This flower pot trellis tutorial is a fun way to create elegant looking planters with the use of standard tomato cages. Creating a plant pot with a trellis will look fabulous on your front porch or anywhere around your home.
When we replaced our double front door with a single door, I knew that I would want to place flanking pots on the porch. I used to have a large black planter that sat to the left, and that just doesn't work with the new door. I think I'll place the old planter in the garden where our maple tree used to be. The two pots that I used in the garden for the color wheel post are now used to flank the front door.
Making a Trellis for Potted Plants
To make the trellis purchase a standard tomato cage and flip it upside down. Feel free to paint them black as I did or any color you want.
Top the cages with baluster knuckles, normally used to decorate metal stair legs, to cap the top of the cage like a finial. A rubber band works well to hold the legs together first, but may not be necessary.
The one problem I had was the size of the pot, compared to the diameter of the lowest ring. They were just about the same. It would have been better if the pot was a tad bigger, or the cage a little smaller. If you are buying the tomato cages and the pots at the same time then you can make sure that they fit well. I wanted to re-use pots that I already had and they were close enough.
Either way, you need something to stake the bottom ring into the pot like these plant label stakes
. They keep the cage firmly in place. You could also use a heavy gauge wire and make your own stakes.
Sticking with my purple and green theme for the year, I planted sweet potato vine, lobelia, and calibrachoa trailing around the sides. These are all great trailing plants with great color.
Note: Add the plants to the pot before attaching the trellis.
Vining Plants for the Trellis
The star of the planter, though small for now, is a black-eyed susan vine placed in the back. I used the twist tie that came with the plant to attach it to one of the sides of the trellis. I know from experience that this pretty flowering vine is a vigorous grower, and will shine in this planter. I'm seeing more and more of this vine in the nurseries this year. The yellow shown here is pretty standard, but it also comes in white, peach, orange, and pink.
The next day the vine already attached itself to the trellis and started growing.
Other Vine Ideas for the Trellis
- Morning glories
- Bougainvillea,
- Mandevilla
- Clematis
I'm loving the vibrant color of our entrance this year. I can't wait to see what it will look like when everything grows in.
Update: Here's a pic just a few weeks later
More Outdoor Planter Ideas
Flower Pot Trellis - Easy and Cheap To Make, Looks Expensive
Create elegant looking planters with the use of standard tomato cages. You would never know this is a budget-friendly DIY project.
Materials
- Tomato Cage
- Black Paint
- Baluster Knuckles
- Rubber Band
- Plant Label Stakes
- Plants
Tools
- Garden Tools
Instructions
- Take a standard tomato cage and flip it upside down.
- Paint the cages and the pots black.
- Cap the top of the cage with a baluster knuckle.
- Stake the ring into the pot with plant label stakes.
- Add different types of plants that will grow up the trellis.
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Heather
I ended up finding smaller tomato cages that work great in my pots. Also used a couple of lamp finials for the top. I really like how they turned out. Thanks for the inspiration.
Patti Estep
Heather that sounds great. I'm so glad you like the idea.
CookieGirl
This is lovely! What a great idea.
Here's another: I made one but instead of a finial on the top, I used a solar powered lamp. Now the way between my back door and our camper is lighted. It looks a little bare now, but when the vine I planted fills in, it will be pretty cool.
Patti Estep
What a great idea. Pretty and practical. Thanks for sharing.
Dorth
Love this idea.
Patti Estep
Glad to hear it! 🙂
Carole West, Garden Up Green
This is a neat idea and depending on the material of that pot you could probably drill holes in the rim (Use a glass cutter bit if it's a clay pot) and then thread wire through attach to the T/cage and secure with the wire. String would probably also work but wire wouldn't rot. Like floral wire because it would be almost invisible. Great project and that front porch is is beautiful.
Patti Estep
I love that you can always see new and different ways to tackle a project. Thanks for sharing.