Yes, they are too large. I did not know this when I had my husband build me lattice trellises and fences. The Clematis must be manually weaved through and many of the stems break off.

Wire livestock fencing would have been much better. Not chicken wire but the big squares.

On two of my structures, I have used the green vinyl coated wire fencing that you can use to fence in small areas. It works great and provides plenty of clinging surfaces for the vines to attach to.

You can see it attached to the wooden trellis in the background and it was used on the copper trellises as well even though this picture does not show it on the copper trellises.

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The stuff comes in rolls and can be found at Lowes or Home Depots.

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I find black netting for the birds that one buys in any box store works very well on surfaces like wooden fences or bricks. I staple it to the wood or attach to the masonry. Creates nice workable surface for clems and could be removed easily if there is any changes.

The livestock wire I mentioned looks just like that green wire that Miguel posted only it is silver. Either would work much better than cedar lattice. I wish my free standing trellises were wire.

I have bird netting stapled to 1 x 1's on my cedar fence and they don't like it either if the squares are too small. Had to redo it....

I would think that bird netting would be a nightmare to use for the type IIIs. How do you cut the deadwood out and remove it without shredding it to pieces? I have some of the netting to cover my pond in the fall to prevent leaves from blowing into it and it snags on everything and rips very easily. If I used it for type III clematis, I would be purchasing new each year because I would cut it down rather than try to remove the vines from it.

nckvilledudes, how did you attach the fencing to your copper trellis? I was thinking that on the wooden one they were perhaps stapled onto the wood. Thanks for your tip and the pictures.

Carey

Thanks for the help everyone. It looks like I won't be building the lattice panels. It's so helpful to have my suspicions backed up by others.

Carey

I have Type I and II Clematis in the bird netting....I have had to redo it when I ripped it to shreds hard pruning them because I was sick of them being scraggly.

It really does removes easily enough when you prune it early spring, since the clinging part of clem is dead and stems are rather bristle. Plus, I buy 100 feet for $13 so it is usually no big deal if I have to replace some. I find it most useful in the situations where you border with neighbor's fence and do not want your clems to become a problem. It is also most easy to transplant as I just take netting down and dig out whole root with little disturbance.

While it isn't ideal, it can be done. I like the look of cedar lattice, so I tolerate the extra work. I have 2 trellises and an arbor made with cedar lattice panels. I use garden hook and loop tape to secure the vines until they latch on, which they do. I usually keep the vines taped near the bottom to provide support.

Carey, I attached the wire fencing to the copper trellis with zip ties.

Linda, meant to mention that for me time is of the essence since my mom is sick with stage four liver cancer. I do what is best long term and I have found that the netting I use on my pond rips easily especially if it is in the sun a lot since plastic does photodegrade over time. Stapling wire fencing to a wooden structure allows me to rip with wild abandon and never fear that the wire will pull off the structure. The plastic zip ties do degrade over time, but I have found no other practical solution to adding more clinging surfaces to the copper structure than it. I am going to look into some sort of stainless steel wire to wire it on, but the expense might be too much and how to keep it in place might be more of a pain than replacing the zip ties every 4 years or so as they fall apart.