Grapevine to screen a fence

[Bankzee]

A plant trainer erected over a nine metre space, fixed with steel wire and kept taut using turnbuckles, to support a grapevine.     

• The project
• Steps
• Tools and materials
• More inspiration for your climbing plant project

The project

I planted a seedless grapevine against the back fence and wanted to provide horizontal support for it. I decided to use existing galvanised steel posts to run wire over a span of nine metres.

Steps

Step 1

I fed the round rings onto the panel fix clips. Removed the nuts on the bolts that support the fence to the posts and attached the Jack mesh panel fix clips at either end. Then I secured the nuts back onto the bolts. Fed the wire rope thimble through the ring at one end. 

I hooked the turnbuckle through the ring at the other end and connected a rope thimble to the turnbuckle.

Then I attached mesh panel clips to the middle posts as added support for the wire.

I fed the wire rope through the clips and around both thimbles, then I secured both ends with wire rope grips using an adjustable wrench to tighten with a small amount of slack in the wire rope. I then secured the surplus wire rope with cable ties along itself to make it neat and tidy.

I painted the fence first using Walpamur Charcoal Fence Paint as I find the green vine leaves or any green leaved plant really pop in front of the charcoal coloured fence. Also, in winter the grapevine loses its leaves and the painted fence looks nicer than boring, aged, hardwood palings.

Rotate the turnbuckle to tighten the slack. All that is left is to train the vine along the wire, gently tighten the turnbuckle if the vine weight causes wire to drop, and prune as necessary. Then just wait a few seasons for the grapes to grow.

The grapevine is now two years old but I have noticed that since I have started training it along the horizontal wires, it has started to speed up its growth. I'm not sure whether this is caused by the horizontal support or the abundance of rain and sun we have had. The fence is on my western boundary so the vine faces east and gets in excess of six hours of sunlight a day. Grapevines do need a bit of water and their root system needs some space to spread out, so pots are not ideal unless you intend to keep the water up to it and give it a regular haircut. 

Tools and materials

Materials used in the project:

• Marine grade stainless steel wire rope 
  
  
• Wire rope grips 
  
  
• Steel rope thimble 
  
  
• Stainless stell turnbuckle 
  
  
• Jack grip and grow plant trainer 
  
  
• Jack mesh panel fix clips 
  
  
• Cable ties
  
  
• Walpamur charcoal fence paint
  
  
• Stainless steel round rings.

Tools used in the project:

• Adjustable wrench.

More inspiration for your climbing plant project

Workshop member Mark built this wire trellis for climbing plants between two pillars of an undercover area.

Community member DIY4Knuckleheds built a hardwood and mesh trellis with planter boxes to transform a garden area which was too wet for plants to grow.

You'll find many more ideas posted by creative community members in our Top 10 most popular vertical garden projects and Top 10 most popular screening projects.

[Dave-1]

Evening @Bankzee 

Vines on fencs always catch my eye, They soften and cool an area in a large way.

I had a couple of grape vines in pots that I didnt plant... Yeah they went South . I was thinking Ivy for covering a wind break I have but your vine idea really looks like it would be a nice idea to try.

Would love to see a photo of it in 12 montsh time

Dave

And yeah, will bump the new vine and plant it this time up the list!

[Bankzee]

Grapevine is progressing well @Dave-1, here is a pic after 3 months. will set a reminder to take one in 12 months.

[Dave-1]

Thank you @Bankzee 

Now I "Really" want to try the same deal! It looks so peaceful.

Dave