I’ve been trying for several weeks now to get my garden trellises built for the vegetable garden. This weekend I finally managed to put two together, one for my cucumbers and one for my ‘Tigger’ melons. Building these two trellises can easily be done in just a few hours. I had to decide how high I wanted them to be and what kind of configuration I wanted. I was considering a simple ‘A’ frame design but instead went with this modified structure here:
The legs of the trellis are 5 feet long and the top horizontal bar is 24 inches. The base of the trellis stands at 45 inches and is 33 inches wide. The dimensions are designed to fit inside two 4’x3′ raised beds. Making the first side was a little tricky but once I had spaced it out and screwed it together I used it as a template for the other three trellis sides I needed to make.
I opted to go with a homemade mesh made from garden twine or jute. Mostly because the price for simple garden twine is less than three dollars per roll and can be tossed into the compost bin at the end of the growing season. My first attempt (below) at weaving the mesh didn’t look so hot but the second one turned out much better (above). I tied the vertical strings first then weaved the horizontal strings through so that each horizontal string wrapped tightly around each vertical string.
We had some extremely high winds this weekend after I built the trellises and they held up fine. These structures should last several seasons and can be covered with plastic in the winter time to extend the growing season as if they were small greenhouses. The total cost for both trellises was less than $35. Most of the wood was purchased for this project but a few pieces came from leftover scrap lumber used on previous projects.
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Looks good. I am working on trellises for my greenhouse. I'm trying to recycle wire paneling used to hole rocks on a pallet. It has been an interesting endeavor. Maybe I should just show my husband your idea.
Those are nice trellis! I'll have to show hubby them! I let my cucs grow up the chicken wire fence the surrounds the garden.
Our beans are growing on this one that hubby put together with wood from around our property http://novicelife.blogspot.com/2011/06/farm-friday-in-garden.html
The trellises look great Dave. The farm plot I volunteer has homeade trellises very similar to your and they work just great. I ordered a small metal one from Gardener's Supply and for my small veggie garden it works just great.
Eileen
Great design Dave! Perfect for extending the season too for sure.
Really nice trellises. I have planted some cukes in grow bags (an experiment) and know that I will need some trellises. I'm looking at all kinds of ideas.
I really live the idea that you cover these and use them as season extenders. Something fairly necessary in the Pacific Northwest, with its long cool summers, where things don't always ripen.
Yael
Great idea Dave. Good that you an use them for a mini-greenhouse.
I used combo fence for my cukes or any running vine. It is reusable for yrs. It will store easy also.
And when the veggies are done you can put a baby swing in there!
I was just given a bunch of bamboo with which I'm making teepees all over- for tomatoes, cukes, sunflowers too tall to stand…
Hi there! I came across your blog the other day when I googled propogating some plant or another and I've been hooked ever since. You have terrific advice and I love seeing what you're up to!
My cucumbers are growing like mad on my son's old street hockey nets. I just knew I'd hung onto them for some reason, lol!