Climbing wire

scarepanda

I need to install a climbing wire for some roses and honey suckle. Where's the best place to get the stuff needed? I've seen some kits on Amazon, has anyone used these? Is the quality any good? Or would I be better off getting what I want in a hardware store? Is there any particular type of wire if need to get?

looksee

I pondered long and hard on this and eventually did the wall wires with solid fencing wire. It was a beggar to manage. I drilled the wall and put in anchors with loops, that was fine. I bought a load of those tighteners etc and little yokes for holding the wire together (a kind of screw together bridge). Most of these were no use to me as you need a tensioner to pull the wire and I simply could not haul on the wire sufficiently to get it tight, then faff around with screws and spanners to put on the bits. I used them at the start of a length after threading the wire through the loops, which is a nightmare if you are on your own and do not have really strong hands. I ended up winding it round itself to hold it. It was a reasonable-ish job but would not be approved by fencing experts. Not even close.

The other job was putting wires inside the top of a pergola to carry plants. This time I used woven/stranded wire which was much easier to handle, but again assembling the bits while standing at the top of a ladder was beyond me, so I fixed it with fencing staples (hammer it over the wire, bend wire back and hammer in another one). Made a tidy job that's not going anywhere, but it would not suit a perfectionist! 😀

Essentially it comes down to how strong you are and whether you can fight with a roll of galvanised wire that will fight back and tangle itself in all surrounding plants.

I did get all the supplies locally as the 'kits' had too much or not enough of various things.

scarepanda

Thank you!

I have some sheepwire here that I was going to use, but I'm not sure we'd be able to get it tight enough to look half decent. The area is right beside the BBQ and main outdoor table, so it's used quite a bit during the year and I want it to eventually look good.

I was the same with the kits last summer, too expensive, or not enough bits in them. But I've seen a kit now that should be enough for what I want. I'm more undecided whether to get one would the wire included or not. I know you can get wire in a hardware/co-op store for fairly cheap.

The other option I've been thinking about is to get a sheet of solid mesh. I've seen something in the local hardware store that's steel/aluminium (silver in colour) similar to rebar mesh but smaller holes and cleaner looking. I saw it in passing and have no idea whats it's call but it looked like it might work. I don't have a lot to spend on this job at the moment, but it's something that needs to get done sooner rather than later.

quinner23

Hi

I used this kit from Amazon to support some climbing roses and found it was simple to assemble and good quality.

Discodog

You can get galvanized wire in a farm shop that's thin enough to easily stretch, bend etc. It comes on a roll & I assume is tying wire for fencing. You don't need tensioners etc.

It is called tying wire & it's between 1 & 1.6 mm

scarepanda

Thanks guys for the advice.

I was looking at something very similar to what quinner23 posted. I bought a kit yesterday so we'll see how it goes.