Building New Trellises for the Garden

I've given up on trying to predict the weather this year. It rained all weekend and temperatures barely got into the 60's. The rest of the week isn't looking much better. Plant growth seems to shut down during these cool and cloudy periods. Hopefully this will change as we approach July.

Anyway, I found myself working in the rain on Saturday and Sunday. I had to build and erect my two new vegetable trellises as a few of my indeterminate tomato plants were beginning to keel over. Sometimes certain gardening chores/projects cannot wait any longer (I'm sure most you will agree with me on this) so you put your boots and rain jacket like a good little gardener and just suck it up.


I wanted to build trellises that were fairly light weight and moveable and opened up like a tent. This way, I could adjust the angle of the vertical beams to suit the gardening space. Simple hinges were just to connect the vertical beams together.


It didn't take me too long to put my two trellises together. Here is what they looked like fully installed. The cucumber trellis (right) is about 8 ft tall and 8 feet wide. I used 2 x 2's for the vertical beams and 1 x 3's for the horizontal ones. The pieces were all connected together using 2 inch screws. The tomato trellis on the other hand is 7 ft tall and 10 ft wide. I used 2 x 3's for the vertical beams and 1 x 3's for the horizontal ones. If I had to do it over again, I would have used 2 x 3's for the cucumber trellis as well.

Once erected, the trellises felt surprisingly sturdy. For added stability, I tied each vertical beam to wooden stakes that where driven a foot and half into the ground. I'm hopeful that the trellises will be able to withstand a mighty wind storm anchored in this way. I used rope instead of screws as it will be easier to remove. However, I'll replace them with screws at the first sign of trouble.

Once up, I began to train my cucumbers to climb up the strings. You can't tell from this picture but I used two strings for each plant. This will allow me to weave the vines through them if I have to do so. On a side note, I planted some beans next to the cukes. I been planting them in as many places as I can fit them as I'm determined to get a good bean crop this year!


Whenever you're constructing something for the garden, there's always a degree of uncertainty as to how it will turn out. In this case, I'm pretty satisfied with the end result. Then again, only time will tell. Tomorrow, I'll talk more about my three tomato trellises.