Hi Spartacus, welcome to the rose forum. Where do you live (city and state) and is your area prone to hurricanes/tropical storms?

Thank you, Cecily. I live in Houston, Texas. We get an occasional Hurricane or tropical storm here. But truth be told, they are few and far between. However, when they come and hit head on, they can be really spectacular.

#1 You'll want to sink your posts in cement, buried deep down in the ground. The weight of the roses alone can topple a trellis

#2 How are you planning to build this trellis - parallel stakes connected by the chicken wire? I think you'll want some cross pieces to keep the structure from going completely wonky on you. Again, the rose alone can do that. No wind needed.

#3 Will the materials rust? I lived in Houston - it's humid enough there to make about anything rusty. Epoxy, pvc, enamel is only protection until it gets scratched, poked, or torn.

#4 How attractive do you want it to look? It takes many years for roses to fill a trellis and, in the meantime, you're seeing more trellis than you might want to. One way to remediate that is to plant a moderately vigorous vine alongside your rose.

#5 I just realized that, living in Houston, you have an enormously longer growing period than I have in Massachusetts, so #4 may not be true for you...

#6 If you have and are good with power tools, building a trellis out of wood is (supposedly) reasonably simple and designs are available for download all over the place!

Good luck with whatever you decide - I've seen lovely trellises made out of all sorts of things that I never would have expected to work. I guess it's all in the details...

Betsy,

Thank you very much for your reply.

1. That is depressing about the cement. I am not sure that is an option right there. I may have to rethink my entire plan.

2. If I can find a way to still move ahead with this plan, perhaps I can find some sort of stabilizing bar to go across the top or something.

3. I am not worried about anything rusting. The posts are galvanized and painted. The wire is covered with PVC (green plastic). This really should not be an issue.

4&5. Here in Houston, the growing season is a solid 8 months out of the year. It snows about a half an inch every two or three years, and over an inch perhaps once every ten years. Every year you will have a couple of weeks in February where you can be out in the garden or on the golf course in short pants. I doubt you would want to try that in Massachusetts ;-).

In any case, it is nearly a tropical environment here. The problem for most plants is not getting them to grow, it is getting them to stop.

6. Maybe the wood trellis is something I should look at. I will give that some consideration.

Thanks again for your input and advice.

What about attaching the trellis to the fence instead of putting posts in the ground? You would have to leave some room between the fence and trellis but it might work. I have 2 Don Juan's, a pink one and a red one, you will love this rose. Also if you have never worked with climbing roses I would go to YouTube and search Paul Zimmermans videos on how to train climbing roses and he also has a video on how to plant roses. That might help you be successful in not killing your roses since you said you kill everything you plant lol. Good luck and happy gardening!

Boncrow66,

Attaching something to the wood fence was my first thought, but I have seen where a lot of people have advised against that. They said it was best to have some space between the trellis and the fence.

I appreciate the advice on the videos. I did see some videos on climbing roses during my internet travels. The ones I saw said you have to train the branches to go sideways or diagonally and not straight up or down. I suspect those may be the same videos you are referring to.

In any case, thank you very much for your advice and your assistance.

If you are going to use T-posts you might want to check a farm type store for them. The anchor on that Home Depot one you show is pretty weenie. I think you could go with a taller post sink it in the gound 18" to 2 feet with a good sized anchor and you'd be ok. You could also put the posts right in front of one of the up rights for the fence and in a pinch wire the post to the fence for extra support if you think you need it.

But do go watch Paul Zimmerman's how to train a climber video before you design anything. Understanding how your going to train the rose will have a huge effect on how you ought to design the trellis. You might end up needing less than you think you do...

Here is a link that might be useful: The basic how to video

Subk3,

That sounds like a great idea about the longer posts. However, I am not sure what you are suggesting when you talk about a "good sized anchor."

Thanks for the video. I watched that just now, and it was very helpful. For anyone else who might be reading this thread, here is another video by the same guy that talks specifically about training climbing roses on a trellis:

"Training A Rose On A Trellis"

Also, thanks for your suggestions.

Well, I like the idea of the fence as a stabilizing element.

There are garden "arbors" made, not to walk THROUGH, but with a bench under them as a place to sit in the shade of the rose. THAT idea might work for you.

The bench is parallel to the fence, you understand. The back of the arbor (and your back, when sitting) is against the fence, and so can be bolted in place.

Jeri

Jeri,

That is a very pretty arbor you have pictured there. Unfortunately, I do not think that will work in my case, as I already have a garden in this spot.

Thanks for your suggestion though.

In my experience, most rosarians use hog panel fencing instead of chicken wire. Another thing to consider :)

thonotorose,

Thanks for the very creative idea with the conduit and the rebar. It sounds pretty robust and would certainly solve any concerns with lateral stability, that is for sure.

Thanks again for the suggestion.

Ceclily,

I had not heard of hog wire fencing before and had to look it up to see what it is. Apparently it is more robust and with a wider hole size for the squares, which would be better for rosarians. Thank you for educating me about this.

If someone made this with the green PVC coating, that would be perfect.

In any case, I found a pretty good YouTube video by a guy who builds trellises and recommends the hog wire fencing, who tours a hardware and farm supply store and discusses the pros and cons of a variety of different types of wire fencing for building trellises, including hog wire fencing. Here is the link, in case anyone is interested:

"Hog Panels Make the Best Trellis for Growing Vertical in a Raised Bed Garden"

Thanks again for your help.

"Anchor" on a t-post. Here is the post from Home Depot you posted. Note the little flared piece toward the bottom. That's the anchor:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/YARDGARD-2-1-4-in-x-2-1-2-in-x-7-ft-Metal-Heavy-Duty-U-Channel-Fence-Post-901157A/202024129

Here's a t-post that's the same height from Tractor Supply. The anchor is at least twice the size:

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/studded-t-post-7-ft-125-lb-per-foot

That anchor really helps stablize a post and keeps it tight! Generally the taller the post the bigger the anchor. That HD post has little anchor compared to its size and it's significantly more expensive too!

Subk3,

Oh, I see. I though you were talking about some additional piece separate from the post that would help to anchor it down.

Thanks for the clarification.

Spart, You are quite welcome. I learned that method here at Garden Web and remain forever grateful! I usually make tri-pods of rebar that way.

I have 6 in place and have only had to reset one due to a wind storm.

Thonotorose, silly question for you.

How do you get the 20' lengths of rebar home? I have a small truck with a shell, I suppose I could try and bend the rebar in the HD parking lot and put the U shape in the truck with the ends in....but guessing that might cause quite a commotion.

I also thought about how I could put it on the roof rack of my smaller suv, but guessing that will not go well for me either....lol

My next thought was to ask one of the contractor neighbors with big trucks and roof racks to get me some, but I can't afford their rates.

My only suggestion would be that four Don Juans may get way too big for that space due not only to our long growing season but also to our ample rainfall. I would stick with one or two at most.

Brittie,

OK, you raise a very good point.

To be a fair, it would be difficult to overstate my ignorance on this topic. However, the space we are talking about is 15' wide and 7' high. Within this space, it is my desire to have as many actual red rose flowers blooming as possible. If there are other concerns, I guess I need to learn what they are.

Here is a link to a couple of pictures of some of these flowers and the concentration of them that I am sort of hoping for on the trellis:

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Will only one rose plant for an area that big be sufficient to thoroughly cover this 15'X7' area in rose flowers? Or, will even two plants will do that? Really? Maybe I am just underestimating the productivity of these plants, but, to be honest, I am dubious.

Thank you for your input on this topic. I appreciate your help with this.

I know my old Don Juan would not ever look like those photos. But it does do a nice job of covering itself with blooms.

Your best bet would probably be two of them well fed and watered rather than a bunch of them. You can also under plant with a different flower to fill the lower part of the bed with color.

If I used one of those hog panels, pulled the canes out horizontally and tied them, I will get blooms from all the top row of leaf buds. You will want to keep lower so you can keep clipping the spent blooms and encouraging it to rebloom. Don Juan loves to set big fat orange hips.

Look up "espalier" I am pretty sure you can get Don Juan to put on a big display using that method, only spread the canes in a fan shape

Kippy, that would be quite a sight and perhaps a teaching moment, too. If doable that is the way I would go.

I have a van so they were poking out the back door with a red flag. I shall get a few more soon and plan on asking a neighborhood handyman, with a truck and trailer, to get them for (with) me. We are hiring him for some other stuff, too.

Roof rack would work: Bring a furniture type pad and some strong ties. The Depot/Lowes guys do this stuff all the time and can be very helpful. Just plan on there only and then directly and carefully back to your garden.

Maybe some good tape and some bubble wrap if the rod bundle curves down onto your car surface in places. Don't be worried that the rods themselves will slip and slide. They are very rough surfaced and if they are tightly taped to each other they should remain that way for your trip home.

Also, I wouldn't plan on bringing more than three or four home at a time till you have some experience in the endeavor.

My tripiods are mostly of 1/2 inch by 10 ft rods so much easier to handle and find. The 3/8ths X 20 ft may have to be ordered, though it was locally available here a couple of years ago.

Also, let me give credit to Denise, Imagardener, for this wonderful, quick and cheap method. Don't know if my fellow Florida Rose Bud still checks in here, but she is the one that posted the idea on this forum.

Don Juan is a climbing rose that grows typically at least 10-12' tall & 8' wide. You're concerned that the Knockouts will eventually grow too big for the space, so just checking in with Don Juan's eventual size. Since you plan to train the long canes horizontally, the height will be reduced by adding to the width. Jackson & Perkins recommends planting 8' apart for solid coverage. ( http://tinyurl.com/mr5r7a8 ) Click on "plant description" at that link for further details. So I'm with kippy & brittie here that you wouldn't need more than 2 for your 15' fence.

Though you're thinking of trellis to space the roses away from the fence, consider the suggestions of boncrow & kippy for espaliering using the fence. Eyebolts of appropriate length can be screwed to the fence to hold horizontal runs of wire, or blocks of wood or whatever can be attached to the fence at right angles to project from it to hold shorter eyebolts for the same purpose. (And light to medium weight trellis can be attached in the same manner from the fence.) This is the simplest, least expensive & most unobtrusive method. Canes are lightly tied to the wires with soft material, as you probably saw in the videos, in a figure 8.

Check out kona's photos - 3rd & 4th down on the left in the link below - to see how this has been done. There are only two runs of wire. While you're there, check out all the photos of this lovely rose & the ways it's been grown.

Here is a link that might be useful: Don Juan photos

This post was edited by vasue on Sun, Aug 31, 14 at 19:38