Making Arbors & Trellises: 25 Practical & Decorative Projects for Your Garden

Whether for a tiny city garden or for a rolling estate with outdoor "rooms," vertical landscaping is one of today's most popular trends. Just imagine walking up stone steps that are bordered by lush greenery and topped by a pretty, decorative white arbor "canopy." If you have even the simplest equipment and love gardening, you can easily make every one of these beautifully photographed arbors and trellises--all overseen by an award-winning designer. Cultivate the art of good conversation in a sheltered arbor with stay-a-while sides and face-to-face benches for an intimate chat. Lightning strikes in a bamboo trellis that zigzags like a bolt from heaven. Have a casual garden? Then set up a rustic trellis, constructed from vines and twigs, with vegetables or flowers or both. A basics section explains the details of elementary tasks, and many wonderful photos feature the flowers, foliage, and shrubbery that flourish in these special structures.

Expand your growing space, make your garden more attractive and interesting, and show off your favorite flowers and vegetables in new ways by building beautiful and practical arbors and trellises. Using either standard-dimension lumber or rustic materials, such as logs, branches, and bamboo, you'll be able to make everything from an Arts and Crafts Arbor to a Handy Folding Screen Trellis. These attractive structures introduce variety to your garden, making room for spectacular flowering vines to thrive along with ground covers and hedges.