In your landscape design, a wrought iron trellis creates an accessory accent. It gives the eye a place to rest when viewing the landscape as a whole. Most often, wrought iron trellises are paired with plants, usually a vine, to give the plants an acceptable place to climb to higher places. Trellises are also effective when situated in an open expanse to provide elevation.

Part of the landscaping vocabulary called garden structures, a category that includes outdoor gazebos, garden arbors and garden arches, trellises can be made into a dizzying variety of shapes and styles. Just to name a few of the wonderful designs you will find: symmetrical grids, simple lines, repeating patterns, ornate flourishes, fleur-de-lis, trefoils and realistic elements like grapes or small birds.

A wrought iron trellis is a thoughtful element in any landscape, but it becomes particularly effective from a visual point of view when combined with a wrought iron fence or wrought iron gates in the same motif. By picking up the same theme and using it in different places, you unite the landscape.

Another feature of landscape architecture that trellises play off well against are outdoor water fountains. The combination of solid iron and soft green, moving water and soothing sound, can be entrancing. A trellis can also be an effective addition to your patio design by providing a place for the softening touch of greenery, perhaps against a blank wall. They can be put to good use in formal and informal outdoor rooms, too.

Besides the pleasing aesthetics that a wrought iron trellis provides, it can have some practical uses as well. It can serve as an attractive screen to hide any unsightly elements in your yard, such as a utility easement or air-conditioning unit. A trellis can be put to work as a de facto room divider to separate different zones. For example, you can use it to create the illusion of a transition area between an outdoor kitchen and an open-air deck.

A trellis can be worked into practically any home landscape design, even a theme landscape. A Mediterranean landscape design, with its emphasis on casual spaces for entertainment and characterized by the practical vegetation found in the Mediterranean area, is ready-made for trellises. In an English garden design, you are almost required to have one! A trellis even works in a modern landscape design. With the right design, of course. You might even think about using it as an interesting juxtaposition to a contemporary water fountain.

An important consideration for any outdoor trellis is its hardiness. In Houston, a trellis must withstand the extremes of our weather from the blistering heat of summer to the regular torrential rainstorm to the occasional freeze.

Metal that has been galvanized and powder coated, in particular, works well for our climate. While the initial expense will be a little more than with plain metal, in the long run, it usually turns out to be a better investment because it lasts longer and is easier to maintain.