Romeo shouldn't climb this, leave that to Jackmanii

Yesterday I posted photos of the clematis ‘Jackmanii’ on a trellis that I had designed and thought I’d share the directions for it [just in case someone wanted to try and replicate it]. The trellis was something I came up with because I was sick of rotting wood and rusting metal. What the garden centers had in stock was really high priced, and even if it was affordable it wasn’t anything I wanted to put in my landscape. Just a word of warning, although it is an easy concept, if you don’t know how to figure a forty-five degree angle cut and don’t use power tools, you might not want to attempt this.

~To buy~
PVC lattice (whatever size/color you want, I used a white 2’ wide pre-sized piece, made it easier)
PVC lattice edging (enough to frame the piece of lattice)
At least a 30” length piece of 1” PVC pipe (for 6-5" standoffs-I used white to match the lattice)
Six 6” lag bolts (stainless steel, non rust)
A small can of PVC glue

~Tools~
Hand saw to cut edging and the PVC pipe
Builder’s square to figure a 45 degree angle, or a miter box if you have one
Rubber mallet/dead blow mallet
Drill
1” paddle bit and a 1/8” drill bit [some small sized drill bit to drill a pilot hole]

1) Cut and miter the corners of the edging. I honestly don’t know how to put it into words on how to figure the lengths, so that once you miter the corners and slide the edge on it fits snugly and there are no gaps at the corners [my nephew and dad were geniuses at this stuff]. Measure a few times before you cut, and take into account that the lattice sits in the channel on the edge. I’d fit a piece, then mark the next piece with pencil and then cut it.

2) Hammer the edging on using the rubber mallet. I had my nephew do this, because it was so difficult and needed a really stronger hand. It worked best to hammer it on by starting at the corner and sliding it on. It fits so tightly you won’t need any glue, the edging won’t go anywhere once you’ve got it in place. Again, this was tough.

3) Cut six 5” lengths of the PVC pipe, these will be used as stand-offs to keep the lattice away from the wall.

4) You’re going to now figure the placement of the stand-off pieces along the edging. You need 6 of them total along the length (3 on each side), one at the top, the middle and the bottom (top and bottom at least 4 inches from the top and bottom edges). If you were making a wider piece you would of course use more standoffs for better stability. Mark the spots, centering them on the edging. Then using the 1” paddle bit, drill a ¼” depression for each (DO NOT DRILL ALL THE WAY THROUGH). You want the depression deep enough to hold the standoffs in place, but not too deep to ruin the integrity of the lattice. The reason I thought to do this was, because they help seat the 5” pipe lengths perpendicularly and once glued they’ll stay in place, and not snap off.

5) Next dry fit your PVC pipe pieces and make certain they sit perpendicular to the lattice. Remove pipe pieces and set aside. Then using a 1/8” drill bit, drill a hole at the center of each 1” hole on the lattice, going all the way through. These are pilot holes to screw the lag bolts through from the front, makes it easier to get them centered if you do this.

6) Using the PVC glue, glue the pipe pieces into the holes. If there is any blue marking on your pieces, face the marking to the center of the lattice, you don’t want this to show once it’s hung. Let this dry as per the directions on the glue can.

7) Now you can lag bolt this to your house, barn, tool shed, brick wall, etc. I recommend that you use two people for this. It was tough getting it in the right spot and level. I had my nephew hold it for me, while I checked for placement and level.

I know a lot of people are purists and want cedar lattice, well I don’t have the time or the inclination to repair/paint these every year, and my creation looks as clean and as new as it did when I first put it up a few years ago. Very crisp and clean, love the white on the yellow house.

CD~