This project may be too simple to even blog about, but… you can build a painters’ ladder garden arbour… in minutes!
Yesterday I was continuing my big weed fest in the backyard and had all this apparatus (the usual… sawhorses, pallets.. doesn’t everyone?!) lying all over the place. Including a couple of wooden painters’ ladders.
Desperately needing a break from pulling weeds in the hot sun, my eyes wandered to the gate. It looked lonely. I’ve never loved the look of a chain link fence much, and had some ideas on how I could jazz it up. BUT I really love looking through it. The little park out back offers such a pretty view I didn’t wish to block.
Hmmm… what could I do to just enhance what was already there instead?
So I propped up two painters’ ladders on either side of the gate to think.
I had all these fancy schmancy thoughts of cementing in the posts, cutting some of the ladder to create a square shape, etc etc. But once I just leaned them into each other and backed up…
… well, I had a full-out painters’ ladder garden arbour without doing a thing extra! That was easy.
Here’s a few extra things I did to it:
Tips to make a painters’ ladder garden arbour
1. Ensure the ladders are tall enough to clear walking through it.
The height of the ladders will obviously dictate how tall the opening will be. Just be sure the ladders you use can clear walking through them effortlessly.
2. Attach the ladder to the fence for stability.
I tied the ladders to the fence with twine. You could also use zip strips, however I did find the twine worked just fine.
3. Plaint trailing plants at the base of the ladder.
I planted a new wisteria at the base of the ladder on one side. I’m excited to see what transpires!
Then stand back and appreciate just how easy it was to build a painters’ ladder garden arbour!
And how cute and up-cycled it looks! I like it! I like it a lot.
I’m going to keep my eyes open for perhaps taller ladders as well.
Rustic shed, meet your new friend, painters’ ladder garden arbour.
I think this is going to be the beginning of a wonderful new friendship…
Pretty simple fix, huh?
Do you have a garden arbour in your yard? How did you make yours?
Other gardening posts you may enjoy:
Learn how to edge flowerbeds like a pro – easy! Includes video!
Learn how I built a cool reclaimed wood rustic garden fence.
Visit how I transform my little rustic shed out back every summer!
Find out how I made a charming scrap wood garden-themed walkway
Visit all my outdoor gardening posts HERE
Simply perfect Donna! Love it 🙂 Laurel
I love this. I did my potting bench like this last year – with boards making the shelves. It was fast and easy. Be careful with the wisteria – it gets very large and heavy you might want to have something larger to support it.
I love it! Can’t wait to see what that wisteria looks like all over those ladders! And planting the sweet peas to cover the fence is an awesome idea! I love the way your mind works!
Your backyard is just lovely….what a sight to look at every morning over coffee!
Have a wonderful day!
I love the view and wouldn’t want a privacy fence up, either! Gorgeous with the mountains in the back! Super cute & clever using the ladder like that, Donna. In a year or so, you’re going to need to replace it, though…wisteria gets very large and becomes almost like a tree, the vines are actually trunks and they will devour anything not strong enough to support it. Sorry, but I don’t want to see your ladders get broken!
Debbie 🙂
Never thought of that Debbie, thanks! I’m going to move it somewhere else!
This looks fabulous! I have an old ladder in my backyard as well and I really like the height it adds to my flower bed. There are so many different ways it can be “dressed” as well! Happy landscaping!
How lucky to have such a beautiful park next door. This is going to really be cute when the vines grow up on the ladders…I can tell you are not superstitious!
Isn’t it suppose to be bad luck to walk under a laddder?
To me a ladder is nothing more than a wooden structure that’s prebuilt. Sorry if this post made anyone uncomfortable. Superstition didn’t even enter my radar. 🙂
Great idea….as only you can come up with.I love it…Your yard is so pretty.
That is so cute! But I’m very superstitious so I could not have that in my yard. Too much bad luck from walking under a ladder 🙁
It is bad luck to walk under a ladder. I am not usually superstitious, but that is one that I always abide by! LOL
Sorry, I’ve been laughing at the walking under a ladder thing. My grandma, wiser than I cared to admit way back when, scoffed at this superstition. In her very common sensed manner, she said, “Walk under a ladder and a can of paint is going to fall on your head. That’s not bad luck, it’s stupid luck. We make our own luck.”
Also, consider a Sweet Autumn Clematis. They can have a lovely scent, are very hardy, and cover all kinds of things without the heavy trunks. The were known as “Castle Climbers” in England, because they’d grow to cover the stone walls.
Haha! I like the way your grandma thinks!
How cool is that? What a neato idea!!
Looks awesome. I think I’d put something else besides Wisteria as it does have a large root as does honeysuckle, cat claw and etc. Surely there is something…maybe Armenian cucumbers, sweet peas would work great as well, and what about Jasmine? Can’t wait to see the growth. Thanks for sharing.
Nice idea, a ladder garden! Looks cool too. You really come up with some great ideas! Thanks for the inspiration!
Oh how …… well gorgeous! I can not find words to compliment your beautiful yard. I am ever so jealous too. I wish to someday copy… sigh.
Your flower beds look tilled and weedless. Do you work up the ground everything you weed or is this just for the photos?
Hey Janine! Yes, I always work up the soil each time I weed. That also allows rain to penetrate better too. Just do know… my flowerbeds aren’t always this perfect by a long shot. I have plenty of weeds that grow in between weedfests. LOL
What a fantastic look, instead of putting my ladder out I can make my own arbour in my veggie garden. Thanks Jo.
Nice to see your contraption! 🙂 It’s going to look great.
I have a 12′ step ladder that’s oooollllllddddd. It’s broken on the step side, but can be repaired with mending plates. It’s so wide at the bottom, it almost fills a 4′ space between 2 of the posts at the end of my porch. My plan is to flip it upside down and use the support side as a trellis. It’s like it was made for it! Oh – I found this outside an old bar that was going into new ownership. I think it had probably been there since the 50s when the building was made. They helped me take it away so fast I rode around with it hanging out of my little truck for a week before I could get it unhooked and off in my yard!
If you do go to zip ties, make certain to buy the UV resistant ones. I repaired my chain link fence with zip ties, not knowing regular ties would just become brittle and break.
Love your work!