What are the types of supports for climbing plants and how to choose them?

Curly vines can transform any area, but only if their development is harmonious. It will be possible to provide the necessary support for ivy or climbing roses with the help of a special support.

Climbing supports have two main functions. The first is, of course, the support of culture, giving it the necessary shape and adjusting the lengthening of the lashes. The second is decorative: a flower fixed on a support can become the main element of landscape design or disguise a not particularly disagreeable object on the site.

Supports are made from different materials and come in different shapes. They can be artificial or natural, part of nature. In most cases, the vine is only initially specially fixed on the device, and then moves along it independently.

Depending on the tasks performed and decorative functions, it is customary to distinguish several types of supports for climbing plants. The first type is suitable for the design of vertical planes - fences, pavilions, walls of buildings or facades of houses. Such structures cannot be just beautiful - forgetting about practicality, it is quite possible to allow the destruction of the surface by a heavy structure entwined with vines.

In addition, it is important to understand that green “coated” wall products increase moisture levels, leading to rust and deterioration of the surface, and create a microclimate suitable for the development of insects and fungi.

For separately growing climbing plants, tent forms, often used in garden architecture, are suitable. Original decorative designs can have unusual silhouettes. It is possible to form hedges and screens from spreading plants using coarse meshes, which are either installed on the ground or stretched between reliable posts. By the way, this design can also be horizontal.

Separately, it is customary to distinguish overall and heavy architectural supports. Of course, at the dacha, amateur gardeners often generate their own ideas, supporting the plants with any available items.

It is customary to refer to vertical supports as lattice, mesh and linear structures, trellises, including corner ones, as well as guide cords. Garden trellises are most often constructed from wood and plastic and may even be sliding.

• Wall-mounted varieties are selected depending on how it will be easier for the vines to move. They are usually located 30-40 centimeters from the walls.
• Of the designs for solitary vines, not only arched and pyramidal structures are popular, but also an umbrella support, a triangular cone support and a column support.
• The most massive supporting elements are pergolas, open gazebos, green tunnels and sloping structures. Constructed from timber beams or metal tubes, they must always be firmly fixed to the ground.

A natural element can also become a support for a climbing plant - a tree, a large stone, or even a crop with strong and sturdy stems, for example, corn. In this case a plant that requires support is immediately planted either under a tree or next to a selected shrub.

The materials used to make flower poles must be of high quality, durability and corrosion resistance. Regardless of whether it will be a wooden arch or a plastic trellis, it is important that the structure is not afraid of moisture or frost. Ideally, the material should also be treated annually with special protective solutions.

• Arched structures are most often made of metal. Such products are both strong and durable.

• Wood products are also popular - they cost less and are quite easy to make by hand. The disadvantage of wooden arches is called fragility and poor stability.

• During the summer months, plastic pipes can be used to support the plants. An arch made of this material will look quite aesthetically pleasing, but it will not survive low temperatures.

• An expensive, but durable, reliable and aesthetically attractive product will turn out to be made of stone.

• It is also possible to install a forged arch.

As for the tapestries, they can be wooden, metal or plastic.

The same is true for nets: depending on the budget, both iron and plastic varieties are purchased.

Options from bamboo, dry processed branches or willow twigs look beautiful.

When choosing supports for climbing plants, several factors should be taken into account. It mainly analyzes what will be planted in general, what size it can achieve and how it will develop. The direction of growth of climbing or climbing crops is taken into account, as well as their desired configuration. Ideally, the auxiliary element is selected individually for each vine.

Designs for flowers can be supportive - allowing the lashes to "climb" to their full length, and shaping - giving the colors the direction of growth and indicating the silhouette. For some climbing plants, especially massive structures are required that can withstand a rather impressive weight.

As an option:

• hops or honeysuckle, which can only stretch upward, clinging to the antennae around the support, require structures with a rough coating - rods, nets or posts;
• for climbing roses, large-mesh trellises or wires stretched horizontally are more suitable;
• unpretentious grapes with ivy can "climb" on any surface with irregularities and rough surfaces;
• cucumbers and clematis are suitable for nets, trellises and lattices of sufficient area.

It will also be necessary to take into account the decorative task that the vines must perform. For example, they can create an accent in a landscape project, mask an unsightly structure, protect from the gaze of neighbors, or introduce a counterweight.

The choice of location also plays an important role - whether the support will be a separate element or be part of a pavilion or a fence. It is better to give preference to this or that material, depending on your own preferences, as well as the existing decoration of buildings and the general style. It is important that the supports are not out of harmony with the rest of the landscape design objects.

Supports for climbing plants are installed even before the crops themselves are planted, ideally at the stage of digging a hole. This applies not only to heavy lashes, but also to light vines, since fixing an auxiliary device in any case can harm the stem or root system.

Wooden poles or products made of materials prone to rusting are pre-treated with appropriate preparations. When deepening such supports, it is worth thinking about preliminary laying of a drainage layer, which will prevent direct contact with the soil.

The flower supports should be drilled in at least 60 centimeters. A shallower depth simply cannot contain the gradually growing fences. Arches and trellises for the most powerful plants, assembled from logs or metal pipes, are led into the ground for about a meter. It is also worth remembering that when the height of the support is more than 2 meters, it will have to be deepened by about 30%. It is important to align the supports right away, as the minimum tilt over time can provoke problems.

To make the simplest metal arch yourself, you will need:

• a tube with a diameter of 30 millimeters;
• a bar with a diameter of 6 millimeters;
• fittings with a diameter of 10 millimeters.

Of the tools will be involved:

• roulette;
• pipe bender;
• welding machine;
• hacksaw for metal;
• hammer;
• nippers;
• level.

All work begins with the fact that 4 equal pieces are cut from the pipe, which are to become supports. Using a pipe bender, it will be necessary to create at least two arcuate parts from a piece of reinforcement. They will then be welded together using the crossbars from a 6-mm bar. Pieces of pipes are buried in the ground and concreted. Next, it remains to connect them to the arcs and cover them with paint that matches the color.

It is even easier to use twine or thin rope - either natural or made of plastic. This support is stretched next to the wall and is attached either to nails or to anchors. The simplest is the use of metal or plastic arcs.

About there, how to make an original support for climbing plants with your own hands, see the next video.