Over the weekend we put together a simple but pretty garden trellis that went up on the side of the house. Our trellis started from very humble beginnings–my hubby was out for a walk, and there was a pretty baby crib just sitting out on the sidewalk in pieces with a “free” sign on it. It was an older one, made from wood, and had pretty spindles. He knew I’d like it, and so he brought it home. (I am usually very happy when he does things like that, and this was no exception!)
On the side of our house is a rather narrow pathway that leads from the kitchen to the back yard. The hydrangea had grown a great deal over the summer, and so this is what the path looked like:
Crazy, I know. And it hangs down into the pathway even more when it’s weighted down with rain. There wasn’t much room to get by, and something needed to be done. I decided to use one of the crib walls for a trellis, and it was a super simple garden project. Here is what the crib wall looked like before:
Aren’t those spindles pretty? I primed and painted it, and here is what it looked like after:
Because this needed to go up on the wall of the house, there had to be some spacers behind the trellis, so that it actually was held a little bit away from the wall, so we cut four pieces from a scrap of 2 by 4, and painted them turquoise as well.
We drilled pilot holes in the crib wall and spacers so that it would be easy to install the screws in the wall of the house. The screws we used were galvanized, so that with all the rain we get they would not rust and make a mess of the paint on the house wall. Remember that the screws have to be long enough to go through the crib wall, the spacer and have some left over to firmly attach to the house wall. Ours were approximately 2 1/2 inches long. Here’s what it looked like when it was all put together and ready to be mounted:
In order to seal the hole where the screw went into the house siding, we used a dab of clear Lexel, which is a sealer. It is advertised on the packaging as an alternative to silicone, and is supposed to be superior to silicone in adhesion, elasticity and paintability.
With a ladder in position, it just took a couple of minutes with the screw gun to attach the trellis to the wall of the house.
I now have a very sturdy and attractive trellis that I used to tie up my gigantic hydrangea.
Now the path is actually clear and easy to navigate.
And I still have three more pieces of crib walls to play with! I don’t have the slightest idea what I will do with them yet, but I will come up with something.
Have you done any garden projects lately? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments, so stop by for a visit!
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Till next time,
I’m participating at:
Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage
Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable
Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home
Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence
Saturday Night Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Sunday’s Best Link Party at My 1929 Charmer
What a great idea! I need to make one of these! I love the beautiful bright blue color! Thanks so much for inspiring me today!
Have an awesome day rock star!
karianne
I have an old crib and so far I’ve used the spring as a memo board and one railing to display my girls ribbons. I’ve been thinking of using the other railing as a trellis – love your fun color and the spacers!
Kelly
Athena,
I Love your new trellis. Love the color…so vibrant. Never too many trellises.
My latest project was to make use of a bunch of wine bottles that we have accumulated to maordersorder for one of the beds I want to renovate. Looks great, but I ran out of bottles.
Yael from Home Garden Diggers
Yael from Home Garden Diggers.
What a very smart idea! I love the great blue color too! I actually have a crib down in the basement…. what a fun use! Thanks for bringing your great idea to TUTORIAL TIPS AND TIDBITS!
Thank you, Yvonne–I love your party–very inspirational!
That’s a great idea, I’m thinking it would be great for my climbing veggies. Thanks for sharing, would never have thought of it.
Thank you for sharing your terrific recycle project at Potpourri Friday!
Your garden is gorgeous!
Hi there! No new garden projects here, but I love what you came up with! Very cute and a creative way to repurpose something! Those are some giant hydrangeas! Wow!
Thank you, Liz, and it’s just one huge hydrangea!
Hi! Just stopping by from 2805 to see your creative trellis project. A wonderful way to re-purpose the crib siding and it looks fab painted blue! Your garden is beautiful. I hope you will take a moment to come by and say hello. My garden consist of orchids on my kitchen window sill.
Hey girl, thanks for stopping by my blog. I loved your suggestions for my sloping yard. I am so empressed with your knowledge and garden results! Can’t wait to read your blog from top to bottom.
Thank you so much for your kind words–I appreciate them!
What a beautiful idea for a trellis, Athena! Love the color – I might have to look at cribs as I shop thrift stores! I appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy
What a beautiful idea for a trellis, love the color, and love the fact that this is a great way to up-cycle! Your garden is lovely, and love how the hydrangea are hanging over! Thanks for sharing your creative inspiration with Sunday’s Best – you helped make the party a success!
Thank you so much, Cathy!