Butternut and buttercup squash crawl right to the top and over
Here is how to build a simple arched trellis that will be very strong as well as beautiful. You will leave this trellis in place all year around.
It holds up to high winds – we know because we have had ~60 mph winds several times during tornado-like storms.
Start with 2 cattle panels. Check the sizes available in your area at the local Tractor Supply, Rural King, or Menard’s. Ours are 36-38″ wide x 16′ long. This gives more than enough room to walk under, yet easy to reach beans, squash, or melons when you are ready to harvest.
Cukes just starting to bear
Here are some photos to give you ideas:
Gurney’s ‘Straight Eight‘ cucumber did very well last year. Stagger your planting of seeds every 2 weeks for a succession of cukes.
Squash, pole bean, and melon plants will flower better and bear more if given room and sunlight. Plant as many as you want, but thin leaving 5-6″ between pole beans, 5-6″ between cucumbers, and 8-9″ between squash or melons.
These panels can be used to grow small melons like cantaloupe or honeydew, but not watermelon.
The plants will naturally develop thicker stems to hold the heavy fruit than if they lay upon the ground. It will support all but the heaviest of the squash varieties like the hubbards. Everything stays cleaner and leaves develop less fungal problems.
Butternut can get 15-18″ if you let them…
Harvesting is usually at eye level or above, except for cucumbers which don’t grow so tall. You can sit in a chair in the shade to pick your green beans! My favorite is disease-resistant ‘Kentucky Wonder‘ pole bean.
2 cattle panels side by side arched over between 2 -4′ x 8′ boxes
Now for installation:
You will need two people to install these safely. They are quite stiff and can poke you if it springs back when you arch it. Wear heavy gloves and thick jeans. One person on either end, walk together folding the panel. Do not push the ends together too hard, or it will bend the metal at the top and crease it. The 4′ x8′ boxes will hold it in place until you can fasten it permanently.
Place the panels all the way down to the ground for stability. Use 3″ galvanized or exterior nails to fasten the panel to the box. Drive the nail in deeply and bend the head over the wire in several places all along the bottom.
Use 3″ galvanized or exterior nails to fasten down
Once there are vines (especially the giant leaves of the heavy varieties of squash) crawling up and over, they can catch wind like a sail. We put ours arched so you can walk from east to west to take the wind well.
These panel arbors should be pretty much carefree, and they will not rust.
Now, the foundation of your garden is in place. Later this summer, take time out for yourself; get a chair and rest in the shade of one of these leafy, cool arbors. Then watch the bees and hear their ‘hum’ as they work the flowers.
Enjoy the fruit of your labor!
Developing buttercup squash
“Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness…” ~ 2 Corinthians 9:10
~ Jacqueline
These look to be a great addition to the garden. Thank you for describing how you put them up and for the tip on how to keep safe doing it!
And like I have said before, I am really enjoying your blog!
I definitely learned about almost all of this, but with that in mind, I still believed it had been valuable. Excellent job!
Perfect write, We are browsing back on a regular basis to look around for refreshes.
It’s really helpful! Thanks. We will be building one soon with this information.
I love the trellis idea. Do you think it would work on a deck? We get
high winds at various times throughout the year. San Francisco
Bay area. What would you recommend planting to grow on it late summer, early fall? Thanks.
Jane,
Tell me more about the site you want to use. The wind won’t probably bother the cattle panels if fastened strongly. As to what to plant on it in fall in your area, I think about the squash family and cucumbers, also Kentucky Wonder, a rust resistant variety of pole bean that’s stringless and prolific. Depends on when it gets too cold ~
I love this idea and want to implement it between our raised beds. How wide was the path you put this over? My path is only 4′ wide and I’m not sure that is wide enough to make this work. Thank you!
Linda, I am sorry I didn’t see your question sooner…the space between the boxes is 4’6″, just wide enough for a big wheel barrow and a bit of squeeze-by space! For us it is good, but you may have different needs. I hope it works out for you
I have been researching the different Trellis ideas for my Butternut Squash – This is The Best idea – I am about to put in four more raised gardens and also try my hand at Acorn Squash ! I am So Excited to get started. Glad I found your site and look forward to reading your updates ! the Gluten Free – I will have to come back and read. I have been making Gluten Free Bread and trying my best at reading labels – wheww what a task ! Also my first season for Milk Goats (LOVE THEM). I will have to come back – I must go outside and see how many panels I have left! Look forward to talking with you!
Jan . . . . .
Oh, you have milk goats! You are blessed
I have always loved goat milk and raw cheese.
Actually, I must get out more gluten-free recipes. I am not able to do all I envision for the blog while our young people are home, but one day I will add more. I am glad, though, for this rich time with family. We have so much to learn.
Growing big squash on the trellis is amazing…watching those stems get thick and strong to support the weight…just another miracle provided by our fascinating Creator!
Have fun getting the trellises up
I have planned to do this this spring in a few spots between my beds. How tall did they end up being? The spacing between the beds I plan to use is 5′, and I worried that would make it too short. Our local metal supply has something similar to cattle panels that are 20 feet, and I had thought about using those instead (though I have no clue how I will get them home…). I thought about putting a bench under one of them. I really want to do this at the entrances to my garden, but those run east to west, and would shade those beds, one of which has asparagus. My garden bed walls are also made of rocks, so I plant to pound in t-posts and anchor to that.
It sounds like a lovely project, April.
We used 16′ panels and the bases are 4′ apart. If you have 5′ wide aisles, the 20′ panels will probably be just right, but you may need wire cutters to shorten them 1-2 feet depending on how high you want them to be above your head. Ours at 16′ are right at 2′ above our heads! I’m sure it won’t be too difficult and a long-lived solution. Have fun!
Your pictures are really attractive, but I won’t be trying anything on that scale this far north. The growing ability of the plants would be the problem, and not the trellis!
I hate to bother you when you are so busy, but i just can’t seem to figure out how to connect various pages of my blog to each other, and you seem to have gotten the knack. What am I doing wrong?
Marilyn,
I wish you well on your blog…I’ll be over and leave a comment if I can.
I use the widget found here: http://www.linkwithin.com/learn?ref=widget
It adds automatically posts that are linked by content and keywords (i think). I hope that helps, dearie
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These looked awesome! But as I was showing my husband he was concerned that I’d have a problem harvesting since the plants would be growing on the “outside” of the arch. Do you not have a problem harvesting? I wouldn’t be able to get to the other side of the arch..