DIY trellis for climbing plants. Supports for climbing roses and grapes

The catalog of our online store contains more than 100 bush holders, supports, harnesses and garters for indoor and garden plants. The cost of devices depends on the size, material and other technical characteristics.

When choosing accessories, consider:

  • . material - products are made from environmentally friendly materials;
  • . type of plant - nets are designed for bindweeds, holders corresponding to their shape have been developed for gladioli and orchids, clips have been created for cucumbers with which they are attached to the twine;
  • . place of use - some products are intended for the home, others for the garden;
  • . period of use - all devices are made of high-quality plastic or metal and are intended for repeated use.

Product Features

Using plastic bush holders, bushes are fenced and tied up to improve the appearance of the area. Easy to install and does not damage plants.

Flower supports in the shape of a circle on one leg consist of a metal pipe with PVC coating. Corrosion resistant.

Nets made of polypropylene are resistant to ultraviolet radiation, do not absorb water and do not rot.

The plastic phytolamp stand is installed on the windowsill. Creates conditions for growing seedlings.

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Detailed information about intervals and zones by city, conditions for unloading and picking up orders is available on, where you can independently calculate the cost of your delivery in advance, indicating the postal address and parameters for unloading.

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Purchased goods can be picked up independently at any of the OBI stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ryazan, Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Omsk, Krasnodar, Surgut, Bryansk, Tula and Volzhsky.

Many plants in the garden need strong and reliable supports. Such a home-made support for climbing plants should last a long time and not spoil the appearance of the plantings. This is the homemade support design that Igor Moskvichev from St. Petersburg came up with.

“I selected well-dried blocks and boards one and a half meters long for the supports and sawed them into racks. From the leftovers, I also cut transverse strips with a section of 10x10 mm and a length of 400 mm. At the lower ends of the racks I drilled holes with a diameter of 20 mm and a depth of 100 mm using a feather drill. To attach the crossbars along the entire length of the rack, I made through holes with a diameter of 9-10 mm every 150 mm.

Then, from a reinforcing bar with a diameter of 14 mm, I cut legs 400 mm long for the support racks. On one side I sharpened them on a grinding wheel, and on the other, retreating 150 mm, I welded a “step” from pieces of the same reinforcement 100 mm long. They serve to make it more convenient to drive the pins into the ground in the right place.

How to make a support for climbing plants with your own hands? I started assembling it by installing a metal leg into the end of the rack. To do this, I filled the hole in the end halfway with epoxy glue, lowered the finished rod into it, aligned it along the axis and let the glue harden. In my opinion, this joining of a wooden support post with a metal base is the simplest and most reliable. Epoxy glue can be replaced with cement mortar.

Then, with a little effort, I inserted the transverse strips into the holes of the rack, additionally fixing them with drops of glue. Instead of wooden ones, metal crossbars made of thick steel wire can be used in supports for climbing plants.

Or you can generally make a very simple and durable support; it will look good in a country-style garden and separate the vegetable garden from the rest of the garden.

A support for indoor and garden plants is a decorative and practical detail that helps give flowers with insufficiently strong stems the desired shape, improve their growth, and create interesting landscapes. But in order to get the desired effect, it is important to choose the right product. The article will tell you what kinds of supports there are for home and garden plants, what requirements are put forward for them, and how to make such a structure yourself.

Supports are made from various natural and synthetic materials. The choice of option depends on the installation location and type of flower. Products made from willow twigs, processed dry branches, and bamboo look elegant. True, they are short-lived and are not suitable as street supports. In rainy weather, mold and bacteria quickly develop in them, which have a detrimental effect on the condition of the crop. Therefore, it is better to install such products at home.

Structures made of plastic, wire, stone, metal and wood are more suitable for the garden. Wooden collapsible structures are the cheapest. Their shape is round and square. The disadvantage of such products is that over time they begin to rot. After 7-10 years, the supports will have to be replaced.

Metal poles are many times more expensive, but their service life is longer than their wooden counterparts. Pipes can be square or round. The first ones look more aesthetically pleasing. Plastic versions of trellises are lighter and more practical, moisture resistant. For the winter, they can be simply disassembled and stored in the house. In any case, the support must be strong and support the weight of the plant. There is a lot of useful information in the article about.

Making your own support

The stores offer many different options for supports for indoor and garden plants, but it is much more interesting and cheaper to create the structure yourself.

In addition, you can make a beautiful support of the desired design, size and shape. To work, you will need available tools and a minimum set of tools. You should also decide on the material. Making a product is not difficult, especially if you find a project on the Internet with a detailed description and photo. Let's look at how to make flower supports from different materials.

Metal structures for flowers

To create a metal support structure, gardeners most often use metal mesh due to its practicality. It is secured to a fence, pole or facade. The material is sold in rolls in specialized stores. First you need to decide on the size of the piece. To do this, you need to decide whether the material will partially or completely cover the surface. Next, markings for fastenings are applied. Holes are drilled and self-tapping screws are inserted onto which the mesh is attached.

The metal mesh is convenient because it is practically invisible behind the flowers. If you have a welding machine, then you can build a more complex, but beautiful option from metal. For example, a structure in the form of a pyramid, slanting grilles, awnings over the veranda, curved arches.

PVC water pipes, fittings, iron rods, wire - all this is suitable for creating support for flowers. The metal strips and pipes are first sanded, primed and painted. The pillars are fixed to the surface of the earth using concrete. It is recommended to paint it green, black or white. Forged products are also used.

Plastic pipe supports

Plastic is a practical, easy-to-install material. The structure is attached to the wall of the house or buried in the ground. To give strength, they are concreted. They make plastic supports for plants in the form of arches, trellises, trellises. You will need a piece of plastic tube, fishing line and sphagnum moss.

Below is an algorithm for making supports for bushes, shrubs and flowers:

  1. Take a polypropylene pipe of the required length.
  2. Wrap a thick layer of moss 10 centimeters wide around it. In this case, the part that will be in the ground must be left open.
  3. Compact the wet moss and tie it with fishing line.
  4. Do the same to the top of the plastic product.
  5. At the end you need to tie a knot and melt it with a match.
  6. Make staples from wire.
  7. Attach the plant stems to the finished structure.

A trellis is also convenient for climbing plants. It is a combination of several plastic trellises connected to each other. Such a structure will provide a pleasant shade. And if you make a ceiling, you will get a good gazebo.

Wooden flower supports

Because wood is an environmentally friendly, durable material, it is often chosen to create support for plants. The following tools will be useful for the job: sandpaper, hammer, nails and saw. You will also need special impregnation against moisture, moisture-resistant paint.

The design is made in the form of:

Bamboo plant supports

It is easy to build structures for grapes of any geometric shape from bamboo. For example, arches, ladders. Ropes are used to secure the jumpers. If the bamboo trunk is strong, it can be used as a pole. A stick of a certain thickness is inserted into the ground and fixed using special clamps. Such products are ideal for supporting large, short and long climbing plants. To protect parts from moisture, they are coated with varnish. To give the product strength, it is recommended to cover bamboo supports with plastic.

With the help of bamboo supports it is easy to build an obelisk for clematis, guide a vine shoot, and support a rose. These products are suitable for most types of plants. They look beautiful and natural among the green foliage.

If a bamboo support for clematis is installed at home, a hole 1 to 2 centimeters deep is drilled in the ceiling for better fixation. The diameter of the hole should match the diameter of the bamboo pole.

Coconut flower supports

A coconut stick makes a good support for flowers. Many people use coconut varieties for sheflera, monstera and other plants consisting of several thin stems. The coconut structure is used to form large flowers that grow in floor planters.

To make a rose support you will need a plastic stick, a wooden stick, coconut fiber and wire. Fiber is sold at an affordable price in any specialized store. One briquette will cost about 150 rubles.

The work algorithm is presented below:

  1. Take a stick of the required length.
  2. Coconut fiber soaked in water is wound around it.
  3. The material is securely fixed using wire.
  4. The structure is mounted in the center of the flower bed.
  5. The stems of the plant are tied up or secured with clamps.

The product looks aesthetically pleasing. If all stages of the algorithm are completed, the structure will withstand heavy loads.

Types of structures for plants

All structures that serve as supports for plants are classified into decorative and technical.

The former look aesthetically good even without flowers. What is important in autumn and winter, when plants shed their leaves. Decorative options include arches, nets, garden screens, towers, and trellises. The second ones are intended solely for support. They don't look particularly attractive. But they are reliable and durable. Such supports can be mesh or wire.

For indoor flowers

Many gardeners in apartments grow tall plants with large buds and leaves. To support crops and give them a neat appearance, metal-plastic or plastic structures are used. Bamboo sticks tied with moss or twine look good among green foliage. Such products are made in different heights and diameters, taking into account the size of the flowerpot. If the plant is spreading, several sticks are inserted into the pot and secured with rope.

If the plant is climbing, has a fragile and thin stem, support will help give it a beautiful shape and set the desired direction for growth. Small arches made of wood, metal or plastic look good. By tying the stems down, there is a chance to stimulate the formation of new buds. Some gardeners hang trellises on the wall. This design stops the growth of the crop in width and causes the plant to stretch upward. The advantage of choosing such a support is that a sufficient amount of light falls on the pot. Therefore, the flower grows much better and gets sick less often.

For hanging and spreading crops, interior supports consisting of one or more rings are often chosen. The number of elements of the circular support depends on the height of the plant. This product saves space and makes the flower more neat.

For garden crops

Many garden crops need support. For this purpose, different support structures for tomatoes are used. The choice largely depends on the landscape design and the preferences of the gardener.

All options are combined into three large groups:


The above classification of fittings is considered conditional. Indeed, often a garden support structure for tomatoes consists of several types of supports. For example, pergolas include pillars, nets, arches, and trellises. The main thing is to combine all the elements correctly.

When choosing the type of support for peonies, it is important to remember: the design elements must be in harmony. Only then will the site look beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.

Requirements for supports

Every gardener wants a plant tied to a support to develop well and please the eye. For this purpose, the supporting structure must be chosen correctly. There are a number of requirements that the support must meet.

Support for indoor and garden flowers should:

  1. Be reliable and durable. Support the weight of the plant and hold onto the pot well, standing firmly in the ground. For exotic crops, light peat and moss are often used as a substrate. The support will not be able to stand in loose soil. Therefore, it is attached to the pot, and the flowerpot is attached to the windowsill or wall using available materials.
  2. Allow the plant to spread out completely, evenly.
  3. Be practical. Stores sometimes sell bulky, pretentious, unstable versions of flower supports. Therefore, it is advisable to create the product yourself. The essence of practicality is that the plant looks beautiful when supported, all branches are well selected.
  4. Be safe. Therefore, it is better to choose a product from environmentally friendly, natural materials.
  5. Be attractive in appearance.

Conclusions about the above information

In the wild, vines successfully use trees for growth and development. Probably, a person there came up with the idea of ​​​​supporting climbing plants with the help of trellises. Today there are a considerable number of varieties of supports for an even larger range of climbing plants. Let's divide them into two parts: trellises for supporting fruit crops, the appearance of which is not very important, and decorative structures that decorate the landscape of the site.

We have discussed devices of the first type in separate articles: , . Now we will talk about structures intended for flowers, shrubs and uncovered grapes, as well as for dividing the space of a personal plot into separate zones.

Do-it-yourself trellis is not a bad idea, as it can be implemented with a minimal set of tools, made from scrap materials and almost without experience. It will be nice to receive positive assessments of your work from others.

A high trellis divides the area into zones

Possible materials for arranging a trellis

If you carefully study the photos of country trellises, you will see that a variety of materials are used for their construction. This is especially true when making a trellis with your own hands. Openwork structures are assembled from plastic and metal, timber and fittings, pipes and slats. The fantasies of amateur gardeners can compete with the ideas of professional designers.

However, in most cases, preference is given to traditional materials: wood, metal, plastic. Let's figure out together what requirements a homemade design must meet and how it can be fulfilled.



Bougainvillea and wooden trellis harmonize perfectly

Features of a trellis for lemongrass

Schisandra loves openwork supports; they are vital for it to bear fruit. The female part of the plant’s flowers is formed at a height of 2-2.5 m, and at a height of up to 1 meter there are mainly male inflorescences that do not bear fruit. For a first-year plant, it is enough to erect a wicker structure 1-1.5 meters high, but starting from the second year of Schisandra’s life, the wickerwork will have to be increased all the time. If the stems of the plant do not have support, they will begin to creep along the ground, strongly intertwining with each other, which will complicate berry picking and care.

Having excellent decorative properties, lemongrass is placed on any vertical structures: ladders, wall supports, picket fences, figured trellises, on wire and mesh frames. The climbing stems of the plant entwine arbors and hedges, decorate outbuildings and sheds. The main thing is not to let the lemongrass climb too high, otherwise it will be difficult to collect its fruits. The recommended height of the structure for this plant is no more than 3 m.



Lemongrass will make any trellis beautiful

To eliminate sagging shoots, they are tied to the support parts on one side. When the warm season passes and winter approaches, the trellis is laid on the ground along with dried lemongrass branches. The plant must be covered for the winter to preserve the root system. This procedure is especially important for areas with cold winter months.

Requirements for trellises for climbing roses

Despite the apparent unpretentiousness of climbing roses, they should not be allowed to grow freely. If you don’t properly regulate the direction of shoot development, the vines will get mixed up, small branches will break off, and the integrity of the bush will be compromised. Crowding will lead to a reduction in the main stem, and the rose will not bloom well. To give a climbing rose an elegant look you need:

  1. Select a type of design that will organically fit into the overall design of the site.
  2. For varieties with small flowers, you can build a lightweight vertical stand that is not overloaded with large parts. Miniature forms require airiness in the design.
  3. The lush bloom of roses is delightful, but it is impractical to fill the entire area with them. Use decorative supports sparingly, placing them so that the roses maintain harmony and do not create an imbalance in the variety of colors in the garden.


Roses and trellis complement each other

Often in areas you can see arches of roses, preceding the exit to the recreation area or decorating the entrance to the gazebo. Making an arched structure is more difficult than a vertical trellis, but it also looks more elegant. For supports, you can take metal or plastic pipes of small diameter. The lattice is made of mesh, and the top of the arch is fastened with longitudinal ties so that it can support the weight of the entire bush.

Choosing a support for clematis

Clematis is a favorite type of climbing plant among gardeners. The liana, blooming with delicate stars that are scattered in a continuous carpet along its curly emerald stems, pleases the eye and turns the garden into a wonderful fairy tale. A properly arranged trellis helps to reveal all the beauty of clematis. When planning to install a support for clematis with your own hands, you should take into account the weight of its branches. The rapid growth of stems and numerous flowers significantly weigh down the green garlands of the plant, which means that the support under them must be strong.

Young shoots and leaves of clematis at the beginning of their development grasp the support; in old ones this ability disappears. When starting to make the grating, keep this fact in mind. The parts of the support covered by the shoots should not be more than 1-2 cm in diameter and it is desirable that their surface be rough. The branches are tied evenly, in one layer, ensuring free access of light to all parts of the bush. For gartering, use twine or raffia, which are safe for tender young shoots. You can secure old woody branches with a wire loop.



A lightweight trellis design is good for clematis.

Trellis for clematis are made from wooden or metal parts, scrap materials, poles, and branches. Many summer residents decorate the walls of gazebos, verandas, summer kitchens and baths with their favorite flower. To secure the branches, nails are driven into the wall and twine is pulled to the ground where the shoots originate. If you follow professional instructions, clematis should be tied 20cm from the ground so that they do not break.

When planting clematis near a building, you should retreat 50 cm from its wall, protecting its leaves from overheating and its roots from excess moisture flowing from the roof.

Mesh trellis for climbing roses and clematis

A mesh trellis is a common type of support for roses and clematis. For its construction, a metal mesh with large green cells, coated with PVC, is best suited. Strong and durable material easily supports the weight of the plant and perfectly holds the shape of the bush. A simplified version of the design consists of two posts driven into the ground and a rope mesh stretched between them. Step-by-step instructions for the option with twine:

  1. We first mark the location of the trellis.
  2. We dig holes, insert metal posts or wooden beams into them and bury them.
  3. We coat the pillars with paint or varnish to improve their decorative characteristics. It is better to use water-based paint, which will protect the supports from rotting and rust.
  4. We stretch the mesh between the posts. The openwork support for delicious clematis and lush climbing roses is ready.


Plastic mesh on metal supports - simple, reliable, neat

Tree branch structure

A very simple version of a trellis that does not require drawings or precise calculations. It is available to every owner of the site and is made from ordinary branches, as clearly shown in the photo. For a complete structure you will need 2-3 dozen branches with a diameter of 1 cm, wire or rope for a garter. Let's start making:

  1. We disassemble and arrange the prepared branches according to size.
  2. We stick the first branch into the ground to a depth of 10-12 cm. We place the second in the same way, but at an angle to the first of 60 degrees.
  3. We tie both branches together. We move on to the next pair and perform the same operation. Our task is to weave a span of mesh of the required width from the branches.
  4. We make sure that the resulting diamonds have the correct shape. We fix the diamonds with wire so that they do not become deformed.
  5. Trim off the protruding ends of the branches. We form a lattice in the form of a rectangle.

When winter approaches, the branches can be pulled out and stored for storage, and in the spring they can be reassembled into an openwork lattice. If they don't overwinter well, you can always cut new branches. When choosing material, try to cut long and straight branches.

Shoots with large knots and bends may not withstand the weaving and break. Please note that such a support is not intended for volumetric structures and heavy fruit plants.

Arranging a metal support

Metal supports are divided into three types: wire, pipe, and forged. To create a metal mesh, a wire with a cross-section of 2.5 mm is taken, which can withstand increased load. This design is often used for growing grapes. When assembling it, it is necessary to ensure the symmetrical arrangement of the cells.

Pay attention to an important nuance: to create a gap between large branches, make one vertical with large cells; spans with small cells will maintain the integrity of the plant pattern.

If you need a high trellis (more than 2 meters), use reinforcement (1.5-1.8 cm) or pipes (diameter 3 cm) for its vertical parts. Horizontal weaves for cells are made from thin reinforcement (0.5-0.7 cm). To facilitate the installation of supporting parts, the ends of pipes or fittings are cut at an angle of 40-60 degrees. The length of the underground part of the support should be 2-3 times shorter than the above-ground part.

Forged metal trellises look very beautiful and stylish, but they will not be cheap. If you do not have blacksmithing skills, you may be able to find unnecessary bars on windows or forged gates, then you can adapt them to your idea. The design is heavy, it will have to be securely fixed in a vertical position, but the high decorative value of such an object is worth it to decorate your garden.



Metal mesh on metal supports is a reliable option

Plastic supports

Stores offer ready-made trellises made of plastic, consisting of support pipes and lattice sections. The sections are attached to the supports using staples and dowels. Flexible plastic allows the structure to be given a variety of shapes, but it is not suitable for “heavy” plants. You can make plastic supports yourself from leftover finishing materials and used plastic products (furniture, containers).

If you want to make an intricately shaped trellis, use a blowtorch to bend plastic pipes. Heated plastic bends easily. To connect individual pipe parts, wooden pins are used, onto which the connecting pipes are placed and secured with self-tapping screws. Having formed the main figure from plastic pipes, the free space is filled with a plastic or mesh grid.



The plastic trellis has an impeccable whiteness

Master class on making a wooden trellis

A wooden trellis enjoys well-deserved popularity. Of course, you will have to take care of it, since the tree deteriorates under the influence of the sun, frost and rain. But you can build the most incredible structures of any size with your own hands. Below are step-by-step photos of making one of the common options.



The trellis divides the area into zones

The wooden trellis that you see in the photo is the basis of the overall structure with a pergola and an arch. The entire complex divides the yard into common and utility zones. The structure also serves as a support for climbing roses, grapes and clematis.


To build the trellis I used the following materials:
- timber with a section of 60X40mm;
- edged board with a section of 20x120mm;
- slats with a section of 20x40mm;
-self-tapping screws 4.2X76mm (black, rare pitch);
- self-tapping screws 3X35mm (galvanized);
- impregnation for wood "Pinotex";
- yacht varnish;
- galvanized box with a section of 60X60mm;
-cement and sand.



Sketch of a trellis section

The structure has the following dimensions (one section): total height from the ground 1.9 m, width 1.8 m, height of the lower beam from the ground 0.3 m. The step between the slats is 0.2 m. All parts, including slats, were coated with impregnation and two layers of varnish before assembly. Four seasons of the structure's life have shown that it has to be varnished once every two years. Sometimes it is necessary to sand the darkened wood and re-coat it with Pinotex before varnishing. Then the entire structure always looks like new.



This is what a support in the ground looks like

To install the trellis supports, I dug holes 0.4 m deep. On the ends of the beams that will be in the concrete, I put pieces of galvanized profile 60X60mm (I bought one fence post) and secured them with self-tapping screws. Since the timber is thinner, we had to fill the gap with a 10mm thick strip of plywood. It is easier to use special galvanized thrust bearings, but it was not possible to acquire them quickly.
I adjusted the timber supports according to the height, placing pebbles on the bottom of the hole, secured them with crossbars and temporary supports, and then concreted them.



Trellis frame installed

After the solution hardened, I divided the sections in half with additional beams to strengthen them and divide them into lighter visual forms. All connections were made with self-tapping screws. In order not to load the screwdriver too often, the beam closest to the screw was pre-drilled with a diameter of 4 mm. The site has a slope, so the trellis is equipped with a “ladder”.
The next step was to install the inclined slats of the first layer using self-tapping screws. To simplify the work, I made two 200mm gauges from scraps of slats. The gauges were installed at the top and bottom to ensure a constant angle of inclination of the grating.



The slats were attached on this side

The slats are long and thin, so they may have curvature. This must be taken into account when attaching the second layer of slats, directed in the other direction, and correcting the curvature when tightening the screws. The slats of the second layer were first attached at the top and bottom, and then in the middle, with the correction specified above.
I was diligent enough to treat all the ends of the parts with impregnation before installing them. But the places where the parts are joined do not “lose their face” over time, and the wood does not deteriorate.



Clematis masters the trellis

Most of the slats were cut to size and machined prior to installation. I used a template to cut the slats at the same angle. It is more convenient to do this using a miter box. The result was a rather rigid structure. In any case, I like roses, clematis and grapes.

With the help of climbing plants and various supports for them, you can literally take your garden design to new levels. But when it comes to finding the best structures and options for supporting garden vines, everything is far from simple. Supports must not only meet purely practical tasks, but also correspond to the characteristics of the climbing plants themselves, be durable, reliable and fit into the style of the garden. There are many rules in choosing supports for your favorite vines, as well as nuances that are worth paying attention to.

The plant comes first, not the support

Being one of the main tools of vertical gardening, garden vines have no competitors in solving important decorative problems. From landscaping the façade to decorating arches and pergolas, gazebos and fences, almost everything can be done by climbing plants. But vines will not fulfill their functions without support, which allows them to climb to new heights and reveal all their beauty.

Selecting and then installing supports for climbing plants is not at all a simple matter. After all, in addition to shape, size and price, you have to take into account dozens of other important factors. Errors in choosing supports are unacceptable. Fortunately, the difficulties in following the rules for selecting a suitable base for any vine are more than compensated by the wide variety of both the plants themselves and the options for supporting them.

There is a lot of controversy about what should be chosen first - a climbing plant or a support. Since the structure is installed first, it is believed that the structure is chosen first, and only then a vine of your choice is planted onto it. But this approach is not always correct: not every vine can be planted on any support.

Both different designs and different climbing plants have their own individual characteristics and preferences. If we are talking about large pergolas, gazebos or other massive structures that require extensive construction work, these structures need to be considered first.

In all other cases, you should start choosing a support for a vine not with the structures themselves, studying their range and the features of different options, but with an analysis of the climbing plants that you plan to use. After all, such supports are selected individually for each vine. And if you want the choice to be successful, it is better to evaluate the characteristics of specific candidate plants from the point of view of their purely practical properties.

Groups of vines according to practical characteristics

Before selecting designs and deciding exactly how to “raise” the vine to a height, it is worth assessing its features. All climbing plants are different not only in decorative qualities and size, but also in weight, tenacity, and the ability to remove plants from their support in the future. From the point of view of weightiness and purely practical characteristics, vines are conventionally divided into three groups:

  1. Powerful climbing plants, rising to a height of many meters, creating with age a large mass of shoots or having stems of large diameter, whose weight requires the installation of reliable, stable supports corresponding to the load they face. The large weight of actinidia or wisteria, virgin grapes, and climbing roses with age requires the construction of reliable structures.
  2. Light vines, the above-ground part of which does not become very heavy even after years, and flexible, obedient shoots are able to grow on the simplest supports. Typical “light” vines are lemongrass and clematis, whose flexible shoots and light leaves allow the use of the most elaborate structures of light weight.
  3. Climbing plants that grow firmly to the support, making the process of removing them impossible. This includes Kampsis, which is impossible to separate from the support even with a strong desire.

Support in the form of a screen made of stretched fishing line for light climbing plants. © tetawowe

Criteria for choosing support for climbing plants

Supports for garden vines are very different. They differ not only in materials and sizes, silhouettes and contours, but also in their functional purpose. Supports can be supporting or holding - allowing the vines to rise to their entire length and revealing the essence of any climber, or forming, giving the vine the direction of growth, silhouette and volumetric shape.

When choosing a support for climbing, climbing and climbing plants, three important factors must be taken into account:

  1. The direction of plant growth, its desired outline and configuration.
  2. The decorative problem that is solved by vertical gardening is camouflage, protection from prying eyes, the introduction of vertical accents, the play of shapes or silhouettes, the introduction of counterweights, eye attraction, etc.
  3. Location in space relative to buildings and other large objects - growing near a wall or fence, gazebo or small architectural object, growing as a separate vertical element in the form of a tent, creating green screens or screens on separate lattice supports, planting near old trees, etc. .

Types of supports for climbing plants

The division of supports into three types - small architectural forms, wall structures and solitary plants - is important, but a slightly different classification is much more practical. After all, the installation of an arch, although it belongs to small architecture, is much closer to an obelisk or pyramid than to a heavy pergola.

Depending on the decorative purpose and functional purpose, the following are distinguished:

Supports used for landscaping vertical planes

When choosing a support for a climbing plant that is planned to be planted near a fence, a gazebo, the wall of a house and used in landscaping the facade, it is worth remembering that growing directly on a building and fences, using the most basic structure as a support is not the optimal option.

The point is not only that the natural mechanisms that provide the vines with the opportunity to cling to support are sometimes so strong that they can destroy the walls and materials themselves, but it is also a matter of sanitary standards. The green mass will increase the humidity under the vine, leading to greater corrosion and wear of coatings and materials, not to mention the consequences of creating an ideal environment for pests and fungal diseases.

Caring for wall coverings, especially when it comes to the facade of a house, will be complicated and often impossible, as will repair work. Therefore, when landscaping walls, buildings, structures and fences with vines, it is better to use additional support, which will only be close, but not closely located on the landscaping surface.

Growing climbing plants on mesh or linear supports, wooden and plastic trellises, trellises and guide cords, rather than directly on the structure, will minimize damage and achieve the goal without depriving yourself of the ability to properly care for coverings.

It is better to select the type of wall supports according to the type of vine. Thus, wild grapes or hydrangea will easily climb along guide cords or wire mesh, while ivy will prefer trellises, trellises, etc.

The distance to the walls should be minimal, but within reasonable limits. For wooden structures, it is advisable to place gratings and other supports nearby 30 cm from the wall. And for metal, stone, artificial surfaces, concrete and brick - at least 40 cm.


Supports for separately growing climbing plants - tent forms

The tent form of cultivation is conventionally called any cultivation of tapeworm vines, which involves placement on an independent support - as a separate, beautifully silhouetted vertical element in space. On pyramids, obelisks, spheres, arches, climbing plants are placed near recreation areas or above a bench, near a path and above it, creating picturesque passages, and are also included in the design of flower beds and ridges.

The design and type of materials are chosen in accordance with the massiveness and weight of the vine itself, and the decorative qualities are chosen depending on whether the structure itself will be visible and what its role is in creating the completed image.

Supports for creating hedges and screens from climbing plants

Creating screens or green walls from climbing plants is possible thanks to wooden or mesh supports - shields, trellises, trellises - wide-mesh meshes installed or stretched between reliable “columns”.

Synthetic supports are increasingly replacing wooden structures, gratings and meshes are being replaced by cables stretched between reliable posts, but the essence of such supporting elements does not change. Not only are they suitable for lighter, more flexible and easier to form vines, but they also require secure attachment to base supports.

Large and massive architectural supports

It is also worth considering the most massive supports - pergolas, open gazebos, inclined supports and green tunnels. Strong and high wooden beams, fastened at the top with horizontal crossbars, a powerful frame made of metal support pipes holding shields or a “roof” that is completely covered by vines, look impressive and always attract attention.

But creating such structures is a more difficult task than installing a simple arch. The supports for a pergola or tunnel must be securely fixed in the soil, and connecting individual parts into a single architectural element requires special skills.

Attention to detail and focus on durability

The selection of practical characteristics of supports for garden vines should begin with an analysis of structures for load resistance. If you buy ready-made supports, the manufacturer usually indicates what climbing plants they can be used with and what maximum weight they will support. But there are much more universal selection rules:

  • for tendril-bearing and leaf-climbing vines, the thickness of the main structural elements should be at least 3 cm;
  • for climbing plants, the shoots of which will be tied up, those with suckers or climbing roots, the thickness of the structures is not important, the main thing is stability and the maximum possible load;
  • for massive vines with woody shoots, the minimum thickness of the main supports in the structure is considered to be 10 cm.

Materials for supports today are presented so widely that the choice is best made based on the style of garden design and your own preferences. Plastic and fiberglass, metal structures, wood in a variety of forms, and wire mesh must be appropriate for a specific area.

When choosing, you should not forget about the finishing materials of the house, small architecture, paths or platforms, used garden furniture: the supports should not be discordant with other garden design elements.

The quality, reliability, and corrosion resistance of the materials themselves from which the supports are made are the most important parameter that cannot be ignored. Wooden beams, forged or cast elements, metal supports, modern synthetic materials and plastic must be durable, resistant to moisture, frost, corrosion, or allow annual treatment with special means that prevent them.

Durability and reliability are important both for the main structure and for cables, wires or ropes, crossbars and additional elements that decorate it or serve to guide and tie up shoots along the support.

Basic rules for installing supports for climbing plants

Treatment of structures with protective agents and impregnations must be carried out before installing the support in the soil.

It is always better to install supports before planting the climbing plant itself. This rule is considered mandatory only for heavy structures with considerable weight, but even for light vines, digging in a support or construction work to secure it can lead to unexpected consequences. If possible, it is better to carry out work on installing supports in a timely manner and in advance, at the stage of preparing the planting pit.

When installing a support and burying it in the soil for wooden structures and materials prone to corrosion, measures must be taken to provide additional protection or create a drainage layer that prevents direct contact with the soil. If the construction of a support requires additional reinforcements, they always start with concrete pads and their analogues. When installing, always move from the basic supporting elements, load-bearing supports and the bottom of the structures upward and to the decorative parts.

The depth of the supports is a decisive factor in their correct installation. The minimum level of digging for supports intended for growing perennial climbing plants is considered to be 60 cm. If you dig a support to a shallower depth, then any powerful vine will simply turn it out of the soil over time.

For the heaviest climbing plants, the support base for which is made of logs or metal pipes, it is advisable to bury the supports into the ground to a level of about 1 m or provide for the creation of additional concrete reinforcements. The degree of deepening also depends on the height of the support itself: if it exceeds 2 m, then the immersion depth should be at least 30%.


When performing work, you should always monitor the quality of installation and adjust the position of the structure according to the level. Even a tilt that is invisible to the eye will cause big problems over time; under the weight of the vine, it can lead to serious displacement and curvature, or even destruction of structures. The supports must be installed level from the very beginning, without being afraid to double-check all the indicators.

You need to start directing climbing plants to supports immediately after planting. Creating a high-quality base of the plant, the correct location and distribution of the main shoots will allow you to correctly distribute the load on the support, control the growth and development of the plant, and simplify the process of direction and formation in the future. The foundation created in the first years is a guarantee that there will be no problems in the future when growing on a support.