Obelisks & Columns

Obelisks lend themselves to a huge range of plants. Popular climbers such as clematis, roses and honeysuckle immediately spring to mind, of course, but imagine passionflower and jasmine, annuals such as sweet peas and morning glory (Ipomoea), or (if your climate allows) a colourful riot of bougainvillea or campsis. No need to limit yourself to flowers, either; obelisks are excellent supports for climbing beans and tomatoes that you might usually tie into canes, and they make a striking way of displaying gourds or squashes.

Either, or both. If your obelisk is to support a single plant, such as a rose, plant it inside so that it can develop evenly and you can train it to spiral round the horizontal bars (see my blog for more on this). Annuals and skinnier climbers will have more impact if you plant several on an obelisk, one or more at the base of each leg. These could be either inside or outside, but if your obelisk is close to the edge of a lawn, positioning them inside will protect them from lawnmower or strimmer blades.

The short answer is yes, but…. It is all a matter of proportion and balance. At 2.5m (8ft), our tallest obelisks would need an extremely large, robust container, and even then I might worry about it becoming top heavy once the plants it is supporting have grown up – think of a ship in full sail! On the other hand, a shorter obelisk, such as our 1.5m (5ft) Abinger, can look splendid in a large terracotta pot and swathed in a short-growing clematis such as ‘Arabella’ or ‘Alionushka’.

Our obelisks’ legs do all the work. Just push them about 20cm (8in) into the ground and they will be perfectly secure in most soils. If you have very loose soil or a very windy position you can push them in right up to the lowest ring. In addition, the plants themselves help as anchors.

Obelisks have been popular in gardens for hundreds of years. You see them depicted in paintings from the 16th or 17th centuries, for example, used as supports for climbers, as punctuation marks in flower beds or providing the focal point of a vista – and their roles are just the same in our gardens today. They provide an attractive practical support for all sorts of climbers but also look good ‘unclothed’ so their architectural lines can flank a doorway, line a path or frame a view. A row of them is a lovely addition to a vegetable garden (runner beans will race up them) and will continue to provide structural interest even in the depths of winter.