Twig Trellis

Hi. Just wanted to take a minute and show you what I worked on today. I have a clematis that we used an iron trellis with last year. With the new siding, we didn't want to use that in case it hit the house. So I have been looking for something different. I found an iron one that is a pyramid shape at Lowe's for about $30 but didn't want to pay that much. I remembered that I had seen one made of twigs somewhere so I thought I would give making one a shot.

So off to our woods I went with my new garden lopper (pruner) in hand. DH and the kids gave it to me for Mother's Day. All I had were little pruners and would just about break those trying to cut big things. I found a few trees that were next to big ones and didn't look so great and cut them off. I brought them back to the house and began the task. It didn't take too long. I am glad I wanted it primitive looking because although I started out with the sticks evenly spaced, somewhere along the way they became uneven. I nailed them together and also wrapped all the connecting points with rusty wire. When I finished, I asked my DS what he thought. All he said was not to put it in the wind. What....no confidence in his mother?? I'm hurt. It is very sturdy by the way, so I don't think wind will bother it. At least I hope not. Here it is before I put it next to the clematis.



I added another row of braces at little closer to the top for more stability. The clematis was getting quite big and tangled so I broke some of it off trying to get it through and trained around. I think it wishes I would have just left it alone. Here it is after.



I was happy how it turned out. I did learn a couple of things that would make it easier if I were to make one again. I have no idea how long this will last. Hopefully I can get a couple of summers out of it.

I found a spot for my bird house. It is off our patio. The fence behind it has my bittersweet on it. It is really growing this year. Yeah!! The petunias in the granite bowl are a little slow growing. I hope they take off soon.





I listed a bunch of printer's blocks on eBay today. If you or anyone you know collect them, stop by and check them out. There are some really neat ones.

I'm off for a walk now. It is so beautiful outside. Take care and thanks for stopping by.

~Melissa~