Growing Clematis (or any climbing plant)?

When growing Clematis, is it always necessary to use a trellis? Our front porch has two 6" square beams about 6 inches apart from each other - can the Clematis climb those? What about a privacy fence (not the kind where the boards are flush, but the kind with every board in front and behind)?

Growing Clematis (or any climbing plant)?
Sure - the vines will climb anything. I had one on a downspout and I used sticky velcro on the downspout and then green garden velcro to keep the vine up. I have morning glories on a porch support and they didn't need any help at all.
Reply:Clematis has to have something to climb on. I think there is one or two that will behave as a groundcover but mostly climbing vines. They need something they can wrap their leaf stems around. If you put a pencil near a leaf you can actually see it reach for it. That's if you really like to watch flowers grow. Put up some fishing line and knot it every few inches.



Morning glories dont care much about the size of the structure. They will climb anything. Trumpet vines are crazy. I have one that is layering itself along the ground and creeping up the privacy fence.
Reply:I bought some cheap bird netting like they use to protect fruit trees in orchards and stapled it to my fence. It works very well. I don't know why you couldn't attach some to your posts. It is very thin, it almost invisible.
Reply:I have seen clematis on mailbox posts which are probably similar in size. I would imagine you would need to "coax" the plant, tying it up in places to have it stay in place. The privacy fence would work too.

But check your clematis for future pruning needs. Some are cut back annually, some every 2 or three years, and I believe there is a variety that you never need to cut back. I am thinking if it grows into the lattice, it will be a pain to get out later.
Reply:I have one a my light post outside. Just train them and they will grow on anything.
Reply:it isn't necessary to use a trellis as long as you have something they can climb- but if you don't have a trellis you might have to help the vine climb, by tying it up in a few places.