A trellis (French: ''treillage'') is an architectural structure, usually made from an open framework or lattice of interwoven or intersecting pieces of wood, bamboo or metal that is normally made to support and display climbing plants, especially

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s.The Book of Garden Furniture
C. Thonger, 1903

Types

There are many types of trellis for different places and for different plants, from agricultural types, especially in

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

, which are covered at

vine training systems The use of vine training systems in viticulture is aimed primarily to assist in canopy management with finding the balance in enough foliage to facilitate photosynthesis without excessive shading that could impede grape ripening or promote grap ...

, to garden uses for climbers such as

grapevines ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

clematis ''Clematis'' is a genus of about 380 species within the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. Their garden hybrids and cultivars have been popular among gardeners, beginning with ''Clematis'' 'Jackmanii', a garden staple since 1862; more cultivars ...

, ivy, and climbing roses or other support based growing plants. The rose trellis is especially common in Europe and other rose-growing areas, and many climbing rose varieties require a trellis to reach their potential as garden plants. Some plants will climb and wrap themselves round a trellis without much artificial help being needed while others need training by passing the growing shoots through the trellis and/or tying them to the framework.

Uses

Trellises can also be referred to as panels, usually made from interwoven wood pieces, attached to fences or the roof or exterior walls of a building. A

pergola A pergola is most commonly used as an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support crossbeams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are t ...

usually refers to trellis-work that is laid horizontally above head height to provide a partial "roof" in a garden (pergolas are also used in agricultural settings).

History

The trellis was originally intended to support vine stock – which gives its name: ''lat Trichila'' (greenery bower). The trellis has been mentioned in literature and botanical works throughout history.

Pliny the Younger Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus (born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo; 61 – ), better known in English as Pliny the Younger ( ), was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome. Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder, helped raise and e ...

, in the first and second centuries, wrote about trellises in some of his letters about gardens. In the 19th century,

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...

also mentioned a trellis in his poem ''Give me the Splendid, Silent Sun''. Trellis was used to support shrubs in

espalier Espalier ( or ) is the horticulture, horticultural and ancient Agriculture, agricultural practice of controlling woody plant growth for the production of fruit, by pruning and tying branches to a frame. Plants are frequently shaped in formal patt ...

, also to separate roads from

thicket A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large numbers of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in th ...

s and diverse sections of vegetable gardens. These sorts of fences were made by the gardeners. When the art of gardening was perfected by

André Le Nôtre André Le Nôtre (; 12 March 1613 – 15 September 1700), originally rendered as André Le Nostre, was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France. He was the landscape architect who designed Gardens ...

and

Jules Hardouin-Mansart Jules Hardouin-Mansart (; 16 April 1646 – 11 May 1708) was a French Baroque architect and builder whose major work included the Place des Victoires (1684–1690); Place Vendôme (1690); the domed chapel of Les Invalides (1690), and the Gra ...

, the treillis became an object of decoration and was entrusted to particular workers named ''treillageurs''. They worked individually until 1769, when they joined the corporation of carpenters. The ''treillageur'' has to have at least some elementary notions and principles of architecture and ''l’art du trait''. A trellis could be designed as a gallery,

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

, room or different element of architecture and thus evolved into garden architecture linked to landscaping. In the 20th century landscape architects such as Edouard François, Lewis Duncan, and Gilles Clément, uses trellis, as well as artists such as Nils Udo or

Jean-Max Albert Jean-Max Albert (born 1942) is a French painter, sculptor, writer, and musician. He has published theory, books on artists, and a collection of poems, plays and novels inspired by quantum physics. He perpetuated experiments initiated by Paul Klee ...

whose spatial creations belong to

land art Land art, variously known as Earth art, environmental art, and Earthworks, is an art movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, largely associated with Great Britain and the United StatesArt in the modern era: A guide to styles, schools, & mo ...

site-specific art Site-specific art is artwork created to exist in a certain place. Typically, the artist takes the location into account while planning and creating the artwork. Site-specific art is produced both by commercial artists, and independently, and can ...

, or environmental sculpture.

notesJean-Max Albert, L’espace de profil = Space in Profile, Les Éditions de La Villette, Paris, 1993. the trellis possibilities in visual art: "The trellis permits a visual contact of external and internal elements. It allows sto observe together the inside and the outside of a construction. The semi-transparency of the plans permits a simultaneous reading of imbricated volumes".

Gallery

File:Four Styles of Trellis-work.png, Four styles of trelliswork File:Trellis arcade supporting a vine in the Governor's Garden at Pondicherry in Tamil Nadu.jpg, Trellis arcade supporting a vine in

French India French India, formally the (), was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company. They were ''de facto'' incorporated into the ...

File:Dülmen, Kirchspiel, Karthaus, Torhaus -- 2015 -- 5354.jpg, Eastern Gatehouse in Karthaus, Weddern, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany File:Doblhoffpark 9402.jpg, Trellis in Doblhoffpark with Rosarium, Baden bei Wien,

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

, Austria File:Senecio_angulatus_trellis.jpg, Creeping groundsel growing on a wooden trellis in Italy

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trellis (Architecture) Architectural elements Garden features Gardening aids