While trying to find a shortcut out of a shopping center, I saw this trellis and thought it would be perfect for those of us who garden on balconies or patios.
From what I can tell, the trellis was made with some careful measuring, a few eye hooks and a whole lot of fine guage wire. Here’s what I would do if I was recreating this trellis
- Carefully measure out a grid of 12 inch squares. Make a mark at the corner of each square.
- Drill a hole at each mark. Insert a wall anchor into the hole and then screw in the eye hook.
- Feed the wire through the eye hooks to recreate the pattern above. Secure the ends by twisting them back on themselves.
- Place a planter box in front of the trellis and plant it with several vines and train them to grow around the wires. Choose a vine that stays relatively airy-looking so that you will still be able to see the grid pattern when the vine matures (so Morning Glory and other dense, matting vines would be poor choices). Something like Cardinal Climber would be a good choice.
You could also use this trellis as a privacy screen by screwing in the eye hooks to the top of your balcony and to the railing and then feeding the wire between the two. When the vine matures and grows up the wires, it will obscure the view. Proceed with caution if you think you might get into trouble for making holes in the railing. 
Other Posts About Creating Privacy on Your Balcony:
- How to Screen out Your Neighbors With Trellises, Fountains, Umbrellas and Other Physical Objects
- Using Plants to Create a Hidden Garden…and Help Hide From Your Neighbors
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Great idea for any garden- I can think of a few places in mine- thanks for sharing and happy gardening!
Tessa — True! A wire trellis would be interesting along a wall, or as a freestanding screen (with a wooden frame for support)…
This would be fun to do with edibles, too, like peas or beans. Hmmm, add that to my list of projects.
I think you read my mind. This would work perfectly for an espaliered fruit tree.
I just have to get over my fear of drilling holes into a wall!
Melanthia — Oooh, good idea! It would look so pretty in bloom and when the pods form!
Adriana — That’s a good idea too. Do you have a tree in mind?
Fern, do you have some additional suggestions for vines that stay open and airy rather than dense?
Meg — How about Sweet Peas or Scarlet Runner Bean?
Meg, I like Asarina as well (there are bigger and smaller varieties), and you might try espalliering an Abutilon. There’s also a cool one called Billardiera longiflora that makes fun little purple bell-pepper fruits, and a dwarf evergreen Clematis called ‘Joe’ which has lovely foliage and blooms and gets to 4′ sloooowly.
Nice post, Fern. I particularly like it for vines that stay small and loose like one grows in pots. I’m bookmarking this!
Fern – Just ran across this while working on the “vertical gardening” section of my class. For any designers out there, there are prefab cable grid options for green walls. Your idea would be more cost-effective for a small project, but for bigger pieces, check out Carl Stahl Decorcable or Greenscreen.
Thanks for sharing that info about prefab wire grids Carolyn!