Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Creating a Trellis for Raised Bed

Skip Jute. Choose Mason's Twine.

Your trellis will only be as good as the string that holds it together. Skip twine, jute, or anything made of natural fibers. They'll quickly rot and will have to be replaced quickly. Mason's twine, 50-lbs test, and made of some sort of polypropylene works very well. The same twine strung last year and subjected to the heat of summer and the cold of winter has shown few signs of deterioration.

Place Eye Hooks at 6 to 9 Inch Intervals Across Top, Bottom, and Sides
This allows all sorts of flexibility when it comes to creating designs, be it diagonal, vertical, horizontal, or perhaps a trendy European basketweave or houndstooth. My first go 'round was at 12 inch intervals. This was a bit too far for the peas for their liking as it took some coaxing to get them to grab hold of the string.

Anchor Your Line with Two Half-Hitches

Say what? This should help. See picture.

String Your Line Through the Eye Hooks
Working side to side and then top to bottom, string the line through the hooks. Double up the line and make an extra pass on the lower levels. They'll be the first levels of support, so give yourself a bit of insurance. Line is cheap. Your time isn't.

Create a Cleat to Tie Off Your Line & Adjust Tension
Anyone who's spent time around a boat knows how to tie a cleat knot. (Video and instructions here.) This allows you to place tension on the lines as needed and quickly and securely tie off your line. To create the cleat, drive two nails about an inch apart into the wood -- one at an angle down and the other at an angle up. See the picture for details. Alternatively, they sell cleats in hardware stores that are meant to be used with blinds.

Tip: Peas Cling Most to Horizontal Supports, Pole Beans Cling to Vertical Supports
Consequently, provide more vertical support for beans and closer horizontal supports for peas.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Timely article. I used plastic coated twine the last two years which worked okay (but not great) but I don't it will make it through another year.

The tip on the peas only clinging to horizontal support make sense to me now (I have been trying to get them to cling to vertical and wondering why they weren't. I thought it was the plastic twine). Thanks.

Victoria Williams said...

Nice looking trellis. Good tips. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

This is great information. Thanks! I'm really REALLY new to growing veggies, and live in the high desert mountains of New Mexico. I really appreciate this trellis info, as our new raised garden bed will host beans next!