This article will help you understand what trellis support is, and how you can use it to beautify your garden and your house walls. It will also make you aware of the kind of panels required for each type of your plants so that they get the necessary support as per their weights and types.
What Does Trellis Support Mean?
A trellis support is an architectural frame or structure especially made for plants, like shrubs that have excessive climbing properties. This support structure is usually made up of bamboo or pieces of wood or sometimes even metal material so that a consistent framework can be built for the plants to grow and create its own shape.
Variations of Trellis Support
There are different varieties and types of trellis support. Most importantly, the variation depends on the place you are building it in or the kind of plant or shrub you are building it for. It could either be an agricultural type, which is specifically used at the areas where vine training systems are present in viticulture or it could also be used for gardens for plants that have climbing properties. These plants include ivy, grapevines, clematis or even specific climbing roses or any other plant that requires support to grow.
You may find a number of trellis supports for climbing roses in Europe. Even in other areas where rose is regularly grown, you will see trellis support as an integral feature so that these plants can reach their maximum potential of being garden plants. It is amazing to note that some of these plants do not require artificial support sometimes so that they may wrap themselves around the trellis, but they do it themselves naturally. Some other plants do require human intervention so that they can be wrapped and tied around the trellis in order to grow well around that framework.
How to Prepare for Trellis Support?
A trellis support, which is also sometimes termed panels, can be made using interwoven pieces of wood. These wood pieces can be fixed to the roof or the fences of any exterior part of the building or infrastructure. In order to make it perfect to build a kind of roof for the trellis, it is usually recommended that a trellis work should be horizontally set at a level that is above the head height. This roof gives the perfect structure and frame to the trellis support.
Having said that, it is important for trellises to be dug deep into the grounds so that when the plants start producing vegetables, the support doesn’t tip over. Also, you need to be sure that it won’t just budge off in strong windy seasons. Ideally, what gardeners often do is they make a six foot long trellis support and keep at least one foot of it inside the ground.
However, it also depends on the kind of plant you are growing with the support of a trellis. Moreover, for trellis support mesh or netting, there are a variety of materials you can use. Traditionally, gardeners use galvanized fencing as well as chicken wire. Nevertheless, these days, a wide variety of plastic materials are available in the market. It is entirely up to you what you will get for trellis netting, though it is better if you get chicken wire. However, a factor to consider in this regard is the weight of the fruit or plants that you are growing when deciding on the trellis netting. You should preferably get a heavier mesh or netting if you are growing heavy weighted fruits and plants. For trellis attachment, you can use staples, nails, wire or plastic locking ties for proper fitting and adjustments.
Trellis Support for Garden Vegetables
Trellis support is commonly used for many vegetables, including beans and peas. This is because these vegetable plants need some kind of support that can contain them so that they don’t sprawl all over. This also helps vegetables avoid rotting and be as fresh as they are meant to be for a long period of time. This also helps vegetables and plants to be free of any kind of diseases.
Trellis Support for Vine Crops
Vine crops that include cucumbers, squash and melons need great trellis support to grow in a clean and straight manner. This means these crops require a trail of space to grow and be gathered, as they need some sort of training for growth on trellis support. Having said that, bush varieties, like big cucumbers, winter squashes in small sizes as well as small melons are the best growing vine crops for trellises. This is because they can be up to 3 pounds, which is the ideal weight for vegetables to grow well on trellises.
Once you have fitted the trellis support well, you should begin planting the vines right near the footing of the trellis. Be sure that you constantly participate in vine training, which you may do as you weave their tips between the mesh openings. This should be done once in a few days.
On the other hand, if you are a melon grower, the challenge is to keep them on the vine so that they do not fall off prematurely, which usually happens a lot. One of the best solutions in this regard is to build hammocks so that they get enough support while the fruit is being developed. You can have shade cloth with the size of the fruit and the fruit can be kept in that sling so that it doesn’t fall off.