Turn An Old Bed Frame Into A Gorgeous Garden Feature

There are many unique ways to display your plants, but what if you need something bigger? An old bed frame that's taking up space in your garage may not seem like the perfect addition to your garden, but there's actually a clever way to reuse it. Your bed frame or headboard will make an excellent trellis for your plants. If you have vining vegetables to grow on a trellis but nothing to grow them on, or gorgeous flowering vines that need support, then this is the DIY project you've been looking for.

A trellis is a structure that supports climbing vines, and it can be as simple as a pair of sticks and some twine, or as intricate as custom wrought iron lattices. Your bed frame or headboard may be the perfect fit if it has slats or gaps that vines can grow through without damaging themselves or your makeshift trellis. You can set it up in your garden and let your vining plants climb over it for a unique and gorgeous garden display. If your bed frame or headboard isn't quite right, don't panic. There are some ways you can modify it to make it work.

If you don't have a bed frame or headboard in storage, or if you have one but don't feel like altering it, you might want to consider looking at secondhand sellers like thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets. You may be able to find some gorgeous vintage bed frames that would look incredible covered in vines and surrounded by flowers. Just remember that this will be out in your garden, so you may not want to pick something expensive or valuable, or anything that you would be upset to see damaged by the elements.

Start by deciding where your bed frame or headboard will sit. This can make a difference in what alterations need to be done to get your bed frame. For example, if you plan on hanging it on the side of your house, you may need to add a mounting bracket or some way to tie it in place, as well as potentially removing aspects that stop it from hanging flat against the wall. Consider the size of the plants you want to grow on it, as well. Thinner vines, such as the hummingbird-attracting trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), won't need as wide of a gap to grow through as thicker vines, such as wisteria (Wisteria spp).

If the gaps in your bed frame are too small for vines to fit through, you may be able to widen them with a saw appropriate to the material of your frame. On the other hand, if you only have the outside frame with no slats at all, you can create a support for plants by running pieces of wood, wire, or twine from one side to the other. Now is a good time to add any paint, sealant, or other form of weather protection. Even if you aren't emotionally attached to your new trellis, you don't want it to fall apart in the first summer storm!

If you've turned your bed frame into a trellis before deciding what plants you want to grow, there are easy ways you can match the plants to the bed frame's aesthetic. If your bed frame is rustic or simplistic, it would look charming with peas (Pisum sativum) or grapes (Vitis vinifera). For a more ornate look, opt for some climbing roses (Rosa spp) or clematis flowers (Clematis spp).