Looking for garden trellis ideas? Garden trellis is a great piece of versatile gardening kit. Use it to create a cosy outdoor dining or living space, or go for tall panels and place them where they can screen off less attractive features of your own or neighbouring gardens.
Mount trellis panels on top of existing fencing or walls to shelter an exposed site or, of course, just use them to support beautiful trailing plants, vines and vegetables. Trellis can bring interest to patios, sheds and forgotten corners and create archways and walking routes around larger outdoor spaces.
Garden trellis ideas
It comes in all shapes, sizes and materials and can be painted, stained or just left in its natural state. Look for square, diamond shaped, expanding and decorative designs that look beautiful while they are busy being practical. Some designs even come backed by mirrored panels, which can trick the eye into believing your garden is bigger – and more romantic – than it really is.
If you’re feeling crafty, why not build your own trellis from wooden poles and sticks, bamboo, lumber, copper or wire mesh. Paint your trellis in an earthy colour palette to mimic that of your garden or, if you’re designing an urban oasis, use a contrasting primary palette for added effect. Be a little different and use a trellis to hang up garden tools in the summer or as a display for a collection of potted-up terracotta pots.
1. Extend a walled garden fence with trellis
Image credit: Mark Bolton
Just because you don’t have a garden fence doesn’t mean you can’t attached a garden trellis. This walled garden features an extension of the fence thanks to panels of trellis which are mounted to the top to frame the wall with beautiful climbing foliage. Not only will the added trellis provide a screen on which to grow plants it will also add additional privacy.
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2. Hide a garden shed with plants
Image credit: Michelle Garrett
Secure multiple garden trellis designs to a garden shed to encourage planst to grow over, concealing it from view once the planst are well established. Run a trellis panel down the side to train a climbing plant to grow up and over the sides of the shed. Attached a trellis frame to the door and use the structure to hang potted plants, which can be changed throughout the seasons.
3. Make it practical
Joanna Henderson
Install sections of trellis to act as a clever vertical storage solutions. From hanging garden tools, so they’re handy at a moments notice, to keeping the watering can easily locatable a wall trellis with hooks is an ideal garden storage hack. In addition to being highly practical you can paint the frame to add colour to the walls and hang potted plants for decoration. This trellis solution is a winning small garden idea, to use the vertical space to its best advantage.
4. Grow horizontally with a slatted design
Image credit: Mel Yates
Trellising doesn’t have to be square-shaped – we love this contemporary horizontal slatted metal design. Combine with a run of planters below. Plant trailing plants at the back to grow up the trellis and bedding plants, such as these gloriously pink geraniums, at the front. The bedding plants will provide shade for the trailing plants behind, which require shade at their roots and full sun for their flowers.
5. Add a splash of uplifting colour
Image credit: Jamie Mason
Paint a trellis in a vibrant shade to offset the frame to that of the fence behind. This bright pink trellis stands out for all the right reasons, from the natural stained fence panel behind. Use the trellis a s a way to inject a primary colour that co-ordinates with your planting choices, or alternatively clashes as this pink trellis does against the white roses.
6. Garden trellis with terracotta pots and bulb display
Image credit: Simon Whitmore
Hang a section of trellis next to a window and use it to create a flowering display that can be enjoyed from inside as well as outside the house. Pot up spring or autumn-flowering bulbs in traditional terracotta containers. Wrap with garden raffia, add a top dressing of moss and hang securely from the trellis using garden wire. These potted hyacinths hang at an angle for a quirky touch.
7. Add colour and ambience with tealight lanterns
Image credit: Mel Yates
Make use of both sides of a trellis. This section splits a patio from the main garden area and the patio side features coloured glass lanterns, each containing a tealight. Make sure that any handles and nails or tacks are strong enough to hold the jars securely. Light the tealights at night to create a lovely atmosphere. Never leave burning candles unattended.
8. Protect brickwork from climbing plants
Image credit: Amateur Gardening
Place wooden trellis panels immediately in front of brick walls to provide a growing canvas, without having to encourage roots anywhere near the bricks and mortar. A supportive screen will act as the ideal climbing frame to prevent plants from having to be fastened directly the house or exterior walls.
9. Create a colourful backdrop for planting
Image credit: Mark Scott
Welcome some vibrant colour to the walls behind your garden trellis, to enliven the look. This compact colour is enlivened by a coat of sky blue paint on the brick walls, with a darker shade of blue chosen for the wall-mounted trellis. The use of colour helps create a beautiful backdrop for plants to grow against. Take the colour throughout the garden with bold coloured furniture choices and painted plant pots.
10. Zone with freestanding sections of trellis
Image credit: Amateur Gardening
Allow a trellis to stand alone to create a support for border planting. Encourage climbing plants to make their way up the freestanding trellis to create a wall of foliage, that can act as a partition to zone different zones with the garden. This trellis is placed behind a bed of herbs, creating a mini herb garden.
11. Use garden trellis in place of fence panels
Image credit: Mark Scott
Use trellis fencing in place of traditional fencing panels. They are far less likely to be blown down in bad weather as the wind just passes through them. Plant trailing plants in the bed below and watch your screen grow over the summer! Combine varieties that flower at different times for all-year-round interest. Here a country-garden feel has been created with abundant trailing evergreen Clematis armandii.
12. Make your own to grow on a budget
Image credit: Simon Upton
Looking for a budget garden idea? Using simple garden canes and garden wire you can fashion a DIY grid of trellis. The affordable homemade trellis is more than capable of providing support for climbing plants.
13. Add decorative touches with colourful tile inserts
Image credit: Marianne Majerus
Use trellis to create decorative interest along a plain timber overlap fence panel. Painted in a dove grey, this one creates a nice contrast to the woodstained panel behind. One-off tiles placed randomly in the trellis squares create a truly unique look. Fix the trellis so that is secure enough against wind, but also make sure it is will be easy to remove once fence-painting time comes around.
14. Make more of a trellis with handy hooks
Image credit: Brian Moody
Dress the trellis with handy hooks to make the most of the vertical space. Hang potted plants, candle votives, garden signs and ambient fairy lights to create a well-curated outdoor space.
15. Add flexibility with metal trellis designs
Image credit: Amateur Gardening
Trellis doesn’t have to be wooden, square and practical. It can be metal, decorative and highly practical too.This design is made extra special set against a painted wall and turns a small seating area into a magical spot. Combine with large planters and cafe-style furniture for a stunning way to make a tiny area beautiful.
16. Set the scene
image credit: Polly Wreford
Use painted trellis to divide up areas of your garden – such as here where it’s been used to delineate an outdoor dining area. This compact linear design in on-trend grey creates a decorative wall, enclosing the seating area. Bring in potted shrubs that are big enough to help define the space. A cosy arrangement like this can provide screening, protection and dappled shade from the more unpredictable British weather.
What needs a trellis in the garden?
What needs a trellis in the garden in terms of plants is anything that needs support to flourish. Climbers such as a flowering clematis, Honeysuckle and vines all require a supportive structure to encourage growth in the right direction. A trellis is much-needed in a vegetable garden to trail runner beans and pea shoots. Many plants that grow tall on single stems and need to prevent them from bowing, such as sunflowers may also benefit from being supported by a trellis.
