Cheap and easy: Hog panel trellises

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Cutting the 16 foot panels down to size. They were perfect when cut in-half, for our 7 1/2 foot growing beds. 1 Panel = 1 complete trellis.

Zip-ties hold together the top rails, and gravity does the rest.

Check out our post about the trellises here

The finished trellis, working beautifully for some Watermelon and Baby Butternut Squash.

The dimensions of the Hog Panels we used.

We constructed our lower beds with the intention of growing our plants vertically, to make better use of the space and to fit more varieties of plants. After the effort of threading 1/4″ wire for trellis on the upper beds, I decided the lower trellis would need something simple and fool-proof. It would have to be strong to support heavy fruit, but easy to dismantle and remove in order to clean up the bed at the end of the season. After some searching, we decided to use hog panels exactly like the ones here.

You’ll Need:

• 16’x34″ Hog Panels – We cut them in half, and used one panel per trellis. We chose Hog panels over other types of fencing because of their close support spacing.
• A bunch of sturdy plastic zip-ties
• Bolt cutters, or a good saw that cuts metal – We used our Dremel SawMax

Construction:

• Cut your panels to the desired length, and position the tighter spaced rows closest to the ground. By putting the small openings near the ground you assist seedlings and young plants by giving them more support, early on.
• Then lean two panels together, and attaching the tops with zip ties.
• You’re done. Really. Put some plants under it and water them.