Durable Method for Hanging Aristolochia macrophylla (pipevine)

Dutchman’s pipe, or pipevine, is a great ornamental vine with really cool little flowers.  Hanging them safely, though, is no easy feat.  These vines can become extremely heavy over time so wooden supports are generally not preferred because even though strong when new, wood will deteriorate before these vines reach the end of their lives. Metal seems the only option, but it has to be rust-free metal that anyone can assemble on a Saturday afternoon.  A trip to Lowe’s failed to reveal any cheap stainless steel.

So a sit-down design session with Chrissy Zataveski, one of our designers at the time, yielded the following system.  Plastic-coated, galvanized chains hung using eye-bolts and a carabiner.  The pictures are fairly self-explanatory.  Works really well and should last 50 years or more.  Try it!