I want to use stiff steel wire rope or similar with turnbuckles or similar to keep tension on my colourbond fence. Any suggestions on what items I need from you guys and will this work ok? Thanks in advance
Hi @AJD1,
For a wire trellis on a Colorbond fence, I’d avoid putting too much tension directly through the fence sheets. A safer approach is to fix into the fence posts or rails where possible, then keep the wire and plants light so the fence isn’t carrying more load than it should.
If you’re creating a crossed wire pattern for climbers, you could use a lightweight galvanised wire or mesh such as Saxon 0.5 x 2.5m 25 x 25mm Wire Mesh, fixed with suitable self-drilling screws into the posts or with a separate timber or metal frame in front of the fence. Leaving a gap between the fence and the trellis is a good idea, as Colorbond can get hot and close contact can damage plants.
You might find this similar discussion useful: How to attach wire trellis onto a Colorbond fence and shed?. There’s also a helpful example in Training climbers to screen a fence by @royq , which shows the sort of wire-guide idea that can work well for climbing plants.
If you can share a photo of the fence and the type of cross design you’re aiming for, we can suggest the best fixing points and whether a freestanding frame would be better than attaching directly to the fence.
Please let me know if you have further questions.
Mitchell
