There are a lot of vegetable plants that benefit from being supported. For our tomatoes, we generally use tomato cages* that are strengthened with t-posts*. For other vining vegetables and berries, we use cattle panel trellises. To make the trellis, we pound in* four t-posts. Then we get a bunch of people to grab the cattle panel and bend it so that it wants to “spring” open against the t-posts*.
When we first started making these kinds of trellises, we attached* the cattle panel to the t-post (because I was afraid of them hurting somebody if they came loose and sprang back into an unbent shape). But they’ve never gone anwhere, so we’ve gotten a bit lazy and don’t even bother to attach them anymore.
The vegetables that we have grown on these trellises include: pole beans, peas, cucumbers, watermelons (sugar-baby*), and cantaloupe. We do support the watermelons and canteloupe as they grow, but the other plants take care of themselves.
We also grow berries such as blackberries* and raspberries on these trellises (in the below photo the red raspberry plants are in front and swiss chard* is behind).
Last year, we tried something new – kiwi*. The kiwi plants survived the winter, so we’ll see if they actually produce any kiwi for us.
I love having the trellises spanning the beds during the summer. It’s always fun to walk under them (or lean on them like Hewitt is doing). Depending on what you grow on them, they can create a good amount of shade for your other plants.
Overall, I love not only the way the trellises help my garden produce better, but I love the way they make the garden look as well!
*Affiliate link
I passed this idea onto my husband because I really want to try it! The other trellis ideas I’ve seen using this fencing were more complex. This one is so easy! Granted, it wouldn’t work for tomatoes, but for other vining crops it’s a great use of vertical space. Thanks!
Actually Monica – we have used it for tomatoes – I just get zip ties and tie the tomato plant to the trellis. Works really well if you keep zip ties close and are willing to prune back some suckers. 🙂 PJ
I had a friend tell me that her uncle used pig panel for a trellis – so my husband and I were going to use a cattle panel and were wondering how to do it – THANK YOU for taking all the thinking process out of it!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
I’m so glad to help!! 🙂 PJ
Quick question: I have been looking at using the same trellis design technique in my first (real) garden this spring and am excited about the prospects of growing peas/beans/tomatoes/peppers on it. I noticed that you also grew raspberries and blackberries on an arched trellis and I was curious how this went. I know cane fruits are often supported using a slightly different trellis design (t-shape), but I thought the arch might be a nice touch if it worked well to accommodate the berries. Would you mind weighing in on how the berry plants have adapted to growing on your arched trellis? Is it a lot of “coaching” to get the canes to grow in the right direction? Welcome your thoughts…
We find it very easy to grow blackberries on them . We just weave them in about once a week. If you miss a week, you can still do it, they just get woven in higher up. PJ