Picking Your Trellis
Ok, let’s start with the trellis. If you like you can stop by the nursery and pick up a three foot high wire trellis for very little money. On the other hand you can build (or have someone build) a 10 x 15 foot Pergola, which is a much more involved project.Then there’s everything in-between (and, of course, you have to be thinking about what you’re going to grow on these things. )
A trellis is simply a two dimensional frame that will need to be supported. The support can be either stakes, wall supports, or posts. An Arbor is an arch with enough room to walk under and it might be 2 to 3 feet deep. That pergola might be made with 6×8 posts, 2×10 joists, and be held together with heavy bolts. You can have your dinner party under one. Halfway between these two are deep arbors with seating. Imagine sitting beneath an arbor or pergola that’s densely covered with fragrant plants. .
Picking the Right Plants
Now you have to pick something to grow onto your structure, whatever it is. Let’s begin with the tiny trellis you grabbed from the store. You’re not going to grow a big climbing rose on that wire, it would eat it like a small snack. A good choice for that small trellis might be a rose like Life lines. (This is a beautiful miniature climber that might get to six feet.) Not exactly pergola material, but perfect for a small structure in a small place.
As for the pergola, take a look at the rose, May Queen. This climber can hit 30′ (or more) under the right growing conditions. wrap it around the posts and let it “climb” all over the top. In time you’ll have an astonishing, flower covered, nicely scented structure.
(By the way, all the roses mentioned here can be found listed at HelpMeFind.com.) Once you have some idea of what you want go and check out the local grower/nursery and/or the local rose society and get their recommendations.
Also keep in mind how the plant actually climbs. So let’s look at roses, clematis’, and that wisteria. A clematis wraps tendrils around branches or wires. It can handle a plastic lattice, but it’ll have a tough time with a 6×8 post unless you cover that post with a mesh of some kind. A wisteria, which would be perfect for that pergola, twines around things on its way up to devour whatever it’s growing on. It’ll twine its way up those posts and drape itself all over that pergola. It may well do the same to any attached structure, such as your house. Don’t grow this plant on any structure that isn’t very solidly built.
A rose simply grows long canes and it doesn’t grab (well, maybe a bit with the thorns.) so it will need to be secured to whatever support you provide. Some climbing roses are small and some can match that wisteria. Rose canes vary greatly, too. Some have rather thick canes which don’t bend well, others can easily be wrapped around a pillar. Shoot for a rose that will grow to twice the height of your structure. By the way, growing roses is easy, so don’t be intimidated by negative comments or by what area you may live in. Remember, you can also get great advice from your local rose society or experts.
Train Your Climbers
Why twice the height? A rose tends to flower only at the ends of the canes, but if you train the cane to be more or less horizontal you will get blooms all along that cane. So you’ll be winding and wrapping and crisscrossing those long canes back and forth along your structures. Obviously, if you do this with a 6′ rose on a 6′ trellis you’ll have some space left over. Even with little Lifelines, weave it through that small trellis and it will reward you with an amazing number of blooms. If you have a rose with long, flexible canes try wrapping it around a pillar or post. Wrap your big climbers around the posts of that pergola and then let them reach across the top. You’ll have flowers all the way up and over the thing.
Do you want a wall of flowers? Train your rose canes to crisscross along whatever lattice or trellis you have them growing on. They’ll bloom all along the main cane and be dazzling. Do the same with your arbors. Wind some canes around the posts and let the others reach over the tops. Do that with fragrant roses and you’ll have an awesome arbor. If the rose is too short then you won’t be able to correctly train it that way.
Once you have your structures figured out , just talk to your local gardeners and they’ll help you find the plants that are perfect for those structures. Your local rose club or gardening grop will also be a big help Good luck!
