Allen Smith: Whenever I am designing elements from my garden, I always keep in mind that the more natural they are, the better they seem to fit in. And, that is what I exactly what I did, when I created this rustic trellis, but others have taken this ideas step further.

Jim Long, author of the book “Making Bentwood Arbors and Trellises,” explains how to create this artistic garden ornaments.

Jim Long: I find it lots of people cannot identify wood, so my rule of thumb is if it bends use it. And, one of the nice things about this project is you do not really have to do very much measuring. And, the first step is to attach a cross piece and all I am going to do is nail through the cut piece into the bottom.

[Demo]

What I do is kind of establish the arch that looks about the right proportion. As no measurement again, and match it with this piece. And I like to twist one around the others, so it kind of holds it in place. So, this is our basic trellis shape. All of my trellises are built on this foundation.


Allen Smith: As you can see this rustic trellises and arbors can create visual interest, simply standing alone in the garden, or they can be useful support to plants, like this vigorous climbing rose.

If you like more information on how to make interesting trellises and arbors, just check out our website.

From the garden, I am Allen Smith.

If you would like more information on this topic or any other gardening topic, just check our my website pallensmith.com.