One way to increase yields is to grow upwards. The newest buzzword for this is vertical gardening. We used to trellis things.

Over the past few years I have been trying some new trellising ideas. This year I am into it even more since it really packs stuff into smaller spaces (that darn drought again)

Here are some of my experiments this year:

Cool Red Poles

I absolutely could not resist. I bought 5 of these 6 foot poles.  I have planted cucumbers at the base of each. These don’t seem to need any staking…they are sturdy and I pushed them about a foot into the soil.

Bamboo Trellis

Pea Seedlings

I could not resist buying two of these, primarily because they fold up (collapse) compactly. They are around 4 feet high. I have peas coming up below them. These bamboo trellis’ are all one piece, and I anchored them against the wind with tent stakes.

Sturdy Wooden Tripods

Winter Squash and Peas

Watermelon Transplant

A friend built these last year from scrap wood. I traded for gourds. They are very sturdy due to the cross bars. They are nearly 6 feet tall, and you can see these from a distance in the first photo, above. I love these. Last year they supported winter squash and gourds. I use bungee cords to attached these to the chain link fence.

Lath Trellis

These are not as sturdy as the previous. They are a lighter wood and don’t have cross braces. However, they fold up nicely.  To keep them from blowing over I anchored them with tent stakes First, I inserted the front two legs into cinder block holes.

An important note: these tripods are on the far eastern perimeter of the garden. When they are covered with vines, I don’t have to worry about them blocking water since nothing is to the left of the photo but an alley.

For planting, I created hills underneath.  They should be a great support for pole beans this year.

That is it for now….I still must decide how to stake my tomatoes this year (most are in containers). I am really resisting those tomato trellis’ in cool, bright colors. Maybe next year.