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.

Plant label stake holding trellis in pot.

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.

Flower pot trellis on right side of porch

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

Flower pot trellis planters flanking front door.

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

Flower pot trellis view after plants have grown for a few weeks.

More Outdoor Planter Ideas