Do you have a blank wall or fence that requires some colour or life? Recently we decided to add a little character to our side fence where we installed a wire in the shape of a diamond/grid design along with a climbing vine.
To start this process I would recommend that you wash and/or paint the surface before you start as it will be extremely difficult to do this after the wire in installed.
Also select a very sturdy wall or fence. Once the vine matures it will become heavy and the structure it is growing on needs to be strong enough to hold the weight.
What you will require to erect this vine on a wire:
- Tape measure to measure out the grid.
- Lead pencil or chalk to mark your measurements.
- 3.2mm 7x7 stainless steel wire rope purchased from Low Cost Wire.
- Saddle brackets to attached to the fence and feed wire through and screws to attach the brackets to the fence.
- Jaw Swage Rigging Screws which holds the wire.
- A crimping tool to attach the Jaw Swage Rigging Screws to the wire.
- Rectangle Slim Pot(s). I purchased mine from Ascot Vale Garden Centre. Similar pots can be found at Bunnings and other pot stores. Please note the number of pots you require will depend on how much coverage on your fence/wall is required to be covered.
- A vine that will creep and attach itself to the wire. I chose a Star Jasmine as I wanted a plant with a dark green leaf and white flower. It is also fast growing and easy to take care of.
- Potting mix to plant your vine into.
STEP 1
You will need to measure out your design. Our brackets were installed 400mm apart however you can install at any distance depending on the size of your fence and the look you are wanting to achieve.
STEP 2
Attach all the Saddle brackets to the fence.
STEP 3
Start feeding your wire through from the bottom left hand corner with a zigzag pattern. To see how we achieved this head to my Instagram stories and click on the highlight tab 'vine on a wire'.
As a side note don't unravel the wire before you start to thread it through the brackets. If you do so it ends up getting tangled like Christmas lights and is super hard to untangle.
STEP 4
Once your pattern has been complete cut the end of the wire at the point where a Jaw Swage Rigging Screw will be attached. Again I show this in my highlights on my Instagram page.
STEP 5
Attach the Jaw Swage Rigging Screw with the Crimper while is is attached to a Saddle Bracket.
STEP 6
Pot up your plants and map out a place for the pots to sit.
STEP 7
Water your plants regularly and watch your vine grow. Every couple of days just start to guide the vine to wrap around the wire. Over the next couple of months continue to train the stems. When it becomes thicker prune the leaves so it stays as a diamond pattern otherwise it will cover the whole fence and the wire will be hidden in a mass of vine.
