Can you secure it using fishing line? That's usually my first thought in similar situations.

Ha, right now I have rubber bands securing it to the top of the fence! Fishing line is a good idea. I've never had a trellis before so wasn't sure whether that would be secure enough.

I'm using it to tie a trellis to some upright landscape timbers. I do double the line.

We installed a trellis that is larger than yours, but is almost up against the fence. Even though the fence is ours, we wanted a trellis that was pretty secure on it's own and we wanted air space between the trellis and the fence. So we used wooden stakes driven into the ground about 6 inches in front of the fence and screwed the trellis to those. We also used blocks of wood behind the top and middle of the trellis to maintain the 6 inch distance between the fence and the trellis all the way up.

You could also use those plastic 'zip ties' if you were using a stake to attach the trellis to the stakes instead of screwing them in.

I hope I was clear in my description so you could figure out what I am talking about, but if not, I could try to find a few photos.

prairiemoon, yes, I can imagine just what you're describing. Very helpful. Thanks!

I've used stakes (metal fence post type) on the back of the trellis and fastened it with the cable ties AKA zip ties.

I also used cable ties to fasten a trellis to the deck where the ledge acted as a spacer.

I left the handle on the cable ties in case I needed to tighten them further (and haven't gotten around to cutting them all off).

Claire

That is great how the metal stakes don't show behind your trellis, Claire. And we have used those 'cable' ties which I was referring to as 'plastic quick ties' on other projects. We also use a pair of pliers to tighten them and that works great. In this instance, our son was helping and he is capable of constructing in more standard ways than I am. [g]

Here is a photo of the trellis we installed a couple of years ago to try to screen out the neighbor's yard. It is about 10ft tall, and this is the height above the 6ft stockade fence.

This is a side view that I hope shows the stakes that the trellis was attached to and the blocks of wood that are maintaining the distance between fence and trellis.

I use a similar method to those of PM2 and Claire, but I use 4 - 41/2 feet of rebar. I sink the rebar into the ground for 1 1/2 to 2 feet, leaving about 3' above ground, and attach them to the trellis either with zip ties or with concrete attachment wires. Either way I need to check the attachments every couple of years to be sure they haven't broken down in the weather. I haven't found that I need to use spacers like PM2's; the trellises have done fine freestanding.

Thanks so much for all these suggestions! The pictures are helpful (and lovely).

Prairiemoon, how has your clematis done on the wooden trellis? Do you have to tie it on the whole way up, or does it eventually twine itself around? I am using mine for a clematis, but after I bought the trellis I read that clematis prefer thinner supports like string or wire.

LaLaLa, I have been weaving the clematis through to give it a good foothold and from that point it does attach itself. In the spring some of the new growth was coming up in the front and leaning away from the trellis and I did have to redirect it which was easy enough to do. I'm not very experienced with growing clematis yet, the trellis is in it's third season. Some of the longer older stems, were a little too long to weave by the time I got out there to do it and some of those I did tie to the trellis with circles cut from pantyhose that stretches, and then weaved the top of the stem where I could do it without breaking it. It's working out fine for me. Some trellis material that has smaller holes and thicker wooden parts, I don't think would work at all. I'm happy with this, but I haven't really tried much else.

Thanks, Prairiemoon! My trellis looks the same thickness/hole size as yours, so I'm hoping it will work. I have the prune-every-year type of clematis and just planted it, so we'll see! I don't really mind tying it up a bit.

I had to attach my two wire trellises to a stone wall, so I used masonry screws. Then I stripped down some electrical cable to get the black wire inside (to match the trellis color). I got some black PVC tube, cut it about 8 inches to be a spacer between the wall and the trellis, and then attached the wire to the screw, put it through the PVC, and attached the wire to the trellis. This way, the trellis is secured to the wall and the PVC keeps it spaced and taught, and you don't see the wire, just the black PVC spacer.

{{gwi:5901}}

That's a nice trellis, Bill and a clever way of installing it!

The shadow of the trellis on the stone is great!

Claire

Thanks Ann and Claire!
I have been trying various annual vines to see what I like. The first year was the "Heavenly Blue" morning glories. They are beautiful, but seemed to take forever to climb and get established and bloom. Last year I planted the yellow variety of Thunbergia alata (Black-eyed-Susan vine) and the results were much more rewarding. The color went well with the warm tones of the stone wall. They bloomed fairly quickly and continued right up until frost. This year it's the Cardinal climber (Ipomoea). So far they have taken off like rockets.

I'd like to plant some perennial vines, maybe clematis, but I'd want something that blooms all season. I know some clematis will perform well, but I'm not sure they'd do well in the midday sun there. Another interesting option might be Passion Flower (P. incarnata or some other hardy hybrid), but I don't see much posted here about these vines. Maybe people don't think about them much, or there hasn't been a lot of success.

{{gwi:5901}}

Bill, I understand about the annual vines. I have mostly given up on them, though scarlet runner beans are popular with the hummingbirds. You could try one of the type 3 pruning clematis. They usually don't have quite as large blossoms, but have many of them, and they don't mind heat and/or humidity as long as they get enough water - mulch helps keep moisture even. I love the richly colored large flowers of Viola, and Betty Corning has cute lavender bells, though it probably would be too large for that trellis. There are a fairly good number of newer clematis that stay smaller in size.

Another great hummingbird plant is Lonicera sempervirens, a native honeysuckle. It has a really long bloom in my garden.

Brushwood Nursery has passion flowers. One of my early memories is from first grade when a fellow student brought in a passion flower from his grandmother's garden, so it grew in zone 6 along Lake Erie. (I guess I was a bit of a plant nerd even at that young age!)

I have 'Blue Angel' Clematis on a similar small trellis. So far it seems to be the right size for it, in it's third year.

I like the sound of your Black Eyed Susan. Doesn't it come in different colors now?

I'd check out growing Passiflora, because I've understood that it becomes a massive vine and some people have reported having a hard time getting rid of it. I have no personal experience with it.

Bill, please keep an eye on those morning glories. They will keep seeding for years. I gave up after one year; they didn't bloom until August or later and it was not worth the space and the work.
But they did not give up on me. I bet it took 5 years to get the last of those buggers out of the vegetable garden.
Marie

Ida, the morning glories were planted in 2012 but there haven't ever been any seedlings, so I guess that's good.

NHBabs, the Loniceras that I have found so far I think would get too big for my trellises, but they are really nice vines.

Ann, yes the Bkack Eyed Susan vines come in various shades of orange, yellow (which I grew last year), white and red.

{{gwi:5901}}

Personally I think Bills trellis is to pretty to cover with vines.

My morning glories seem to be an every other year thing. Ive noticed tons of volunteers on my brush pile this year. But nothing last year. And to s of vines the previous year. I originally planted the morning glories there about 6 years ago.