More Durable Than Wood: The Many Benefits Of Copper Plant Supports

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If you have vines and climbing plants growing in your garden, you need to provide them with supports that they can happily climb up and over. Traditionally, gardeners have used wooden or even bamboo stakes and trellises, including inexpensive DIY garden trellises made from branches. However, more recently, copper plant supports have seen favor among many. They're more durable than wood, which can deteriorate over time, and also aesthetically pleasing.

Copper looks fantastic when it's new, but as it ages outdoors, it develops this lovely patina that just glows in the garden. This also allows the material to blend in beautifully with everything else in the yard to give that gorgeous rustic appeal. Its warmth adds a certain charm to the landscape, so it's no wonder that gardeners everywhere are building lovely, functional trellises made from copper. On top of that, copper is corrosion-resistant, which means copper trellises will remain intact for years to come without succumbing to the elements or even being blown over in regions with strong winds. It's also the perfect choice for environmentally conscious gardeners because it's fully recyclable,so it never goes to waste. In addition, copper has natural antifungal properties, making it beneficial for controlling disease.

While you can purchase copper rods, like these by Acellegic, as part of the electroculture gardening practice, there are many examples on social media with gardeners using copper pipes to make amazing trellises. The range of shapes and sizes is incredible. In fact, one of the most beautiful ways to use copper in the garden is to follow a few of these DIYs and make your own bespoke trellis.

And it's not that difficult. All you really need is some copper pipes from a hardware or plumbing supplies store, a pipe cutter, and perhaps a copper pipe bender, if you want to create curved pieces. You'll find that getting your copper pipe from a plumbing supply also makes it super easy because you can get elbows and tee pieces to join the different pieces of pipe together instead of having to solder the pipe. This means that all you have to do is create your trellis design and work out how you're going to cut the pipe pieces and join them together to make a garden structure to be proud of. You can either use solder wire to join the pieces or just a strong glue, like E6000, to secure the fittings to the pipes. Finally, if you're loving how gorgeous copper plant supports look in your garden, you might want to boost your home's curb appeal with a whimsical copper find from Amazon: a beautiful rain chain.