DIY Trellis For Vining Crops
By: Nina Sachs
Growing vegetables vertically has many benefits. It allows you to grow more food in a given area and makes harvesting so simple. Vertical gardening increases the air circulation around your plants, making them less susceptible to fungal diseases. It also keeps the plants off the ground, distancing them from soil-dwelling pests. And in many cases, growing vertically is beautiful.
What is a cattle panel trellis?
If you’re looking for a great way to increase the growing space in your garden, a simple cattle panel trellis is an affordable, extremely effective and relatively easy DIY project.
Simply stated, a cattle panel trellis is a wire arch made from a piece of common farm fencing known as a cattle panel. Typically made from welded, four-gauge, galvanized wire, standard cattle panels are 16 feet long and 50 inches wide. They are straight, not rolled like fencing. Cattle panels can be found at various farm supply stores (Tractor Supply). The panel is bent into an arch and attached to stakes hammered into the ground.
The most difficult part of building a cattle panel garden arch may well be getting the cattle panel to your home. They are deceivingly heavy. You’ll need two people to get the panel into the bed of a pickup truck. Since the panel is way longer than a truck bed, it’s easiest to turn the panel up onto its edge and bend it into an arch that sits between the wheel wells of the truck’s bed.
Materials needed for a cattle panel trellis
To make a single cattle panel trellis you’ll need:
One 16-foot long cattle panel
Four 6-foot studded T-bar post
24 Heavy Duty Zip Ties
Tape measure
Level
Sledge Hammer or Post Pounder
*The approximate cost for cattle panel is $25 and T-bar posts are $5 each.
Where to put your trellis
Once you’ve collected your materials, it’s time to select a site for your cattle panel trellis. Choose a position that passes over a garden walkway or perhaps between two raised beds. For a really cool effect, line several cattle panel arches up next to each other to create a long tunnel like we did at the Rows for the Hungry.
How to install a cattle panel trellis
Once you’ve selected the site, position the four studded T-posts so one will be at each corner of the arch. Use a tape measure to be sure the posts are equidistant on both sides and that the rectangle they form has square corners. Use the sledgehammer to hammer the posts into the ground, ensuring they are perfectly straight by holding the level flush with the stake as your partner carefully hammers them in. If a stake is not straight when you’re done, pull it out and try again. Ensure that each of the four posts is hammered in to the same depth.
After the four posts are installed, bend the cattle panel into an arch. You will need 2 people to bend and position the cattle panel. Then use zip ties to secure the arch to the inside of the T-posts where each horizontal wire of the panel meets the post. You’ll need about 6 zip ties per post, depending on how deeply you hammered in the posts.
What to grow
There are many vining vegetables you can grow on the cattle panel trellis. Try pole beans, squash, cucumbers and gourds. At my home garden and at the Rows for the Hungry I grow lettuce under the arch and tunnel.
The tunnel provides shade to protect the fragile lettuce from the hot summer sun.
How to maintain a cattle panel trellis
To take care of your trellis, there’s really not much to do. I recommend checking and replacing any broken zip ties at the start of every growing season so they don’t fail in the middle of summer when the trellis is heavy with crops. Also, check the posts each spring and re-install any that need replacing during the off season. A cattle panel trellis is quite durable and will last for years.
