Modern Sculptures for the Garden: Terra Trellis

There’s no question: Every garden is a work of art. But when you add a sophisticated structure with a bolt of color, it has the potential to go from a simple sketch to a modern watercolor.

This runs true regarding the work of landscape designer and artist Jennifer Gilbert Asher. Together with Karen Neill, Asher co-founded Terra Trellis, a sculpture company that creates bold contemporary metal and stainless steel trellises, arbors, and tuteurs for the garden. Being “fascinated by the contrast when bold, clean forms are set in unrestrained beauty of nature,” Asher’s designs are made of hand-welded 15-gauge steel with a sculpted rebar and steel cable; each of the company’s nine designs are meant for both small and large gardens. They offer a platform for vines, climbers, perennials, and edibles to grow inside, behind and around–something Asher describes as “a living vertical tapestry.”

We’ve taken note of Asher’s work before (see Outdoors: Ina Wall Trellis by Terra Trellis), but after TerraTrellis garnered accolades at this year’s Dwell on Design, we took a closer look at the inspirations and reasoning behind each architectural piece. For more information, go to Terra Trellis.

Above: The Gracie Modern Arbor in Aubergine. Each sculpture is painted in a custom, low-VOC Pantone powder coat; a special technique oxidizes the metal to create a weathered finish. Asher describes her coloring process as being “as important to me as the forms. I’m interested in colors that are naturally occurring in the landscape.”

Above: The Gracie Arbor in Kumquat. Each design is meant to support a plant, and also to integrate with it, allowing it to grow and expand to greater lengths.

Above: Pinot Noir Grapevines weave around the Toki Bubble Trellis in Berry. Asher says the trellises can be placed in a garden or patio with plants either rooted in the earth or in a container.

Above: Black Satin Blackberries grow up the Mira Garden Trellis Sr. in Aubergine. Asher notes that when the weather turns cold, the sculptures provide lasting color and context in a setting where the other plants are dormant.

Above: A curious spectator at Dwell on Design walks through the Gracie Arbors in Cloud.

For more garden inspirations, visit our Room Gallery of more than 400 images of Outdoor Spaces.