How to Build a Trellis for Cucumbers Out of Chicken Wire
Free up room in your garden beds by growing cucumbers on trellises. Trellises elevate the cucumber vines, preventing the sprawl that commonly takes over the bed. It also gets the fruit off the ground and away from many insects and disease-causing organisms, effectively improving your yield. A trellis doesn't need to be complicated to work well. A simple and inexpensive trellis for cucumbers can be made from readily available chicken wire. This trellis is simple enough that you don't need to be particularly handy to make it. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Post-hole digger
- Wooden posts
- Chicken wire
- Wire snips
- Gloves
- Staple gun
- Wire
Instructions
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1
Purchase sturdy 6-foot wooden stakes or fence posts. If you use wooden boards, choose 2-by-4s so they are strong enough to support the weight of the plants.
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2
Dig a foot-deep hole every 3 feet along the row using a post-hole digger. Dig the hole 6 inches deeper if high winds are an issue in your area.
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3
Set a post in each hole and refill the hole with dirt. Tamp it down with your feet, adding more dirt as necessary, until the post is well-secured.
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4
Cut a length of chicken wire as long as your row. Use wire snips and wear gloves to avoid cuts from the wire.
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5
Stretch the chicken wire taut between the posts. Staple the wire to each post with a staple gun. Alternately, secure the chicken wire to the posts by wrapping lengths of wire through the mesh and around the post, then twisting securely.
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6
Plant your cucumber seedlings at the base of the trellis, following the spacing requirements on the seed envelope or plant stake. Guide the tendrils onto the wire until they begin climbing on their own.
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Tips & Warnings
Use the same trellis to support early season peas to get double use out of it in the gardening year.
You can rent post hole diggers from many home improvement stores.
Wrap electrical tape around the cut ends of the wire if clothing snags or scratches are a concern when working in the garden.
