HelpfulGardener.com

I just purchased a taller trellis for my front yard. It's bear wood. Does anyone have any suggestions on protecting it from the elements?

Choices for protecting bare wood are all a trade off between how natural you want it to look vs. how much protection. Choices are basically:

oil it - products like tung oil. Least protection, but most natural

stains and seals - products like Thompsons waterproof seal or various stains. There are degrees of transparency vs opaque. Again the transparent let the wood grain show through more and keep it more natural, but are less protection than more opaque ones

paint - no longer have any natural wood/ wood grain, but the paint will last for several years, longer if it is in a somewhat protected location like under an eave.

Thanks for the input. I guess I will spray it with a sealer and then paint it white.

Do you know what kind of wood the trellis is made of? If ordinary pine, it will definitely need some type coating or it will rot in short order, especially where it touches the ground.

If it is made of Redwood, Cypress, Teak(probably not), or treated wood, it will age nicely without any finish if good connectors like galvanized, plated or stainless steel screws/nails were used to construct it.


I've built a several trellises over the years and only use connectors rated for all-weather use such as galvanized or stainless steel so they last a long time.

Like mentioned, they now have some good water based sealers that are excellent products for this application and clean-up of brushes is a snap with just soap and water. Honestly, I'd just get a cheap throw away brush--what we call "Chip brushes" for this if it were me. Put a couple coats on the trellis and toss the cheap brush.