I'm not Lavender Lass, but I am currently growing a couple of clematis using twine for support. In one case, it's a 'Jackmanii' growing up a porch post. I tied twine to the railing on each side of the post and the loosely tied the dangling ends to two of the leaders on the vine (just enough so the leaders would find the twine to climb). They've been happily scrambling up the strings. So much so, that now I need to hang two strings from the rafters so that the vine can continue to ascend. Since 'Jackmanii' is a group III, I had pruned to 12" in early March and is now about 6' tall already. It is so fun to watch grow.

The other is a 'Nelly Moser' that I am growing up an old flowering dogwood that is on its last leg. Similarly, I tied the twine to two branches so that it draped over the main trunk and loosely tied the dangling ends to two of the leaders. That one is growing up nicely, too.

Basicially, I'm thinking you could put nails up high and just hang a few strings like I did. Hope that's a little bit helpful.

Lisa

MeMo- I'm going up to my mom's today and I'll take a picture for you...but I might need a little help posting it on the gardenweb. LOL

She used 3" - 4" long, thin nails and nailed them into her porch corner post. Then she used white cord (I'll ask her what kind) and wrapped them around the nails. Her clematis doesn't get cut back, the leaves just grow on the old stems (they look dead at first).

I think clematis against your garage would look wonderful! What color are your clematis? Mom's are both dark purple, which looks great against her yellow house :)

Thanks Lisa, this is similar to what I'm envisioning but I thought I would use the nails and then use a lightweight nylon baling twine to make a sort of gird. The baling twine doesn't rot at all, I use it for tying things up all the time. It's a pretty blue color. LOL! I'd like to do it low enough to plant some sweet peas on as well. My clematis are still at the ranch and are up and beginning to climb now but it will be necessary to cut them back for transplanting anyway. They'll bounce right back.

LL, I'll be happy to teach you how to load pictures. Let me know when you're ready!! Thanks!

Memo- It's been pouring rain here all day, but I should be able to take a picture tomorrow :)

I would really appreciate it if you could help me with loading pictures. I would love to learn, as the lilacs will be blooming soon and I've promised to post a picture of the lilac hedge with the apple tree (hopefully) blooming in front of it.

LL, don't worry about the picture. I'm pretty sure I can wing it. Sorry you've been rained in all day!

Try these instructions for posting pictures. If you need help just email me. My email is in my account.

MeMo

Here is a link that might be useful: Posting pics from Photobucket