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                     TRELLISES
 
Global warming is here, and we can expect more in the future.  One thing we can do to protect ourselves from the heat is to give ourselves more shade.  Trellis vines can provide shade, and also food.  Here in Puerto Rico, we can grow such vines as choyote, zocato, passion fruit, and spinach on trellises.   At the bases of trellises, shorter garden plants can be grown. 

Rebar trellises are made by sticking the ends of rebars in the ground, bending them, and tying them where they intersect with wire ties.  It is easy to make dome rooms and tunnel shapes.  When the rebar structure is covered with vines it becomes living architecture. 


Trees should not be planted too close to a house.  Root damage to foundations and safety in high winds are things to consider.  As a result of this distance from trees our roof tops are exposed to the sun.  We bake inside them as if in solar ovens.  If you can find your roof in Google Earth, you live in a solar oven. 

Trellises can be shaped to adapt to just about any design problem.  One can cover a whole house with a domed trellis that doesn't even touch the house.  The house itself serves as the scaffolding for safely making the trellis dome over it.  When there is shade, the house roof can be used as a patio. 

Rebar trellises are identical to the rebar structures used in ferro-cement construction.  If the trellis is shaped like the house one would someday like to have, it could be converted into that house little by little as money allowed the purchase of mesh material, cement and sand. A city could eventually take shape like a termite mound, or a pile of soap suds, a result of trellis conversions to cement over time.  





The following are some photos that demonstrate elements of trellis building.  Click on the thumbnails for expanded images. 


This is my most recent trellis photo.  The rebar trellis is the same structure that is used for making a nylon-cement dome.  Trellises can be converted to cement, and more trellises made over them.  Perhaps a city could grow this way, like a big termite nest.  One can stand on the cement structure to make the trellis, and to harvest the food it produces. 
BARE REBAR
 These are the bare rebars of  a trellis over the back door . 
BARE REBAR
 One can put old bedding or tarps over the rebar to provide immediate shade, until such time as the vines establish themselves. 
COVERED TRELLIS
 Here the vines have covered the back patio.  The trellis that climbs over the house is elevated so that one can walk comfortably under them to tend the vines and harvest fruit.  . 
TRELLIS
 Here, some of the trellis rebar has been covered with windings of rope and grout-saturated polyfil, a light-weight material found in sewing stores. 
WRAPPED REBAR
 This is a close-up of the safety barrier around the roof top balcony. 
BROOM BRUSH
 The yellow tinted cement that serves as a top "paint" coat is applied with a broom head.  Here, I cut up a broom head to make several smaller brushes. 
HOLDING POLES
 These are poles that are used to keep areas of the trellis elevated during construction. 
TIP OF HOLDING POLE
 A rebar "S" hook enters the tip of the pipe.  A piece of wire from the "S" hook to the rebar holds up the rebar. 
PAINTED REBAR
 This trellis utilizes painted rebar.  Painted rebar looks pretty and will probably extend the life of a trellis.  Because of the additional cost and work of painting the rods,  I usually choose to not paint the rods for vine trellises.  If the structure is going to be cemented, then the anti-rust painting is well worth the additional cost and labor.   Rust expands and can eventually destroy cement structures.
CHOYOTE
 This is choyote, one of the things that grows well on a trellis here. 
HANGING GARDEN
 These are hanging flower pots, suspended by wire handles and "S" hooks from the rebar. .