This project was simple and easy to do. It took me about 1 hour to assemble. I wanted to add a vertical trellis to the last raised bed for growing cucumbers, snap peas and beans. The reason I selected the last bed was because it was the furthest from the south side. In the winter, the sun will travel across the southern sky and by building this trellis at the northern most side of the all three beds, there is nothing behind it, so I do not have to worry about the shade behind the trellis. It also adds a little more privacy to my outdoor living room (seating area I created at the corner of the space).
Another really nice feature about this vertical trellis, is I can relocate it so easily. Just 9 screws need to be undone to remove it. The trellis size is 8 long and 5 foot tall (from the top of the raised bed). Given that the beds are about 17 inches tall, the actual size of the posts need to be 77 inches tall.
I choose to use the nylon trellis that I found at Home Depot. It was under $4. It is the perfect size measuring 5 x 8. That is why I made the trellis 5 feet tall from the top of the raised bed. Using the metal galvanized wire would have costs over $50 since you have to buy it in a roll of 50 feet. I only needed 8 feet in length. The nylon trellis is strong and does not get hot and burn those tender plants in this Texas sun. I picked up two while I was at it, in case I want to add another trellis later.
I purchased four 2 x 3 x 8 untreated lumber from Lowes. One for each end and one in the middle for additional support. The fourth board will be installed at the top to connect them and support the structure. I purchased a few inner brackets to make it easy to attached it.
I cut the three vertical boards with my hand saw to measure 77 inches long.
I predrilled my holes in the three vertical posts and then screwed them into the side of the raised bed using the same 2 1/2 inch galvanized deck screws I used to assemble the beds.
I bought 1/8 x 1 Zinc washers and some #8 x 1 1/4″ screws to make it easy to attach the nylon mesh to the frame.
I attached the four metal L shaped brackets to the three vertical posts and screwed them into the horizontal top of the frame.
The washers made it easy to attach the nylon trellis. I added them on the top, sides and in the center.
TIP: I attached the three vertical boards to the raised bed first before installing the horizontal board on top. In hindsight, it would have been easier to assemble the entire trellis first and then attach it to the raised bed. It was difficult trying to hold the top board in place while attaching the brackets and screwing it in.
Thanks to Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl for this tip on building a trellis and attaching it to the raised bed. You can watch her video on this here.
Grats! It looks great, Jacqueline! A sturdy trellis makes for happy veggies and easy gardening. Well, relatively easy, that is… 🙂
What a great idea to to use those washers!! I never would have thought to do so. I’ll definitely have to store your post for future reference.
Also, is that pressure treated wood that you’re using? I was considering using treated wood in my vegetable garden but was afraid that the chemicals that they use to treat the wood would leach into the soil. I thought a few years ago, they started requiring treat would to be made differently. Do you know if it’s now safe to use?
Thank you. I did not use any pressure treated wood in this garden. I think it is safer to avoid it. I am still researching whether it is okay to use Thompson’s Water Seal on the exterior of the raised beds.
Very nice i really like it awesome
What did you find out about Thompson’s Water Seal? Ive been researching linseed, etc and it is all so confusing!Im looking to do something similar. Thanks for posting!
Very nice project. I enjoyed all the photos and the progression. I think decomposed granite is a super groundcover and very low maintenance. It looks great-all of it. The idea of using the washers and screws to hold the trellises is a very good one!
I live in the Spring area and am thinking about building my own raised beds for a veggie garden. Where do you typically purchase your seeds for your veggie garden?
Happy New Year!
Megan
Very nice work! I love all the components: DG, raised beds, and the vertical trellis. It is all very neat and orderly–a soothing space. Can’t wait to see it as the garden grows.
Thank you so much for sharing this, I enjoyed the process. I love Patti Moreno’s tips and videos too. We are inserting some Square Foot Gardening techniques this year, well I am, while my husband sticks with his rows-and I will let him, he can have them. I will be building up to raised beds as we go, any purchases other than seeds right now are out. My husband is in construction so scrap lumber should not be too much of a problem, however he is sold on treated lumber so for now I will start with the few landscape timbers we have and move on as I go. At least he is open to the idea, which is far from his opinion a few years ago, maybe it has to do with my bad back, and how much pain I am in from March thru October and any “quality” time is just not possible.
We are in NE Texas and our issue with precipitation is too much. We lost many, many seedlings last year due to planting inside according to the last frost date but not checking the Farmer’s Almanac for rain predictions, we just could not set them out as we had a pond instead of a garden. This year we checked both and are just now starting seeds, as we are still expecting rain through the end of March, and temps in the 40’s until April.
Thanks again for sharing your journey, I’ll be back again to “visit”!!!
Very nice! I came across your site while searching for an easy cucumber trellis to build for my raised beds. Can’t wait to follow your instructions and build one myself!
Hi Mary,
Thank you. The trellis was very easy to build and what I like best is it is portable. Good luck with your project.
Jackie
I just can’t tell you how much I enjoyed reading your blog. I searched a lot earlier this year about trellis and didn’t come across this blog. The best I liked is my back yard is pretty much the same size as yours. I have a long strip of raised bed across the fence, other than that its St. Augustine as you mentioned, just couldn’t help smiling when I read that 🙂 My vegetables did great this year, added manure. I hope to do a raised bed like yours next year and I will sure be visiting your blog more often and if possible try and meet with you ( I live in Pearland). I am truly inspired. Thank you.
Thank you for the kind words. I am so glad you found my blog helpful. My raised beds were the single best addition to my garden. I’ve got one bed now devoted to lettuce and have already started harvesting some of it. Feel free to forward any comments or questions you may have.
This is a great article. I’ve recently built my beds and am going to follow your example for the trellis. I was wondering if you ever came up with an answer on the Thompson’s water seal. I’m adding a liner inside the boxes but I don’t know if that will offer the proper amount of protection from any possible chemical contamination. Any thoughts?
Thank you for putting in the time to put this article together. Well done.
Jonah
Hi Jonah. This article has some useful info. I have heard mixed opinions on Thompson’s Water Seal. Perhaps it would be okay for the exterior sides, but I would not use it on the interior. Another idea is to line the beds with cedar fence boards to keep the soil from coming into direct contact with the treated pine. This way they could be replaced when they wear out while still leaving the bed structure intact. Give that scenario, it would appear to be safe to paint the untreated structure with an ECO safe paint to extend it’s life too.
Hi Jacqueline,
Thank you for sharing your wonderful vertical gardening idea in your blog. I’m from sunny Singapore and chanced upon your blog while searching for vertical trellises. I’d loved to see how the vegetable beds look now. I intend to build a vertical trellis and grow vegetables in my apartment.
Regards,
John
Hi John,
Thank you for visiting. New pictures will be posted next week. The trellis has worked very well for my beans, cucumbers and peas. – Jackie
I am in the process of making a trellis design like yours. I wanted to know the size of the raised bed that has the netting trellis. Looking at the pictures it seems like its about 1/4 size on the side of the 8 foot bed. Am I guessing right? thanks.
Hi Leanora – My beds are 4 ft wide x 8 ft long.
I am a first-time raised bed gardener . I love your idea for a trelllis as I have planted cucumbers and will need one. My question is this though: how can I protect my garden from rabbits and still have a trellis? I’ve read articles and books and it seems as if you can have one or the other but not both. A chicken wire fence along the sides (4 x4) will make it hard to garden, defeating the purpose of a raised bed and is ugly. I would prefer a barrier I could lift off but worry that it will interfere with the trellis. Any ideas?
Hi Jan, I don’t have a rabbit problem in my garden because it has a 6′ wooden fence around the perimeter. Have you heard about Liquid Fence? Sounds like a good option.
I hope you see this comment since it has been so long since you posted this. We started our cucumbers in mounds in our raised bed, not realizing how they will grow very large. They are already producing cucumbers and are doing well, but we are worried about how much space they have. Is it possible to get them to start climbing now or should we just wait until next season?