A lattice wall can provide additional privacy in your yard as well as create an attractive feature for you to grow flowering vines on. For under $250 (plus some manpower) we built these two 6 foot tall by 8 foot wide lattice wall on the back side of the raised herb garden.
I really like the look of square lattice panels, which are hard to find pre-made. Most lattice you find in hardware stores is diagonal. So we set to work making some measurements and creating our own hand-made lattice wall. It took less than 2 days to complete the project (even with several runs to the hardware store for those items we forgot!)
Materials List
Lumber
- thirty-six treated 1x2x8’s
- six treated 2x2x8’s
- four treated 2x4x8’s
- four 1×2’s
- six 4×4 posts
Hardware
- 7 1/2×3” bolts
- outdoor decking screws
- nails for lattice panels
Installing the posts
The first step in the project was to install the 4×4 posts into the ground to provide support for the trellis wall and the raised planter. The holes were dug with a post-hole digger to about a foot deep, and the posts were cut off to the appropriate height. No concrete was used to anchor the posts because the stability would come from the existing raised herb bed wall. The posts were then secured with connectors to the original frame
Frame for the trellis
The frame for the trellis was created from 2x4x8’s (for the uprights) and 1×6 (for the top) which were attached to the posts using lag bolts. This provides a little more stability.
Then 2×2’s were attached to the inside of this frame so that we could attach the trellis pieces to this. Since the trellis pieces will be stapled with one layer on top of the other, the top 2×2 was inset enough to accommodate for the top layer.
Eighteen (36 total) 1×2’s were stapled in to each frame, spaced about 6 inches apart. We recommend using a nail gun if possible to speed the process up.
Planter box
The walls of the planter box were made using 1×5’s. We had to adjust ours for the change in height (the box goes up a hill). You will need to determine the height and length of your planter box to determine how many boards you will need. Use outdoor decking screws to attach the planter box boards to the posts.
Planting the box and trellis wall
As soon as the trellis wall was finished, we planted yellow jasmine, cypress vine, hardy kiwi, native honeysuckle, and mandevilla. The vines are just now starting to grow. Next year we hope to see lots of blooms. I also put lots of gladiolus bulbs in the planter box. Since they are so close to a trellis wall, I can tie them up when they start to lean.
