Using a Trellis to Maximize Vertical Growing Space in Your Urban Garden
By Reggie Solomon
Trellising is an ideal way to utilize the often overlooked vertical space in your urban garden.
You can find pre-made trellis systems from gardening supply stores or you can build your own.
I’m building using Mel Bartholomew’s square-foot gardening trellising system that is constructed from half-inch steel electrical tubing. In addition to providing more vertical growing space than off-the-shelf trellis systems, this system is also more inexpensive.
A trip to Lowe’s Home Improvement Store to figure out how much a basic trellis will cost to construct, made me very happy. A 10-foot piece of steel tubing only costs $1.34 which means I can construct an entire trellis for under around $10 (not including the one-time cost of buying a hacksaw to cut the tubing).
The only part of Mel’s trellising system that could be improved is the curved elbow joint that connects pieces. It looks a bit sloppy, and something with a cleaner angle, and more defined lines might be more preferable to some gardeners.
A Lowe’s salesperson helped me locate a 90-degree joint that will give Mel’s base design a cleaner and more modern look. If you have trouble locating this modern fix, just ask someone at your local hardware store for help.
May 16th, 2011 at 11:46 pm
I built a 60 foot trellis in my back yard of a different design because of possible hurricanes in South Florida. I designed the trellis myself after extensive research for under 150.00 dollars total for 60 feet at 8 foot height. I am doing a small trellis on my side yard now estimates coast is 50.00. This will be a more traditional design with a twist. I used 1/2 piping to keep the cost down and have a sturdy trellis result. Found the pipe to be a great way to do this. When you paint it helps transform the look.