Old-tree trellis

Let container vines twine around an old tree branch. Photo/Illustration: Christine Erikson

Rather than buy another trellis, I cut a dead but shapely branch out of an old apple tree and inserted it into a container to use as a structure on which to grow annual vines. By midsummer, the branch was transformed into a red and green globe covered in cardinal climber vines. It also became a conversation piece among my neighbors. I’ve saved the branch to use next year with a different type of annual vine.