Wasn't sure where to put this, so I'll post it here.
Today (Monday) I made a trellis/arch out of pvc and vinyl lattice. Finished most of it after it got dark because this time I had enough sense to wait until it got cooler (although today was overall much cooler than yesterday). Anita wanted a "gateway" arbor to the side lawn so I came up with this.
Material needed is a sheet of vinyl lattice, four 10ft lengths of bendable 1/2 inch pvc (key word is BENDABLE pvc), a couple of 1/2 inch pvc T's, two pvc connectors (1/2 inch), four pvc 1/2 inch elbows, some 8 inch zip ties and purple pvc primer (I guess it comes in different colors now, why, I don't know, because you don't see the stuff anyway, but whatever!). The final design I kind of made up as I went along. I am not one to sit down and draw things out!
I cut the vinyl lattice length-wise into 2 pieces, then lashed them end-to-end with zip ties to form about a 14.5ft length of lattice about 2ft wide. (This would make about a 7ft arch). I cut one of the 10ft lengths of pvc in half and joined them with the connectors to two of the 10ft lengths to form two 15ft lengths. I then cut the 15ft lengths in the middle and inserted the Ts and about a 1ft 10 inch piece of pvc between them (this ain't rocket science). The purpose of the cross piece is to keep the vinyl lattice from folding or bowing cross-wise, and also to keep the 15ft lengths of pvc from sliding as you zip-tied them to the lattice. The elbows go on the ends with two more pieces of pvc to go between them.
After the whole thing is zipped-tied up, it's pretty much good to go. In the pictures I still need to trim the zip ties, plus I forgot the elbows for the ends. The pros to this is that it's entirely movable and so easy even I can do it!
After consulting with Anita, I put it between two 6ft planters in-line with the arch (see the pictures). Anita wanted to use the planter I had in front of the shed, but problem was that the Orange Trumpet Vine that needs to climb on the lattice was in the middle of the planter because that's where I originally had one piece of the lattice I used. I was reluctant to move the plants, but it was the easiest and most practical solution, so I changed the vine and the Purple-Blue sage plant around so that the vine would be on the end.
One thing I was going to do but didn't because I got lazy was paint the pvc bright red because the plants, particularly the vine, are hummingbird attractors, and hummers like bright red.
I'll post more pictures in the morning when it's light out.
CORRECTIONS: I used 1/2 inch bendable pvc, not 2 inch like I originally said.
