Not much activity for me because my garden is covered in snow again. In the summer I suspect this place will be busy.

What do you mean by rebar trellis? You're going to make one or you have one you want to put in? Cheap and easy would be bamboo, much less cost than rebar. I've posted this trellis on other forums, so some people are sick of it, but it's not as cheap or easy as bamboo.

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I have made several rebar trellis. For the easiest of the two take two sticks of rebar about 20' long one end in the ground and slowly and carefully bend it so the opposite end can be stuck in the ground at whatever width you choose mine are about 30" wide do the same with the second only this time you want to have the rebar cross in the middle top of the first piece of rebar, wire them together and its done. The second trellis is alittle more complicated and involves welding and a chopp saw both are inexpensive no maintenance, looks good and last forever!

Gottagarden, I can't imagine anyone getting sick of looking at your pictures! Thanks, I wish I could do something like that. Unfortuneately, my dh is not a garden guy, so I'm on my own out there.

Prairie, that is exactly what I was thinking. My question is, how does the single stick stay upright? If I bury each side deep enough does that do the trick? It seems like the weight of the plants would pull it over?

Thanks for the responses!

Janna

Gottagarden, do you have photos of your arch bare? I LOVE this and want to see how you made it.

Here are my arches. The first was $30 and the local 'burgalar bar' man made two for me.

The 2nd here I did with the bent 20" poles, and then I scavanged the cattle fencing which I cut and placed between two of the bent re-bar pieces. I think they cost me about $12 a piece.

For my veggie garden I just purchased an el-cheapo Big Lots arch and used small pipe bracket attachments to attach it to the sides of the raised bed. I'm going to put purple pod yard long beans one one side and malabar spinach on the other. PRetty and tasty, YUM!!

GGG

I had my son push the rebar into the ground until it would go no more. The arch looked similar to ggg's first picture with the exception of there were no cross bars and the two pieces of rebar were only four inches apart at the ground on each side. I never any problems. The second arch was 2 pieces of rebar with cross bars about every 12" starting at one side up and over the arch and down the side then I took chicken wire and attached it with wire ties. I've had both about 4 yrs. I just recently took the first one down only because I am downsizing my garden.

Gottagarden: How many morning glory seedlings did it take to cover that arch? What an impressive show!

Tracy

I'll try to get outside today to take a picture of it bare.

Probably 6 mg seeds on each side. I only use Heavenly Blue now, most of the other MG set so much seed that they take over. HB is not like that.

Those MGs are stunning! Thanks for the color pick-me-up. I agree, HB is the least troublesome when it comes to seed spreading. But someone on another garden site I frequent has a yellow variety I'm thinking of trying. I may be sorry, but then again I may not. ; )

I can't help with the rebar, but I'll be looking forward to pics. My potager has some new snow cover, as well. It's melting quick and we'll be into the 70s again by Thurs. Gotta love CA. : )

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Diana

gottagarden, I love your photo, thanks! How did you make that trellis? Is it cattle fencing?

It has been really cold and I've been staying inside. Today was nice and warm so here are some photos. Yes, it's made from cattle fencing, sometimes called pig fencing.

Kind of embarassing to take all these pictures with all the junk in my backyard, haven't cleaned it up yet.

Here's the arch without vines. Just bend it as wide or narrow as you want.

Here's what it looks like when it's not poked in the ground, it just opens up almost flat. It's not heavy, but very bulky and is easier to put in the ground with someone else holding the other side.

Here is a closeup of the bottom, the legs are 12 inches. Next time I will have even longer legs to anchor it even more. I have never had it blow over. It works fine unless you are putting it in on sloped ground. (All my property now is on a slope.)

Here is another closeup of pig fencing meets rebar. The rebar is round and 3/8 inch.

One other thing - old vines stay on this forever, unless you pick them all off. Since it's just rusty iron anyway, I cheat and use a propane torch to just burn it all off on a wet spring day. Sure is a lot faster than handpicking (I've got 8 of these arbors.) It probably decreases the life span of these, but oh well. They are already 7 years old.

Sorry Janna, didn't mean to hijack your thread.

No apologies necessary, I'm learning tons!

Janna

Not embarrassing at all. Those are great visuals. And I LOVE your purple chair. : )

Janna, you could use one of those trellises as an entry way into your potager. And there are loads of flowering vines for your zone if you don't want to use MGs. Many of them stay evergreen for most of the year. I can't wait to see what you do.

Diana

Beautiful!
I've lurked on gardenweb for two years and the picture of your trellis covered in morning glories finally inspired me to post! Did you have to attach the pig fencing to the rebar yourself (and does that involve a blow torch?), or does the pig fencing come in lengths with the ends that are perfect for sticking into the ground?

Yes, the rebar needs to be attached to the pig fencing with a welder (blow torch thingy). Wish it were easier. I shouldn't complain, it's DH who gets assigned all the hard projects;-) (anything involving power tools or smelly liquids)

Thanks for the information, gottagarden. Hmmmm...I've used power tools, but nothing involving a flame... and I can't imagine what would happen if my DH got involved with a flaming tool... :-) I may have to just give it a try myself! Maybe I'll start with the torch you use for cooking and work my way up...I sure do love your trellis!

DH took a beginning welding class at the local community college for $50 and that included supplies. Now he knows enough to do it on his own. Check your local community colleges for classes.

Those are all so beautiful and I love the garden pictures, too. I love looking at pictures. They are so inspiring!

kristinlokin - No need for welding. Just get some copper wire from a a hardware store and tie them together with it and a pair of pliers or whatever. they won't rust away and will harden with time making them stronger.

That's a great idea - I should be able to handle that! Thanks!

This is an end-view of bean tunnels, Five Cattle panels sitting on end; 7 ft high, 25’ long, Using “Selma Zesta” pole beans. Pick in the shade!

Tractor Supply sells cattle panels -approximately 4 feet high by 16 feet long , four gauge wire. - Tunnel segments stand on end. ~$19 each; bend carefully & transport in pickup truck.

I saw this structure in a kitchen garden in upstate NY

NICE!!!