Adrienne I don't have the answers to your questions but that sounds like great fun! Can we see your new obelisks? They sound very cool.

Kate

If they are already rusted, good luck. I would try to rust proof them first. I would love to see them too, when they're finished.

Carla

Adrienne:

I cannot believe I did not ask you what you intended to plant on them! I'm sorry, I'm not helping at all:( I'm sure whatever you do will be wonderful.

Kate

Gosh, I just can't give an opinion without pictures! ;o)

I cannot imagine iron oxide being bad for roses. I have old rebar I use to tie some HP roses to, and think of all the roses growing along old rusty fences. Now, post some dang pix! We might want to contract your hubby to build some for us!

I bought an old rusted arbor about 3 years ago and planted Buff Beauty next to it. Rust is no problem! I figure it gives the soil some iron. I love rust (except the fungal variety). : o

Then again, rusted ones sound nice.
I wish I had your hubby. Mine builds NOTHING.

Carla

Pics, pics, pics.....please. They sound wonderful. I wouldn't care about the rust. What harm could it do???

Gilli

Ok, Ok guys , here's a pic. You are all such a fun and enthusiastic group! It's a lot of fun 'hanging out' with you all. It really isn't anything that special, but it does the job and it is quite big. 7ft tall. It is also pretty far away from our house. We got a lot of different, cool finials. My favorite is a really large acorn one. The rose is 'Stairway to Heaven.' It is on the edge of our woods and it is very neglected, but it is a really pretty red climber. I plan on putting 'Gloire de Dijon' on one and I think I'm going to have him make a tall narrow one for Souv du Docteur Jamain. I also need him to make me one for 'Buff Beauty' It is throwing out this massive 6ft tall cane. I want another for Veilchenblau. A really, really big one. I also have two nice,rooted starts of Darlow's Enigma, but I'm going to sic those on some trees, I think it would overwhelm an obelisk. It's fun going vertical. :o)

{{gwi:292241}}

wow..I like that a lot. You are going to have a lot of the female posters asking their DH's "why can't you do that?" he, he, he :0)

Oh yes, that IS lovely! Sorry for pestering for pics...but really, you should know better by now, lol!

I do wish my DH welded. Mine rarely builds anything; can't sy never. But I wonder if crosspieces could be "tied" onto the upright long pieces, maybe with thin wire? Where did you get your cool finials?

Very nice, there were a few on one of the other forums who were also making these from rebar. If I remember corectly they were left to rust while others were painted.

A quick search might turn up some other examples for you.

Now if I only could find a rose that would climb one in my yard. I have had a vision of using old horse shoes end to end to build something like this....problem, no horse shoes or welder.

Thanks for sharing.

Karyn

I like it! Why doesn't my wife make things like That?

Here is a link to one search. There is lots more with some great information.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/clematis/msg0519280330161.html

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Adrienne I think that is great. Perfectly suited to the task! Stairway to Heaven is very pretty.

Kate

Jim

Isn't that wonderful and so pretty with and without the rose. Great job.

Karyn

Jim, I want one. I don't know where I would put it but I want one! Are you taking orders:)?

Kate

Love the obelisk and the umbrella. I have a Pinkie that I allow to just flop over like a weeping willow but if I'd seen the umbrella trick first I believe I would have gone with that - it looks great!

Jim,

I've never seen a design like it. It has a lot of utility. What is the height on your trellis?

I'm a firm believer in going vertical with rebar. I've been making rebar teepees for a few years now. I would like to offer some words of caution from experience.

1. Make sure the base of the rebar is not too narrow; i.e., for the average climber, I would make sure the base of the teepee forms an equilateral triangle with each of the sides no less than 2ft long. This is necessary when the rose gets top heavy...trust me on this one.

2. Be sure to plant only mannerly climbers on them. Some roses that outgrew the teepee in 2 seasons include Russeliana, Chevy Chase, Paul Transon, Veilchenbleu.

3. Consider making ann arbor out of two 20 ft pieces of rebar, bent into a 5ft diameter, and set into 5 ft pieces of pipe that was sunk about 2 ft into the ground. I sunk 4 piecs of pipe in a square formation, then added the rebar kitty corner. It is very secure and stable..and inexpensive. It took about 10 minutes to install by myself.

Robert

Rust won't hurt the roses.........but painting it will protect the obelisk...give it a finished look. My husband is a certified welder, we make all kinds of things for our garden and our house. I paint it all! :0) Take a look...if you go forward, pressing the arrow key you'll see the bed with leaves, the bakers rack....etc.

Here is a link that might be useful: 2 garden gates we welded

Jim, you are a genius! That is super great.

Carla

Thanks for your kind comments.

I didn't mean to hijack Pacnwgrdngirl's thread, just wanted to show that I painted mine.

Sorry Kate, not taking orders. I can't keep up with what I want to build for my own garden.

Mark, the trellis stands 6 ft. above ground, with 15" stuck in the ground.
Jim