I’m considering putting an arbor with a gate in my front lawn. Ideally it will hold grape vines, maybe clematis or other vining flowers just for beauty, but it won’t be the main support for the grapes as there (hopefully) will be two trellis…is? Trelli? Anyway. Two other stretches for the grapes to mainly grow from, resulting in only extra vine on the arbor.
Any recommendations or warnings? I’m leaning towards metal for durability but there’s no point to that if most metal arbors are cheaply made anymore anyway; that’s what I worry about when I find things like this on Walmart.com…
Like is it ACTUALLY sturdy? Would it do the job?? I have no idea. I also would like the gate to latch, which makes a wooden gate attractive (not that metal gates don’t latch I just like this one also) but same worry about durability.
Do I bother with “pretty” ones and just make my own from cow panel and scrap metal?
I’m designing something similar for my yard. For what it’s worth, I’ve actually found chatgpt to do a decent job at recommending against not safe plans (for example, swapping a 4x4 post with a 2x2).
My design will be constructed out of cedar since I think it’ll look nicer than metal.
The cheapest would probably not even be cattle panels but would be posts made of scrap metal with a two wire trellis.
Full disclosure, I clicked on the post because of the pun postential tempted by the title. I’m going to behave at this point, but no promises for the future…
Devil’s advocate response: Climbing things with tendrils and gates designed to move do ot always make the best of cohabitants, given the tendrils predilection for tying things together. I would try a design with significant space between the posts and the swinging panels so that you can have easy access to anything you are going to need to cut or rearrange as the growth gets into its own swing. Also remember how low any fruits or leaves are going to hang in planning how high above the gate the arbor is going to rise.
I love the idea of desired viney things filling in the fence, and even the gate itself if you can be diligent enough to allow it to keep on swinging. Maybe a series of arbors in the fence, sort of like towers in a castle wall where most are full of fence except little platforms to lean on and peep out. My too many ideas would come from trying to make the whole thing a green fence (except the actual gate - maybe) that still would be open and sturdy enough for all the vines.
@zone7a My husband has chatgpt, maybe I’ll see what it says.
So far for the trellis, I’m thinking of using 8-10ft posts, 10 gauge galvanized steel wire, some eye screws, turn buckles, and wire clamps. I’m still stuck on the arbor though; I just don’t love the wooden rectangle. At this point though it doesn’t really matter because I need the trellis set up first!
@Mtncj You are my people! But I’m pregnant so my punbility has dropped off significantly. What puntential did you see??
VERY good point I hadn’t thought of! I was just discussing with a friend of perhaps filling in gaps with roses (not climbing roses except maybe yes climbing roses if I have an arbor with no grape tendrils…) so that would help bridge between the trellis and the arbor if I did it. The gate itself would probably only need to be maybe two or three feet high - I don’t anticipate it being a perfect “You Shall Not Pass” portal, just something to slow a toddler down if running/falling down the slope from the house to the sidewalk/street. Roses, not ideal for that, but they sure wouldn’t try to wiggle past them, at least not twice!
Re: Green fence, I’m not against a hedge, it just feels like I could be using the space for plants that bring me joy, not just…greenery. I’ve already tried to cover one (monster) yew with morning glories and then realized that this year, I have morning glory seedlings EVERYWHERE. Less of an issue in the mowed front yard but still, I was disappointed that they really did only last for the morning; I’d want something that lasted much longer if I were covering/adding to the green of a hedge. Plus, fruit! Hm. Maybe I could also fill the gaps with some other kind of berry…the options are endless but the space and budget are limited.
The title pretty much sums up my problem here as both arbors and gates use posts and you are crossing them. Soo…let’s see…
– Make sure your fence is at least a yard long.
– What do you get when you cross an arbor with a gate? Leave it open and the sky’s the limit.
If you end up doing a hedge, I’d let the grapevine (and/or kiwi?) get established before you start putting in the edible bushes. The vines are not going to be so easy to train/prune ones they start wrapping into other bushes. My first thought for a green fence was more the willow or dogwood stake type concept where the stems still looked a lot like a fence all woven together.
Oh Morning Glories. So pretty, but so, so inclined to place themselves exactly where you don’t want them. Probably good training for that facet of having toddlers.
I hadn’t thought of adding a kiwi but I know it’s possible to find a cold-hardy kiwi for my zone…that would be cool. Can kiwis and grapes co-exist like that? That would be great. And also very good point about saving the bushes until the vines are established, I think I’ll definitely do that!
HAHA So true! Do you have any experience with climbing “black eyed susans”? I’m not sure that’s what they actually are, maybe they’re climbing daisies, but they’re yellow-flowered vines. I’m hoping to throw those in with the morning glories and maybe some climbing nasturtiums for a waterfall of color but we’ll see what lives.
do the wild thing and train the gate arch extremely high. like trellis all along the fence then ABOVE the gate part, use tall poles to get the grapes to grow up up up along each side then up top meet in the middle.
so people have to walk under it. and the gate itself is free and separate.
I’m trying to eventually get my two plum trees to meet about ten feet up, over my back gate, like this. in a very haphazard way to start
once they’re naturally leaning that direction without being tied in place I’ll tie them differently to try to get the arch shape. I want them 2 feet about the 7 foot gate. the fence has grapes and other trees all along hiding the inside of it, and I don’t want anything growing directly on the gate.
