Make a Grape Vine Tree
This is a fun, all-season project. Your finished product can be used for many purposes.
Steps
- Turn the tomato cage upside-down. (The 3 or 4 staking spines of the cage will be at the top.)
- Cut a length of wire about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} long.
- By looping and twisting the wire, bind the staking spikes together. (See "warnings".) Use the needle-nosed pliers to tug the wire tightly as you go. When this step is completed, your tomato cage will look like a skeleton frame of a tepee made of wire.
- Begin attaching the vine at the bottom (round opening) of the tomato cage and with the cut/loose end of the vine. (If you are using vine that came from a disassembled wreath form, remove the tied vines that hold the wreath together and drop the whole "wreath" over the cage.) Support the vine out of your way by attaching clothes pins or spring-loaded clamps or open-ended "S" hooks to the upper cage wires.
- Using a length of wire about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} long, fasten the end of the vine to the bottom of the cage, starting at a position where a frame wire of the cage meets the rounded base. Loop your length of wire to connect the vine, the base, and the frame wire together. Pull your cut length of wire tightly with the needle nosed pliers, and snip off any excess wire.
- Repeat this step until you have gone completely around the base.
- Move on to the next "row" by bringing the vine up a few inches and anchoring it firmly to a frame wire. (How "open" you want your finished tree to be will depend upon how closely you space each row.)
- Continue around the circumference of the tomato cage, raising the the vine a few inches with each round; you are creating a spiral effect with each row. Whenever you meet a crosswire of the frame, take advantage of the extra support you will achieve by anchoring there.
- When you reach the top peak, sever the vine with a pruning shears, leaving a few extra inches to extend above the area where you bound the staking spines together. This helps to camouflage the top-notch.
- Examine your finished project. Using the pruning shears, trim off any unwanted vine tendrils. Look for wires that require snipping, tucking, or tightening.
