Inexpensive Vegetable Trellis Grows Vegetables In Small Spaces

Rust in the garden isn't actually that bad a thing - especially those who live in areas with iron-poor soils. You actually want some iron oxide in the soil.

dragynphyre

I like the idea, but as far as I know, reinforcing material is not usually rust protected. You might want to put a coat of rustoleum or something on it to protect it.

I love this idea but areas where the fence would get sunlight are areas that a garden shouldn't be. Does remind me of a trellis we had growing up with morning glories on it... was always fun to see an opossum hanging from it. ;)

This is arguably better, overall, for small spaces: [www.squarefootgardening.com]

aj_robins

My tomatoes love the sun, and we have a 3-foot front-to-back plot of good soil on the south side between the house and the neighbours' driveway (good neighbours--we can plant there without disturbance). This type of trellis may do the trick.

Cornflower

Never pay for mesh from Home Depot or Lowes type stores. That stuff is marked up 500%. At the worst find a local concrete accessory supplier or find a concrete producer in your area and they may have scraps you can have or buy for scrap pricing.

Josh Temple

i'm thinking of hanging a trellis from the crown moulding in my little space i've set aside for growing in my apartment, the two windows will be open all season and it gets southern light for the latter half of the day, probably not the best but better than nothing. i figure that growing up will increase my available space by about 30%

i really just want herbs and chives and tomatoes and green beans i think. maybe a few trellis' perpendicular to the windows...hmmm time to hack my space

mfusion

@mfusion: Just thinking out loud... couldn't you, rather than hang it, get one of those long window box type planters and have the trellis in that and lean it against the wall (angled) rather than putting holes or whatever to hang it?

I have a clematis that has a small trellis in the pot itself. I'm assuming you could do similar for larger growing needs.

Hmmm--my tiny back porch faces east, with a small hill and row of tall trees blocking the early morning light. There's a wall and a fence on either side, both running east-west. We've grown herbs in pots out front. Anyone have recommendations for what will grow out back? (We live in NE Georgia.)

mkny

The problem we have is that our only good gardening space is shaded by a tall fence. I'd love to figure out how to reflect sunlight down onto the plants so I could grow something there.

Scott Messinger

@Josh Temple: Yeah, but I KNOW where Home Depot and Lowes are. They are right down the street. I don't know where there are any concrete accessory suppliers or concrete producers near me, and I doubt they exist on every corner like Home Depot seems to. On top of that I don't feel like haggling for scraps of wire mesh with a concrete contractor who probably has better things to do.

Sometimes paying for convenience is worth it.

Scott Messinger

In a really small space, sometimes twine is a better option. Cucumbers and beans (not the bush varieties) want to climb, you just need to give them something to wrap their little tendrils around - it happens fast and is very cool to see a bean that was waving free an hour ago now clinging to whatever was close enough to grab. I have twine trellises running up and down my shed wall for peas right now; long screws sticking out at intervals top and bottom let me wrap several loops of twine around each one.

Vertical gardening is the term for growing up instead of out, and you'll find a number of garden forums with dedicated areas for vertical gardeners.

anyone have suggestions for how to best grow things in MA?

i've got a backyard and a long fence, but I also have a few trees

@mfusion:

Herbs and chives would probably work, but there's just no way you'd get enough light indoors from a window, even with southern exposure, to grow tomatoes or green beans. Indoor areas near windows typically have about 1/10 the light level of outdoors on a sunny day. Although the spot may look bright to your eyes, don't forget that your eyes have this nifty way of compensating for fluctuating light levels!

drlith

@wickedcupofjoe: thanks for the hints guys!

as far as hanging the trellis, crown moulding is designed to handle hooks if installed preperly, it's actually how i have my curtains hung cause i don't want to leave the rod here when i move.

and i'm going to adjunct to the light with natural emission bulbs on a timer. i only wish they came in CFLs, but i don't pay electricity or heat so i may not care.

(that's not true i turn everything off that i can)

mfusion

Is it me, or my childhood of growing up with Italians, but does that fence look like the material they use as a reinforcer for cement??

Shezbo

@Cornflower:

Vertical trellises are highly recommended for all tomatoes, not just "yours". The key here is the placement of the trellis.

Deprong Mori

@jrghoull:

As mentioned so many times before, your local nurseries will understand your microclimate much better than any national website or anonymous bboard commenter.

Go to a local nursery and ask them. I live in the SF Bay Area and there are vast climate differences, even within 50-100 miles.

Deprong Mori

@mkny:

As mentioned so many times before, your local nurseries will understand your microclimate much better than any national website or anonymous bboard commenter.

Go to a local nursery and ask them. I live in the SF Bay Area and there are vast climate differences, even within 50-100 miles.

Deprong Mori

@jrghoull: Remember, pot grows pretty much anywhere.

I grew tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, green peppers, parsley, and green onions in 5-gallon buckets last summer. The buckets hung off the railing of my deck. Very easy, and surprisingly effective. I had cherry tomatoes pretty much "on demand" in August, and more parsley than I could keep up with.

Speaking of concrete supplies and vertical gardening, I like reinforcing bars (a.k.a. rebar) stuck in the ground for beans and other climbers. Works great with the twists in the rods for vines to grab. Can be inserted into pretty much any sunny spot in the garden-even with low shrubbery but make sure you don't puncture a gas line or whatnot under there when driving it.

HosannaOogle

@Shezbo: ... "The mesh is sold at hardware stores for concrete reinforcing. " ...

dcelzinga

@aj_robins: Better for small spaces, perhaps, but not by price. The idea here, I believe, was an INexpensive alternative. The wire is cheaper than the wood, and takes much more effort. You need a saw, you need this you need that. The other is just wire and a staple gun. Done!

Don't get me wrong, I'm a serious fan of square foot gardening, but it's not cheap in the short term. Long term however, once you spend the money it is reusable, which is an additional plus.

magnoliasouth

@mkny: Forget the nursery. Go to Gardenweb and ask in their forum. You can save your gas money and get a really good answer, and sometimes a better one. Remember that the nursery is in the sales business and isn't always going to give you a non-biased opinion.

I used to live in Atlanta, by the way. Born and raised there!

Gardenweb rocks and has very active users from professionals on down to newbs like me. You'll likely have to register first, but it's SO worth it.

[forums.gardenweb.com]
It has an exhaustive list of forums, but you'll get any answer you need there just about.!

magnoliasouth

We've started a modified square foot garden this year, we got the redwood on clearance for 75% off so it's been very economical to start. We used pvc and bird netting to create an in box trellis for our green beans that just started to sprout this week. One box not including the soil mix cost roughly $10. Here's my blog with pics of the setup our garden

AddisonRabbit

In this hard economic times, we all need to grow our own "Victory" gardens.

resilient