Wire trellis (wip)

Hi

I have written several posts about my fence and what should I install/plant there and I have taken in consideration your advise. Thank you all, mainly @fairygirl and @noisette47 who have been the more active

so, I installed a wired trellis in the fence, and dug a border around it. I have planted from left to right, a climbing rose (can’t remember the variety) and a jasmine. I have set a space for clematis, which I have not bought yet.

on the right end I have added a wisteria and forced it to climb to the concrete wall

any feedback/recommendations on this are welcome

next: I will cover the area with bark and install a flexiborder around it

 

Neat job! Just a couple of comments....If you're going to give that fence a lick of woodstain or brush off the algae (or both) now is the time to do it! It would make the whole garden look very smart while you're waiting for the climbers to grow.
Now you know how to install supports, it's time to put some very heavy duty wires up against that wall. Wisteria become huge, woody and above all heavy. It's vital to be able to train in a framework while the plant's young. That will make the twice-yearly pruning much, much easier. Trellis, even heavy-duty stuff, won't last long with a Wisteria ramping through it.

 

I'll add my tuppence worth(actually 47p with rates of inflation)A dark stain...even black on the fence will make any plant growth really stand out.
Seconded on the weight of wisteria and training and tying of young growth. I got in the habit of removing shoots that grew away from the fence. After a short time, you'll see exactly what to train, what to cut and what looks best

 

If you are going to stain or paint your fence @Javidr, use an algicide on it first like Patio Magic, Wet and Forget or Algon. Cover any plants up first. It’s easier than trying to get the algae off with a brush and more effective. What you have done looks very good!

 

thanks for the comment. I don’t mind the fence has algae unless it’s bad for the plants, that would be covered at some point by the plants (I don’t know how long would take to cover the fence, couple of years maybe)?

as per the wisteria I think it’s a bit late, it was trained (badly) in a pot and it has some curls in the main stem already.

I was thinking on training it to move to the wooden structure I have at the right, and when it happens, remove the pots in that vertical garden and leave it all to the wisteria but I don’t know how long it will take till it reaches that area.

does it sound sensible or do I still need some extra heavy duty fixings?

 

Best advice I can provide at this point is to remove that Wisteria ASAP. I'm amazed that gardeners still don't realise that wisterias quickly grow into huge things that need training, pruning, and constant watch to prevent destruction of wires, structures, roof tiles, gutters, etc.

 

They're things of breathtaking beauty if they're properly trained and kept under control Living in Brittany, don't you see plenty of examples of 'savage' French treatment? My neighbour keeps her free-standing W. sinensis to a stunted 5' shrub. It survives, it flowers....it daren't do anything else.
@Javidr, I thought you might be thinking of using the existing trellis, which is why I mentioned it. If ever there was a case of needing strong horizontal wires (and strong wall fixings) this is it. To avoid future grief, you need to tie 1 - 3 strong shoots along wires and cut off everything else to within a couple of buds of woody stems. Don't worry about the curls in the main stem. If it's too woody to correct now, it'll thicken out over time and become less noticeable.

 

I am Adding a picture so it can be seen more clear. I want to trim anything that grows on the left of the wisteria and force it to grow towards the brick wall. Once it is big enough to reach the wooden trellis (that’s attached with heavy duty screws), I will remove all the pots and leave that area to the wisteria to grow freely through the wall. I am using the wire trellis temporarily to help it to reach that area. Once the wisteria has reached it, I will remove that area of wire trellis as that’s no longer needed

hope it is more clear now do you think it is feasible with that structure? Any other consideration?

thanks

 

We inherited a wisteria grown against wooden trellis. The trellis was built in situ and very robust and has coped with the weight but was in danger of falling away from the wall when we first arrived.

My advice would be to only use the trellis if it is robust i.e. if it was off the wall you wouldn’t be able to physically bend the panel or easily break apart unless you systemically dismantled it. A lot of modern GC panels are quite flimsy. If you are unsure of its strength then a tensioned wire system is probably a better option.

If you do keep with the wooden trellis, don’t let the wisteria go behind it as it will quite quickly push it way from the wall as the stems thicken and mature. We had to prune away some lovely mature stems on ours when we moved in for this reason. However once done and some additional heavy duty screws addd it’s been fine since. I’ve no idea re the maturity but I would guess it’s 15+ years.

We have our wisteria against quite a small area of wall, like yours, and I think it actually makes it easier re pruning etc as we have to keep vigilant and stop wayward growth going up into our guttering and roof tiles. We usually do a “gutter” check 2 or 3 times during the summer and as a consequence most of the pruning needed for good flowering happens then.

 

That’s great advise! Actually this is not a wooden trellis, it’s a wooden structure (I think it was meant to be a fence) we attached to the wall with heavy duty screws, if you zoom in you can see those, and we use it as a trellis. There is no gap between the wooden trellis and the wall so that should be fine

thanks

 

Flexiborders installed. Those are quite cool, I really like them

 

It is clear what you want the plant to do, Javidr, but I don't think you understand the way Wisteria grow, or the need to train them, both to keep it within bounds and to get flowers. It grows by twining around something...anything. It won't be able to twine round the wooden structure, which as Butterfly6 says, is a good thing but you will need to tie in the stems that you are going to use to make the framework. You can't simply let it form a huge, tangled, twisted 'bush' which is what it will do if it's not controlled. It would make the twice-yearly pruning to promote flowering impossible!

 

I see. So, looking at the wall and the display, what would you do? I am open to change anything I have, like removing the wooden structure

thanks

 

I'd attach strong wires to the existing woodwork (which is very attractive) just spaced away enough to be able to pass ties behind them. What you use to tie the stems in is a personal choice, but string tends to rot fairly quickly and the thin, twisty wire stuff needs to be watched like a hawk to make sure it doesn't start cutting into the bark as the branches expand.
I promise you, when you've formed a lovely espalier and it's covering the wall with a sheet of perfumed flowers, you'll be so proud of your handiwork

 

Hi @Javidr It's your garden and your choice. My advice is to give up the idea of growing a Wisteria in that particular spot and in that environment. Not enough space. Just to give you an idea, here are some pics of my Wisteria, planted about 25 years ago, against a strong trellis with strong posts, sited about 50 cm away from the wall, 2.50 metres high and ... 8 metres wide. From May till September I have to set up a ladder to prune any new shoots that keep wanting to grow between the gutter and the roof slates (every two weeks). Obviously, the result is a superb show of flowers in April, followed by nice foliage... but again a Wisteria needs a lot of space, and constant care.
All pics taken in April of 2021...