Introduction If you think of a garden simply as a flat surface out of which plants grow, you are missing the point! A garden should be a three-dimensional space, filled with color, texture, and dynamic form, which you can walk through, look at, and feel. It is the vertical dimension that transforms it from a flat palette into a theatrical experience that gives you new vistas and views at every turn. For your garden to be a living, year-round production that will reward you with changing scenes throughout the cycle of seasons, the vertical elements are as essential as the backdrop, scenery. and props of any stage. It is, of course, perfectly possible to create an interesting three-dimensional space with planting alone -- by selecting trees and shrubs of differing shapes, heights, growth rates, and seasonal qualities. However, the addition of man-made vertical features allows a more flexible holistic approach to garden design. Such features create an instant sense of scale and provide permanent, all-seasons structure and pleasing contrasts of texture. They are particularly valuable when creating a new garden, providing decorative height and structure even before they are clothed with plants.

Large expanses can be pulled into focus and articulated by tall trees and hedges, but these take a considerable time to establish themselves and, by nature, offer limited design options. On the other hand, a pergola, for example, can define spatial division either lightly, through delicate architectural metalwork, or more robustly with sturdy wood beams draped with sumptuous displays of flowering plants. Clever use of structures like trompe l''oeil latticework can make small gardens appear larger, and decorative screens can disguise ugly walls or fences or bring shelter and privacy, as well as interest, to crowded urban spaces and roof terraces. Vertical structures make some of the most valuable eye-catching focal points, especially when balanced by sympathetic and appropriate planting. Imagine a secluded seating arbor veiled by clouds of scented jasmine, or a pair of neatly trimmed ivy-covered obelisks framing and emphasizing the formality of an entrance. Vertical features can also bring a sense of order to an otherwise haphazard planting scheme: think of a row of rose-wreathed pillars rising from an unruly perennial border. Plants can themselves make living vertical statements. However, it is only those that depend upon an underlying permanent structure and the hand of man in pruning and training that are candidates for this book.

Think of willow woven into fences and arbors; yew, hornbeam, and beech clipped into aerial screens; or plants trained to fill out wirework frames that range from geometric cones to fanciful armchairs. Vertical features have played a key decorative role in gardens since the classical era. We know, from excavated mosaics and wall paintings, that the Romans dined beneath pergolas and enclosed their gardens with latticework fences. In the fifteenth century, surviving visual evidence shows that tunnel arbors -- or pergolas -- abounded, elaborate latticework was used to make enclosures and screens of all kinds, and trees and shrubs were trained into elaborate shapes. By the seventeenth century, books were being published with designs for carpentry-work obelisks and gazebos. Today, the constraints of twenty-first-century living are resulting in smaller gardens, leaving many of us with diminutive and preciously guarded outdoor spaces. This means that the potential of the vertical dimension is more important than ever. Gardeners need to make the most of that dimension in order to use every iota of valuable space.

The choice of structures and materials has never been wider than it is today. Besides being available in conventional forms made of traditional materials, such as wrought iron and wood, structures are being made in new designs fashioned in materials such as steel and nylon that were formerly associated with industry. These structures are delicate in appearance and yet have the strength to support exuberant growth. Whether you make use of readily available, off-the-shelf structures, opt for specially commissioned designs, or invent them yourself, there is a range of possibilities to suit every requirement and taste, from serenely formal to overtly romantic to minimally urban. For the gardener who is as interested in plants as in spatial design, these structures provide perfect excuses to grow more and more climbers. When choosing plants for vertical features, it is important to understand each plant''s method of attachment before selecting it for a specific purpose. For example, the vigorous Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is self-clinging, attaching itself by suckers, so it requires a solid and expansive surface like a wall upon which to hoist itself, and will not thank you for giving it a fine wirework obelisk for support. On the other hand, an obelisk is ideal for summer-flowering clematis, which attaches itself to a support with curling tendrils and is happy wrapping these tightly around the wire frame.

The directory of plants on pages 114-141 explains the different ways in which plants clamber upward and suggests the most suitable types of support within each main entry. (The directory also specifies the zones in which the various plants are hardy.) Walls can make wonderful backdrops for almost any plants, but three-dimensional, open-framework constructions like pergolas and obelisks allow the astonishing qualities of stems and foliage to be seen better and the full beauty and grace of flowers to be shown off to their full advantage. The chapters that follow have been divided to explore the possibilities of vertical structures and climbing plants according to the way that most people see their gardens -- either as a vehicle for their chosen style, as an outdoor extension of their living space, or as a place to grow produce for the kitchen. But of course a single volume cannot hope to provide all the answers; rather, it should be treated as a starter pack. use it to point you in a direction that appeals to you, and then let your imagination take off. If there is a message in this book, it is to let the freedom of outdoor space encourage you to take creative risks that would be unthinkable indoors.