Adding a rustic trellis or Tuteur is a natural way to invite whimsey into your garden to reflect personality and style. It’s also a great way to elevate your vegetable garden into a fanciful and artful kitchen garden, or to dress up a container garden. “Tuteur” is the French word for “trainer” and for vines or other climbing plants that otherwise would not have a vertical surface to grab. For edibles, think pole beans, peas, cucumbers, indeterminate tomatoes, gourds and malabar spinach.
Its a good time of year to make art in the garden, especially when you can use the leftover trimmings from the pruned fruit trees and overgrown willows. Materials include flexible willow, hazel, and other pliable twigs blend beautifully into a landscape. Twisty twigs tied together at the top with twine are the perfect solution for sweet peas and climbing nasturtiums or try your hand at weaving a natural wattle fencing to soften the edges of a raised bed.
Adding a trellis is a versatile garden tool that can stand alone as a garden accent or be used to support climbing vines. It can be the focal point of the garden, or add height along the edges as a vertical element to give the garden visual interest. Here is a link to step by step making your own Woven Willow Obelisk.
