Use Decorative Chain to Support Vines and Climbing Roses on a Wall

I get a lot of compliments on this Carolina jasmine planting on the front of a garage. It takes a bit of time to grow the plant and the actual installation may appear to be difficult and expensive—but it’s not. Read on…

Swagged Carolina jasmine frames a garage door. Here's how to do it — Swagged Carolina jasmine frames a garage door. Here’s how to do it

The other day I was planting this year’s mandevilla vine in a pot by a pool for one of my clients. I do this every year and it is amazing to watch how quickly this sweet-smelling vine reaches the top of the pool house. And all it takes is a chain.

Mandevilla in a decorative pot ready to grow up a chain

I have been doing some work for Cathy, who is a true plant freak and she asked me what the best way would be to grow Lady Banks and other climbing roses up the brick columns on the side of her garage. The answer was simple—use a decorative chain. Here’s how you do it:

Just what you need--a roll of decorative chain and a wall anchor kit. — Just what you need–a roll of decorative chain and a wall anchor kit.

The roll of chain and the wall anchor kit came from my friendly Ace Hardware store. I use the wall anchors a lot, both outside and inside. The anchors are most useful for hanging pictures on inside drywall. The kit comes with a masonry bit for drilling holes in brick mortar joints. We start the job by drilling holes for the mounting screws.

Drill a hole just the right size for the wall anchor

The little thingie shown below is a wall anchor which is inserted into the hole in the mortar joint. You must be sure to use the right sized drill bit.

The wall anchor expands to hold the screw firmly in place

In the picture below, the screw comes with the wall anchor kit and I also bought “fender washers” that are made with the right sized hole for the screw. I have no idea why they are called fender washers. I guess it’s just because that’s their name. The other item in the picture is a driver to put on my DeWalt drill in order to make the screwing easier.

Fender washers will hold the chain in place

When we mount the chain, the washer holds things together as in the picture below

To steal a phrase from David Allen Coe--"It goes like this here..." — To steal a phrase from David Allen Coe–“It goes like this here…”

In this installation we will hook the chain to three columns. We leave a small sag in the chain as we hook it to each column. The chain will hang down to the plants on the right and left columns and we will add the center chain last.

The next step is to secure the chain to the wall

I was careful to measure and purchase enough chain so that when I got to the right side there would be enough left over to hang down from the center. You don’t have to cut this type of chain; it comes apart easily with a couple of pairs of pliers.

Opening a chain link with two pairs of pliers.

The final piece of chain is added to trail down the center column.

Add a piece of chain to the center column

For fastening the plants I like to use a Velcro-backed plant tie material. It is easy to use and I can cut it to size with cheap scissors.

I really like using the velcro backed plant tie material

We tie the plant to the chain and everything is set to go. All this project will take now is a bit of tying and pruning.

Some plants will twine up the chain on their own. Others need to be tied.

If you enjoyed this article, you may wish to visit one of my articles on “Garden Accents.” It’s well worth the looking into.

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Published by John P.Schulz

I lost my vocal cords a while back due to throat cancer. The laryngectomy sent me on a quest to find and learn to use my new, altered voice. I am able to talk now with a really small and neat new prosthesis. My writing reflects what I have learned in my search for a voice. My site johnschulzauthor.com publishes a daily motivational quote and a personal comment. I write an article a week for my blog, johntheplantman.com which deals with a lot of the things that I do in the garden. I am also the author of Requiem for a Redneck and the new Redemption for a Redneck--novels portraying the lives and doings of folks around the north Georgia hills. I have an English Education degree from the University of Georgia and very happily married to the lovely Dekie Hicks. You may enjoy my daily Quotes and Notes at http://johnschulzauthor.com/ View more posts

2 thoughts on “Use Decorative Chain to Support Vines and Climbing Roses on a Wall”

Next to our mailbox post is a Carolina jasmine. For cold weather, we cut it to about half a foot above the soil. Tied to the post (in growing seasons) is a trellis, wider at the top. The vine grows very very fast. By the time it is filled out, it looks like a green Afro (hair) with sweet-smelling white blossoms, I use a similar frame (very small) for my micro-poetry. The small frame gives syllabic tendrils places to wrap (that’s with a “W”).