Dress Up With a Trellis

Southern Living, Apr 2004 by Dinella, Glenn R

The new arched trellis and a variety of evergreens complement this courtyard.

As the construction dust settled around their new Greenville, South Carolina, home, Fletcher and Becky Kirkland realized that their courtyard needed a little more work to make it feel like the sanctuary they wanted. So they called in landscape architect Tom Keith of Arbor Engineering to help them bring personality to the space and fill in the empty spot between the two French doors on the back of the garage. "Those doors were so symmetrical, but there was a gap in the middle," Tom says. "It was like two eyes with no nose."

Adding Interest

Tom used the 9- × 28-foot planting bed between the house and the bluestone-paved courtyard to soften the area, but he was careful not to overdo it. "The planter is narrow, so I didn't really want to use any big plants," he says. "We needed to get some height in there without using a tree that would outgrow the space, so we thought of a trellis."

Working together, Tom, Fletcher, and Becky sketched a design for a trellis that would mirror the French doors and their overhead decorative fans, which measure 9 ½ feet high and 4 feet wide. With the basic shape in mind, Fletcher and Becky paid a visit to Wickliffe Ornamental Iron in Greenville. "The emblem in the center was similar to the design they did for a gate at our previous house," Fletcher says.

The trellis does more than provide height to the space. The top of the structure has a third iron bar to give it depth. "The entire trellis is bolted on, but we kept it about 5 inches off the wall," Tom says. "It gives you a little three-dimensional relief." Keeping it slightly separated from the house also prevents moisture buildup and allows access for trimming the vine or maintaining the stucco wall.

Plants for Personality

To visually anchor the trellis and provide interest for the courtyard, Tom relied on classic, slow-growing evergreens, which are easy to maintain in limited space and perfume the courtyard during the summer when it is used most. Confederate jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) twines its way up the trellis, while a gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides) is centered under the structure. Becky included heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens), which has deep blue blooms with a wonderful fragrance that lingers into the evening.

For a splash of lime green, Becky planted 'Marguerite' sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas 'Marguerite'), which tumbles over the 'Gumpo White' azaleas in front of the trellis. Several common camellias and a large sweep of 'Compactus' dwarf mondo grass (Ophiopogon japonicus 'Compactus') round out the plantings.

The easy-care choices allow Becky and Fletcher to spend more of their time soaking up the sights and smells of their courtyard and less time doing maintenance. GLENN R. DINELLA