trellis jealous?

My plants are pining for vining and just can’t wait any longer. So in addition to the arbor that just went up, David whipped up a trellis for our oddly shaped concrete retaining wall out back. Remember that massive thing?

the retaining wall

Measures about 6’10 high at one end and just over 2′ at the other end. The usable wall face is roughly 14′ wide. The crazy insane slope and our pickiness made it impossible to find the perfect trellis, which essentially meant make one. David picked up copper tubing at the hardware store — the heavier walled Type M.

Then he broke out the graph paper…

mad genius calculations

I can only assume the question marks in his mad genius calculations are an indication of chaos theory. After that, he moved on to real-world application…

david engineering those right angles

He soldered the tubing together one joint at a time to create a frame for the trellis. Dudes dig fire…

soldering the joints together

After that, he drilled holes into the concrete to attach the trellis frame to the wall. Not easy…

concrete drilling

Keeping it level was a challenge but it all worked out…

lots more drilling

David DIYed some brackets out of the same copper pipe. Clever boy…

DIY brackets

Then drilled holes through the pipe and used 3/32″ steel wire to oh-so-patiently create his trellis grid…

steel wire spool

threading the wire

bolting the wire in place

And look — DONE!

detail shot

Simple. Ish. Minimal. Love it. And to adorn his new creation…

trellis with rubus calycinoides planted

Rubus henryi bambusoides (also called Rubus henryi var. bambusarum). From China, the leaves resemble bamboo…

rubus calycinoices closeup

… although it’s actually a bramble, like roses, raspberries and blackberries (all related). Tiny thorns. Small pink flowers. But it’s really all about the foliage. Planting this is kind of an experiment as I’m not sure it will be hardy here in New England, although it appears that Arnold Arboretum may have had some success growing this. We’ll see. Should it not return next year, I can always move my Akebia quinata Shirobana here. Nothing kills an Akebia.

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2 Responses to “trellis jealous?”

  1. Anne says:

    I have a smart cousin!! This is so cool!