Why not do like the Native Americans did and just girdle a tree and let it die? Someone here was telling me that's how they trellised Seminole Pumpkins. When I was young, I could not afford a Christmas Tree in my first apartment, so I went into the woods and found this beautiful bowering branch that had fallen off a tree during a storm. It looked windswept to the right. I took it home, cut off everything I didn't want on it, sanded and varnished it and strung it with white lights and that was my tree. You can always take an old artificial Christmas tree and cut all the greenery off of it and cement it into a pot.

I've made my own lightweight trellises from cut branches, bamboo, etc. It's not too hard...

http://tipnut.com/budget-trellis/

the thing is a want a "tree" in the back yard and I dont want to wait years, if I could have a trellis that was shaped like a tree with branches then I could have a small flowering tree all year long in the center of the yard - it would give a little shade and look pretty... we are short ppl, so even a 10- 12 foot "tree" would be spacious to sit under.

ok fast and ugly mark up in Microsoft Paint, but gives a sort of idea for ppl who are able to interpret ramblings of a crazy person. lol

Thin poles set in a circle each with branches, try and picture this in 3D - the shorter looking branches are not shorter, it is just the perspective. The branches would stagger heights like a real tree (I guess a "modern" tree could be made for ppl who like clean lines and have a mod landscaping).

The branches might need to be made of thinner poles and have 2 or 3 with webbing to give the vine space to grow.

I would think the hardest part would be training the vines to grow on the different branches, but maybe depending on how large the diameter of the "trunk" is maybe the vines would stay to their own trunk and branch set until they get big and start to become "over grown".

I drew 4 trunk and branch sets, but maybe 5 or 6 would be better.... maybe each trunk would only have 1 branch, and the branch would be wider (maybe fan shaped) - set of 6 then alternate the placement of high and low branch.

If I won the lotto I would work on making this idea and then selling commercially, if anyone sees this and beats me to it... I want some sort of inventor fee and a complimentary tree and installation.

I also want Shade Sail trees - why does it always have to be the the shape of a large triangle or square with 3 or 4 poles - My mom once had a fake chrismas tree that you attached each branch into it's trunk slot, do something like that with Shade Sails. I would think this would be very expensive due to cost of steal construction for safety in high winds - but for parks and what not. They make Cell Phone towers that look like trees so I know that they could make a Shade Sail tree!!!

Can anyone tell that the Florida heat is starting to set in!!! lol I think about shade a lot!

I always think back to Halfwaythere's umbrella trellis with Mexican flame vine. It was gorgeous! It finally buckled under the weight. Sweetmonkey, check out this link and see what you think. It might work exactly as you would like. I bet you could find an old umbrella and stand on Craigslist.

Umbrella Trellis Project, Mexican Flame Vine

Carol in Jacksonville

EDIT: PS. There were 402 results for a Gardenweb search of "umbrella trellis". Might be lots of good ideas in here:

GardenWeb search: umbrella trellis

Carol

Check out this hat rack. Probably not very strong but the price is right. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80202023/

This reminded me of the structures I saw @ the gardens of the Getty Museum in L.A. - made from steel & ginormous, they support bougainvilleas:

& you could maybe use several tree limbs lashed together & anchored to some rebar driven into the ground. I usually drive a length of rebar into the ground alongside my trellis supports (also driven into the ground) & lash together w/ wire to help keep them from toppling.