just haven't been realized, yet. A trellised climbing hydrangea on the house wall would fit in very well.
One of the things I love most about DG is the exchange of ideas that lead to new possibilities. Thank you all for the insight.
Can't tell much from this pic but this is the area. You come from the front of the house thru the arch in the clipped yew and across to a gate at the other end that enters the lower back yard. This small side yard is bordered by the veggie garden on one side and the house on the other side.

Lucky you, a veggie garden. I have been meaning to re-start a veggie garden for some time. The dogs made it impossible with their digging. The organic amendments must aso smell good because they liked to poke thru the little fence that, really, did no help to protect the ole veggie garden. Since I buy them often at Wally World, I have been thinking about planting butternut squash next or maybe the regular yellow squash. I have something growing out there right now. Not sure what it is but probably another type of squash. Comes out on its own yearly and reminds me of watermelon.

Oh, maybe I should try that too. A coworker who passed away, once commented of several varieties that he used to grow from seed that were excellent. And so much better than those sold at grocery stores but... they could not be commercially transported without the inside suffering problems. He may have mentioned the name but I forgot.

The veggie garden was a moderate success this year. About 3 years ago I decided that it was time to clean up the old veggie garden that was left to go to perennial weeds years ago. Every so often we would mow it down but never really weeded it. We had been cleaning out a spot here and there for pumpkins or some other fun plant. Then about 3 years ago I realized that I would loose my asparagus bed if I didn't take action and got serious. Each year we have cleared out a bigger area this year it is almost back to the original size. Tonight we had fresh Brussels sprouts picked just an hour before dinner.

We have teeeeny eggplants now,
The plants are in with the perennials and next year we will have a small plot just for vedgies.

Asparagus sound good. I want to try butternut squash too. I am not a fan of brussels sprouts myself but I still order them once every two months or so at the cafeteria in the building where I work. Since I eat broccoli and cauliflower often, I should try to grow them but, eeeeh, then I remember the pooches and I do not know if those two veggies would last. Hee hee hee! And Sigh.....

I wonder if you could plant butternut squash in containers and grow them up a trellis?

Just had to post this.
Chickadee house is 6 feet up.

What a pretty picture. Are any chickadees living there?

Wrens tore out the nest in June and raised their family in there. After the first family most houses are abandoned. This one hase been empty since late July.
The morning glories were so charming I just had to take a picture.
How's your back Pirl?

As I've heard birds won't come to a used nest so it has to be cleaned out but I've never done it. I've also taken down bird houses because I find it much too upsetting to see the crows grab the babies and fly off. That's no way to start the day.

The back isn't bad at all but the sciatica at my waist line to my feet is agony. I sit here and twirl in my chair for the first two hours of the day to loosen me up. I have to twirl in the opposite direction, too, or I'd probably spin out of control and end up on your doorstep!

Im driven to use my walker from time to time to keep the weight off my heel.
Stay on the meds and hope for the best.

Finally.. My new arbor is up replacing the gazebo that ended up on the roof.

Here we are having a christening party!

As you can see our grandson is also due any minute...

Ginger

Beautiful, Ginger. Looks like DH did a good job. Will you be growing anything on it?

'Tis the season for birthing, for sure! Mom always said it was the cold winter - all four of us were born in the summer! LOL Best wishes to your family.

Kathleen

I plan to grow lots on it but won't start until next season as we are already getting some 30-ish nights.

GInger

Thats the clue!!!

Beautiful Arbor and Beautiful mother to be. Please post pics next spring of both the arbor and the grandchild.

OH...twist my arm a little...wanna see his sister?????

Grandma Ginger

Just in case you say yes.. ..Of course keeping on topic.....flowers are involved.

Ginger

Beautiful child !

cute

Texas Puddy Print gave me permission to post these photos of how a cattle fence can hide an ugly feature (or a not so beautiful but necessary feature).

I love how well the cattle fencing works.

Love this arch as well.

Thanks for allowing me to post these photos, Texas Puddy Print! Please update with any photos or new ideas you've used for the fencing. Thanks.