How to Attach a Trellis to a Concrete Wall

In this video, This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook shows how to hide—and beautify—an ugly concrete-block retaining wall.

Steps:

1. Drill three 3/16-inch-diameter pilot holes through each end of every trellis panel.

2. Hold trellis panel against the concrete wall and about 8 inches off the ground. Check it for level with a 4-foot-long level.

3. Use a hammer drill and 3/16-inch-diameter masonry bit to bore holes through the pilot holes in the trellis and into the concrete wall.

4. Fasten the wood trellis to the wall with 2-inch-long masonry screws and steel washers. Drive the screws into the concrete with a cordless drill or impact driver.

5. Repeat to install the remaining trellis panels.

6. Dig holes for the climbing vines along base of the wall. Dig each hole two to three times larger than the pot diameter.

7. Remove the vine from its pot and loosen the roots with a three-tine claw.

8. Set vine in hole, tipping it slightly back toward the trellis.

9. Mix one handful each of super-phosphate and starter fertilizer into the topsoil dug from the hole.

10. Backfill the vine with the amended topsoil.

11. Repeat to plant the remaining vines.

12. Weave the long vine stems between the trellis, then tie them in place with jute string.

13. Water the vines thoroughly and once a week throughout the summer.

14. Spread a 2-inch layer of pine-bark mulch around all the vines.