How to Grow Grapes in an Arbor or Trellis (and What to Grow)
I’m a big proponent of growing your garden with trellises , arbors, and other supports. Growing up provides three exceptional benefits to the garden. First, it provides more opportunities for growth. While some items grow naturally, such as bean vines, others, such as pumpkins, do not traditionally grow but instead sprawl across the ground, taking up a lot of space. Secondly, creating vertical points of interest in the yard makes the space much more interesting. Finally, it creates shade and sun. Items growing on the support will receive more sun than on the ground, while the other side of the trellis creates shade. Shade is good for people and animals who need a break in the summer, as well as for your plants. This creates a microclimate. There is a barrier from the wind, and the temperature on the other side will drop several degrees due to the lack of sun.
The key to all of this is choosing the right support and the right plant. A grille is simply a vertical structure that can be flat or accordion-shaped. An obelisk-type lattice has a smaller base area but more support as it tends to be round or square, extending to a point at the top. Arches can be thin or wide, but cross a space that people can walk under. The gazebo has vertical and horizontal supports for plants such as berries, grapes or figs. Finally, a gazebo or booth is more specifically designed to create space under tables, chairs, or whatever else you want to do with that space. While all of these structures look beautiful on their own, they have an open design so you can grow plants on them. Now all you have to do is decide what to grow.
Edible fruits such as figs and grapes will provide fruit and enormous leafy shade.
I always like to think about how to grow food—if not for me, then for the birds and other local wildlife. Figs and grapes are two plants that like support and can form around a structure, but will require a lot of hands (this is true in general for both, not just for an arbor). Figs and grapes grow vigorously and need to be pruned annually and treated to prevent fungal infections such as rust. They both produce fruit, which sounds delicious, but if you don’t pick them, the fruit will fall, spoil, and bring in pests. You can reduce this problem by thinning the fruit, which means reducing the amount of fruit in exchange for larger, better fruit. Both figs and grapes have huge leaves that can also be used alone for eating, but they can also provide shade. Although these plants are perennial, they are not evergreen, so in winter you will see vines but not leaves.
Passion fruit and hops are prolific vines that will easily cover your entire structure.
Hops and passion fruit are edibles in a pinch. Hops are essential to brewing beer, but even if you don’t, they provide great-smelling flowers on a very prolific vine that will sprout on its own. The same can be said for the passion fruit, which doubles in size every year and is decorated with magnificent passion flowers. If you let it grow, you will eventually grow a passion fruit too. Because of how prolific these plants are, you really want to think about how you’ll manage them in the fall. Passion flowers don’t really need to be pruned back too much, but hops can be cut back almost to the ground year after year and they will just get stronger. Even in the short summer season they can cover your entire gazebo.
View the birds
If you want to fill your space with hummingbirds, bees, and other beneficial pollinators, you need to give them something to eat. Flowering vines such as jasmine, trumpet vine, honeysuckle, clematis and saucer vine produce fragrant flowers that attract these pollinators while providing shade to the structure. In fact, there are enough varieties of these vines that you can select several honeysuckle vines, each with different bloom times, and have a whole season of different colored flowers. All vines have different rules regarding when and how much to prune. Clematis alone has three different pruning groups, so you’ll definitely want to know how to prune specific vines.
Seasonal foods provide short-term growth but high interest
A great idea for a gazebo or trellis is ordinary grape beans. Beans such as scarlet shoot or hyacinth beans are edible (but really need to be grown for their appearance), but there is a whole world of shelled beans that grow profusely throughout the season; then, after you harvest the beans, you cut down the vines. All these are annuals, that is, they live only for a season. If you allow the beans to simply fall, they will reseed themselves and may eventually become perennial. You should make sure you choose branch beans and not bush beans – this information will always be on the seed packet. Most green beans are pole beans and also grow prolifically in one season. Previously, we told you how you can strengthen pumpkins and zucchini with a lattice ; if you just grow them alone, they will provide plenty of shade. You don’t have to choose just one option: you can grow several plants together, such as beans and squash.
Don’t grow invasive vines
While some people enjoy them, vines such as ivy or wisteria can cause real damage to a structure and take up space. Akebia is technically non-invasive, but can get out of control all too easily. Obviously, you shouldn’t plant kudzu. Other problematic invasive vines include winter vine, chinaberry, and oriental bittersweet.
Plants need good soil, water, nutrition, sunlight and pruning.
Depending on the structure of your trellis or pergola, your plants may find support on their own, but if not, consider using loose garden ties to acclimate your plants to the structure. You need to make sure that they are never cramped or they will not allow growth. You need to plant the vines in good, loose, loamy soil that has some nutrients. If the gazebo is placed on the ground rather than a cement or rock base, you can till the soil around the gazebo to aerate it and add fertilizer using a fork or shovel. If your structure is built on cement, you will need flower pots and they should be the right size for the plant – much larger than you imagine. You’ll fill them with potting soil, and since potted plants dry out more easily, you’ll need to water them regularly and fertilize them annually. The good thing about pots is that they can be moved, so if the plant isn’t getting any sunlight, you can move it to wherever it will be.