Basket Weaving Trellis

Basket Weaving Trellis

Last year my husband stuck a few sticks into two of my deck planters and suggested that it would make a cool place for a basket weave trellis. Great idea! A self-supporting trellis.

It came out so great that I’m going to repeat this annually.

Here’s how I did mine:

Lay two window boxes end to end. Mine are on the deck.

Stick in 5 upright stick spokes. Mine are 5′ tall peeled bamboo. You can use any sturdy sticks- about 1/2″ to 3/4″ diameter.

Weave in 5 separate horizontal sticks as weavers. Or, you could use 2+ year old grapevine. (If you use young green growth, it will disintegrate quickly as soon as it’s cut.)

Plant vinca (sun) or impatiens (shade) at the base of the trellis. Tuck in the seeds of your climbing vines.

I plant Hyacinth Bean Vine, a beautiful annual that grows 10+ feet in the sun, half that in the shade. It has bright flowers and seed pods which you pick in the fall and save for next year. I keep my seeds in the refrigerator in a mason jar so that I don’t forget them- and they don’t get frozen in the garden shed over winter.

Here’s a photo from August 1, 2013. I also plant these to grow on our pergola. They’re nothing short of spectacular. Everyone wants to know what they are. Later I’ll post a photo of this year’s young plants beginning to climb the grey plastic mesh that I use on the vertical wall. I also plant these in a window box with grey plastic mesh over the window. Makes a natural screen to shade a window.

Basket Weaving Trellis