S3i Blog June - 2016

Summer Garden Inspiration

Summer has arrived, making now the perfect time to rejuvenate your garden.

Adding plants to your environment can have many benefits, not just creating a desirable view. Greenery has been proven to improve mental health, encourage wildlife and even provide energy conservation.

S3i has designed and manufactured a range of stainless steel wire rope trellis systems to help create a perfect addition to your garden. Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or an expert, all trellis kits come with everything you need and are easy to install. Our kits have proven popular with award winning landscape designers including Adam Frost, Sharon Hockenhull, Jill Foxley, Claire Whitehouse and Bunny Guinness.

Each system is designed to incorporate a variety of plants depending on their climbing mechanisms. By providing the plants with the correct conditions, ensuring they have the right kind of support, the correct amount of light, nutrients and water, optimum growth will occur.

Popular plant choices include Ivy, Wisteria, and Roses. For shaded walls ivy and climbing hydrangea are the perfect choice as these plants can still thrive without direct sun exposure. In comparison the likes of Bourbon Rose and the Passion Flower require to be in a sunny position to achieve their full potential. Edible plants, such as tomatoes, runner beans, cucumbers and peas can also be supported, providing you with a yearlong interest and the potential of a tasty harvest! Growing vegetables vertically allows better air circulation, reduces disease problems and keeps the food off the ground, lowering the chance of being eaten by pests or getting sunburnt.

At S3i we know the aesthetics of the trellis system must also be considered. This is why our green façade systems come in a variety of options enabling most designs to be accommodated. We can a design a façade to fit almost any space giving the option of both horizontal and vertical elements, just vertical supports and just horizontal supports.

All our trellis fittings are engineered and manufactured in the UK to the highest specifications from marine grade stainless steel, making them ideal for exterior applications. Wire rope is supplied clean and dry, with good surface finish to ensure trouble free maintenance for many years.

Step by step installation guides can be found on our website including PDF downloads, to help you create the perfect trellis with ease.

S3i trellis kits are suitable for a host of installations, whether it be for private or commercial use. If you have any enquires, our team can offer help with the design of the trellis, technical considerations and with the installation itself.

Alternately if you're looking for inspiration and ideas why not visit our Wire Trellis Examples section.

Green Wall

The ideal solution for gardens with limited space or for reinventing old, tired building walls, our Green Wall Trellis System is perhaps our most popular choice.

The addition of a green wall to a building can also be very effective at absorbing noise from the surrounding area, contributing towards a more pleasant environment. Evergreen species in particular can also trap a layer of air against the façade reducing convectional heat loss offering a degree of insulation during winter.

The kit is engineered to create a perfect trellis, longer lasting and less intrusive than wooden designs, allowing more focus on the plants. The system works using 'hubs' to cross and tension the cables creating trellis sections. The hubs allow you to create your own design variations from a traditional square to more complex patterns. Our ready sized kits come with all the components pieces required to install a beautiful system, wire, 'posts' and/or 'hubs' (mini bolts) produced from high quality marine grade stainless steel for maximum corrosion resistance.

The green wall can be screwed directly into timber or into masonry with appropriate plastic screw plugs.

We offer the kits with the option of either 33cm or 50cm so as to offer the correct support for your desired climbing plant. The speed with which a plant grows dictates the spacing between the supports and the distance it needs to be from the wall.

Vigorous climbing plants such as Vitis and Wisteria will cover an area nicely with the lattice squares spaced at 50cm squares, however if you are planting less vigorous climbers like Lonicera or Clematis it may be an idea to specify the smaller lattice squares of 33cm.

"Perhaps the ultimate system, Green Wall Trellis, is made by S3i Stainless Steel Solutions. This consists of wire, 'posts' and/or 'hubs' (mini bolts) of marine grade stainless steel. They hold and tension the wire so you get it taut. The system is a neat design that is unobtrusive and highly practical. The wires can go at any centres you like, vertical or horizontally or a combination. You can create any shape you like - a fan of wires for instance and you can extend it if needed. They are available in packs, or you can buy the components. To fix them, as with most systems, you drill the wall (usually into the brick/stone or mortar joint), pop in a rawl plug and then screw in the hub or post, before attaching the wire. They will last your plant's life time."

For more information visit our Green Wall Trellis System page.

Plant Training Wire Kits

S3i supplied this product to the family featured in the BBC One series 'DIY SOS: The Big Build' and was used as part of a life changing transformation to the home of a family in Rednal, Birmingham.

Our basic Plant Training Kit allows you to easily form a wide range of ambitious plant training layouts to your own design. Great for DIY enthusiasts the kits are designed for quick and easy use within the garden. The versatile system can be used to form a variety of plant support from decorative façades, pergolas, vine supports and as part of a trellis system. The wood thread eye bolts or vine eyes - which act as the main wall fixings in this system, are designed to easily screw into any timber surface, although they will also fix perfectly into masonry with the addition of a plastic plug.

We provide a wide range of sizes, from 2.5 metre to 20 metre kits available.

All fittings supplied are designed to work together and are manufactured from high quality, long lasting 316 marine grade stainless steel making it perfect for your garden or any outdoor application.

For more information on this product visit our Plant Training page here.

Tensioned Wire Trellis Kits

Our unique and versatile Tensioned Wire Trellis Kits are ideal for creating tensioned stand-off systems to your own specifications and are great for large scale installations. The system can be mounted either vertically or horizontally with each cable spanning up to 20 meters and still achieve good tension. Our kits can be installed onto both masonry and hardwood timber with the use of a few simple tools.

The system is manufactured in the UK with all components produced from 316 marine grade stainless steel, ensuring the product will stand the test of time and will allow for high strength, high load applications. Each kit comes complete with a stainless steel stud already fixed at one end of the wire rope, with our innovative compression fitting supplied to attach at the length you require.

Additional Stand-Off Wire Trellis Hubs are also available to purchase separately giving you complete control to create ambitious and stunning wire trellis installations.

To learn more about our tensioned wire trellis options visit our Tensioned Wire Trellis Kits section.

Tag: S3i Group, Garden Inspiration, Green Wall, Trellis System