I plant mine on the inside of the structure..if there is a huge distance for them to climb...be innovative and either staple chicken wire around the outer edge or put something in the middle for them to grab to begin their climb...Jeanne

Inside for mine too.

Carol

I have them planted on the outside but close to the structure. I personally don't think it matters one way or the other.

thanx everyone. i just built some rebar tuteurs so wasn't sure. glad to know either way works.

I love rebar...I've recently gotten into having it professional bent at the local steel company...it's strong and economical. I'd love to see your rebar tuteur designs. Can you post photos.

I've made many rebar teepees from 10 ft piece driven into the ground and secured with an automotive hose clamp. Total installation time is about 5 min. Instant vertical interest!

Robert

Robert, I confess that I showed everyone the rebar teepee's that you came up with and whose idea I stole and used shamelessly last year!

Carol

Robert that is exactly what I've done with my rebar -- except, I was going to use twist ties to tie off the top. The hose clamp idea is just brilliant!

Now one last question. I was going to put chicken wire randomly around my structure to give the clems something to hold on to. have you done this? or is it unnecessary?

Great idea that Carol shared with us last year I believe. I am unsure of who locally could bend rebar into the shapes that you would need or how you you drive them into the ground. I guess you could use post hole diggers to dig the individual holes and then backfill.

The hose clamp idea is a great one. I have used it in the past when I had a store bought trellis that I needed to stabilize in the ground. I normally get two feet long pieces of rebar, pound them into the ground beside the legs of the trellis and then use the hose clamps to attach the legs of the trellis to the rebar pounded into the ground. Haven't had a trellis supported this way blow over yet and we have had some 50+ mile an hour winds so far this spring!

jxa, I think the climbing rose that you WILL plant in the structure will provide the additional support for the clematis...hint hint...

I would definitely stay away from the chicken wire idea. Chicken wire looks nasty, it doesn't last very long, and it's a mess to try to get old vines out of..and the subsequent weeds (morning glories etc) that will eventually find it.

Something that I've done this year...and so far I'm thrilled with it.. is to have some 20 ft lengths of rebar bent at 5 ft diameters by the steel co. here. This creates a perfect arch with a 5 ft spread. I then had some steel pipe cut into 5 ft lengths, hammered them into the ground 3 ft deep, and slid the rebar into the pipes...I connect 4 arches together to form a square. Standing in the middle of the square I can exit an arch on each of the four sides of the square...a picture would be worth a thousand words here. I secured the arches to each other where they "touched" using wire. This structure forms an intersection for four different garden rooms, if you will.

Robert

Sounds interesting Robert. Looking forward to pictures with it covered with roses and clematis. Cable ties will work great with your arches as well to hold them together.

Have never covered a structure with chicken wire and agree it would be a nightmare trying to get all the vines off the wire at season's end. I have used green vinyl coated fencing to make several structures for clematis to climb as well as providing clinging points on three copper trellises I purchased and don't have any issues with getting the vines off them.

Here are some pictures that some have seen before but that some of the newbies may not have seen. The wooden and fencing structure uses the vinyl coated fencing in between the posts and the copper trellises use it in between the copper portions on the trellises.

First and second picture shows the copper trellises before the wire was placed on. I figured the wire would provide more space for the clematis I planned on packing in there to climb. The first picture also shows in the background the wood and fencing structure I made.

The third and fourth picture shows the fencing on the copper trellises.

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Miguel, did you tell me you bought that copper trellis or did you make it? I love the size and look of it.

Carol

Miguel:

What is that grid wire called and where do you buy it? I was at OSH the other day looking for it and the only thing close to it was chicken wire. Not exactly what I had in mind

FJ

Carol, ordered the three trellises off of eBay from a seller named broncosfan. The three are set in series one after the other and I used some heavy duty plastic cable ties to bind them all together and to hook the wire fencing on to the copper framework after it was trimmed to the appropriate size.

FJ, I purchased the fencing at a local Lowes store. I am not sure exactly what it was called other then wire fencing. They had it outside in the covered area of the Lowes store where they have other types of fencing and I was able to cut it with wire cutters. The roll was 4 feet wide.