How to Make a Trellis for a Square Foot Garden
Everyday objects such as old or inexpensive sawhorses and ladders can be easily converted into trellises for square foot gardens -- small, raised beds in which vegetables and flowers are grown. The A-frame structure of these tools gives them stability, whereas their hinges make it easy to pack them up for winter storage. Trellises increase the surface area of a garden bed that can be used for planting by encouraging vining vegetables to grow vertically instead of sprawling. Efficient use of space is the central idea of square foot gardening, which was invented in the 1970s by engineer Mel Bartholomew. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Ladder, 6 feet or taller, wood or aluminum
- Quart of oil-base paint for wood ladder
- Saw horse, about 3 feet tall and wide, wood or aluminum
- Nylon or biodegradable jute garden netting to attach to sawhorse
- Scissors
- Package of 8-inch plastic zip ties
Instructions
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Prepare a ladder for one raised garden bed and a saw horse for another. Refinish an old wood step ladder or saw horse with colorful oil paint. Or select an inexpensive aluminum ladder and sawhorse for the project. Check with family, friends and at yard sales to find a ladder and work horse for little or no cost.
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Select a 5-foot-long raised bed for the ladder to accommodate its base when fully extended. Dig a 6-inch trench at either end of the ladder's base in which to plant its feet. Cover the feet with soil and tamp it down to increase the ladder's stability in the bed.
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Plant pole bean seed or hillocks of small squash at the base of each leg. Gently train up the vines onto the ladder's legs. Grow lettuce seed or other greens under the ladder where they will mature before the vines shade them too much. Plant carrots, peppers and marigolds around the perimeter of the bed.
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Choose a garden bed that is at least 3 feet wide and long that will fit the saw horse when fully extended. Dig 6-inch-deep trenches in which to sink the feet, then cover them with soil and pack it down. Drape garden netting over the saw horse and attach it to the legs with several plastic zip ties.
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Plant vegetables such as tomatoes, edible pea pods, beans or cucumbers along the base of the work horse's netting on both sides. Plant fast-growing salad greens, garlic and chives inside the netting for an early crop until the vining plants take over.
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Tips & Warnings
With a little bit of imagination and support, many cast-off objects can find new life as garden trellises. Old bedframes, innersprings and window frames are examples.
References
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
