Project: Rustic Leaf Trellis

I have been working on an area of my woodland edge garden that was recently "exposed" after my neighbor cut down what remained of a box elder. There is a small rental practically on our property line and three peeping windows – way too close for comfort.

This photo (above) was taken last year, but you can see how the box elder screened the neighboring building.

This photo (above) was taken recently. Hello neighbor. The dogwood will benefit from more sun and should top out at 10 ft., but it does lose its leaves come winter. Though once mature, it should have a thick network of branches. The blue spruce will also fill in this space once it matures. And I took this opportunity to plant another evergreen.

This Filicoides Fernspray Cypress will mature to 8-10' tall and 4' wide, a perfect size for this space. It is soft to the touch and really does remind me of ferns. Its foliage also has hints of blue that compliment the blue spruce nearby. But until it grows 10 ft tall ...

We decided to put up some curtains – a bamboo shade to screen those windows. It's attached directly to the existing chain link fence. Some volunteer Virginia Creeper is also benefiting from more light and is already growing through the bamboo screen, yippee! But the space still felt too open and exposed so I decided to make another rustic structure in keeping with the rustic theme of my garden. This time a freestanding trellis. It is sort of my tribute to the missing tree. I decided to make its walls resemble the structure of leaves. Again, my source for the branches is our local dump although some of these branches are from the box elder itself. Construction began in my shed, one of my favorite retreats. The trellis was put together with various lengths of drywall screws and a power drill. I began by making two "sides" sort of like a ladder, and then used branches to connect the sides together so that I had a square base that could stand on its own.

Here I am visualizing leaf shapes and adding veining.

Hours later I have my rustic leaf trellis.

  Here it is in place as viewed from the new screened porch.

The leaf pattern on this pot repeats the leaf shapes on the new trellis.

The birds now have a new perch. This garden bed now has another layer between us and them. I have a Clematis Virginiana, a beautiful native clematis, on order that I will plant at the base of this trellis. Hopefully it will twine its way through the leaves.

A friend of mine gave me these beautiful garden ornaments. I thought I would hang them here to honor the trees – new and lost. What about you? Do you have an area of your garden where you would like to have more privacy? Consider making yourself a freestanding trellis or a tribute of some sort to your favorite or lost plant.

Branching Out

Some girls collect shoes, I collect branches. Here's a stash in my shed ...

Where do I get them from (since you might know from past posts that I don't have any mature trees on my lot)? People here put them out on the curb after pruning or cleaning up their yards for the village to pick up - unless I get there first. Sometimes they put out nice pine and evergreen boughs, too, that look lovely in the window boxes and baskets over the winter. I also can find whatever size branches I need at the local dump free for the taking. Big piles of all sorts.

What do I do with them? Well, I noticed that the birds tend to "line up" for the feeders and bird baths and would land on my flowers and bend them down to the ground. So, I stuck a few branches nearby for them to use as perches instead - this worked like a charm! Here's a "branch perch" over a bird bath ...

Above is a Gold Finch perched upon it. Below is a Gold Finch poised on a "branch perch" (lower left corner above the big Monarda seed head) angling for a spot on the bird feeder ...

There he goes!

I also use branches to make my own rustic trellises. All you need is a power drill, some screws, hammer, nails, and maybe a little wire for the smaller branches. Here's one in the kitchen garden ...

And here's one I made for a wild rose that I will train to climb (and that will hopefully spill over and cover up some of that ugly chain link fence - ugh!) It adds a little more height and should act as a privacy screen ...

And here's one I made for this beautiful honey suckle to reach the lattice work on the front porch ...

You can also use branches and seed heads (like Black Eye Susan, Bee Balm and Cone Flowers) to dress up your pumpkins on Halloween. Branches make nice "hair." I just use a screw driver to punch holes with. Or you can make gourd ghouls like these ...

Happy Halloween!