How to Create a bent wood trellis

Whenever you design elements for your garden, you should always keep in mind, that the more natural they are the better they seem to fit in. That's exactly what is done when you create this rustic bent wood trellis. But others have taken this idea a step further. In this how to video, Jim Long, author of the book Making Bentwood Arbors and Trellises, explains how to create these artistic garden ornaments.

Jim Long, Author: I find that lots of people can't identify wood so, my rule of thumb is, if it bends use it. And one of the nice things about this project is you don't really have to do very much measuring and the first step is to attach a crosspiece. All I'm going to do is nail through the top piece into the bottom. What I do is kind of establish the arch that looks about the right proportion. There's no measurement again.

Allen: Right.

Jim: Match it with this piece and I like to twist one around the other so it kind of helps hold it in place.

Allen: Sure.

Jim: So this is our basic trellis shape. All of my trellises are built on this foundation.

As you can see, these rustic trellises and arbors can create visual interest simply standing alone in the garden. Or they can be useful supports to plants like this vigorous climbing rose. If you'd like more information on how to make interesting trellises and arbors just check out our website.

From the garden, I'm P. Allen Smith.