As I write my list of hits and misses for Mel’s Green Garden 2009, one big hit was using clear fishing line for an invisible trellis.
I used this all over my garden this past summer for my Grandpa Ott’s Morning Glory to climb. My daughter had an idea two summers ago that she wanted to wake up and look out the window and be able to see the Morning Glory we all love. It was August, so I tried staking it and growing it and it did well, but did not go all the way up the family room window.
So, this past summer with some help from my dear old dad, we installed little screws at the top and bottom of my family room windows and tied the strongest clear fishing line from my dad’s and brother’s tackle boxes, and the Morning Glory LOVED it and expressed this by climbing all the way up and across, covering the windows. It was such a sight to see each morning!
It also helped, as these windows are so sunny and can be so hot in the afternoon, by giving us a little shade and a lot of privacy. This was such a huge success, I added these invisible trellises to my dining room windows and the entire height of the side of my garage, and I did use it for clematis for one of my clients.
This idea is something I look forward to repeating in Mel’s Green Garden 2010!
Mel's Green Garden 
Hey Mel,
Does the fishing line hold up for many years? I live in San Francisco where vines can grow through all four seasons and therefore am trying to determine if a heavy gauge galvanized wire will last longer or not. I’d rather use the fish line as wire is more money and harder to work with.
Thanks, Sarah
What are you growing? One of my fishing lines did snap this past summer, I was growing lots of out of control morning glory. I would think if you were growing Clematis you should be okay. What are you going to grow? I do re-place most of this invisible fishing lines for a number of reasons.
Hope this helps!
sorry for being dense; but did you run the fishing line vertically? horizontally? both directions? the photo of your window appears to show a line running horizontally.
Both, I ran it vertically and horizontally. It ran vertically across the windows and horizontally all the way to the 3rd floor attic. It was amazing! Good Luck!!!