Yet again, I'm mimicking my friend Paige. This time I'm using her idea for providing string for pole beans to climb up (in lieu of buying a trellis). She tied a little rock to the bottom of each string so it stayed taut enough for the vines to cling to. I just drove a long nail into the sides of each fence picket near the top and hung a rock-anchored string on each nail. It's working like a charm, though I know my fence pickets are way too short and the beans are going to go hog wild soon.
This little vine was purchased from Plant Delights in North Carolina via mail order. It is is a Clematis cirrhosa, I think. Evergreen, with small white flowers. Supposedly hardy through zone 8, we will see if it can survive the Texas heat.
This guitar-shaped birdhouse that Autumn and I painted for the garden still has no inhabitants, though I did spy a few birds eating insects in the garden this morning, as well as a lizard on our kitchen window. My goal is to attract birds, lizards and beneficial insects to the garden. A lively garden is a happy garden!
I was also blown away by paiges string bean treliss. I can't think of a way to implelment it in my garden.
ReplyDeleteI have used old pieces of lattice and even tomato cages. I have used string in the past too put ran it horizontal (like ladder rungs).
ReplyDeleteI love finding new uses for old items! The problem with using string laterally is that I find it tends to get more and more loose over time, as well as require more string than a vertical method would. If I didn't have these old fence pickets that I didn't mind driving nails into, I would definitely go the route of using bamboo stakes or teepees. Ruth, I find myself in the same situation with a lot of what Paige does - she's genius! :)
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