Rebar works well for us, but our garden is not as elegant as many. For each arch he used three pieces. One on each side that went way into the ground, then one that attached to them that is high. He then put in the cross pieces. I think it holds up better against the strong Oklahoma winds, but it isn't as shiny and pretty as a store bought arbor. I think we even put in a second piece to stabilize the first that went into the ground so it wouldn't sway. I will look for a picture.

Sammy

Here is the first one I see.
{{gwi:240995}}

It looks like the first part we bought, then used the rebar to add on to it.
Sammy

If you have a welder in town, design what you want on paper and take the rebar to him/her and get it done. It's fairly simple for someone who has the skills and my son does this for his wife without the welder, but I being of less-than-sound-mind and zerostrength, have taken mine to a welder. However, having said that, what about a 6 x 6 or a 4 x 4 placed into the ground (of treated wood, if you prefer), 2-3 feet into the ground, 8-10 feet above ground with holes drilled through at east-west/north-south intervals and place 5-feet pieces of rebar through the 4 x 4 (or 6 x 6) and allow your roses to climb and sprawl on that. I have 5-6 of these. They work wonderfully and even I can do that, and what I could not do, Lowe's is happy to accommodate.

Patricia43, do you have any photos of your trellis?
Lana

Sammy...great pics ! What is the material on top of your trellis? Can't tell if it's screen or shadecloth? What is it's purpose? Thanks, Donna

Thanks for the ideas and pics. What do you think about just *bending* the rebar into a hoop. That was what my book suggested but it was for adding height to a fence with hoops. Plus I got lots of planting this spring so I'm not sure I want to get into another project.

My stepdad was a welder and he bent some rebar that I attached to a small fence....worked great.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rebar bent on fence with Phyllis Bide and Jeanne Lajoie

Donna, that is hardware cloth. I have never seen it done before, but I did not know how to keep the roses from growing down from the top. This way we can toss a cane from a ladder, and just let it go. Otherwise we have a hard time going through if the roses hang down.

Sadly until we had this arbor, I never paid attention to the length of roses. Clair Matin and Blossomtime don't grow very tall. I am going to plant some tall climbers soon, but in the meantime the top of my arbor is going to be very visible.

Sammy

newjersey_rose that's perfect! Just what I was thinking of. Thanks for sharing your pic.