GARDENS
How to support climbing plants
Build a secure frame and your plants can be trained into a spectacular display, says Stephen Anderton
Rosa ‘Perennial Blue’ trained along a wall
GAP PHOTOS/NI
The Times
What a pleasure it is to go into a much-loved garden and see wisteria or an apricot under glass, beautifully trained on a wall. All that skill at play. But that skill can’t be deployed without decent supports in the wall. So how do you make a firm frame for your climbers?
Wooden trellis is the quick and easy option. It is good for clematis, honeysuckles, morning glories and plants with lots of small, soft stems. You can screw it to battens already attached to the wall or directly into the wall, but you must leave enough space behind it for plants to slither behind and pop out again. You also want to be able to get a couple of fingers behind when it comes
