5 DIY Trellis Ideas: How to Build a Trellis at Home

A trellis is a structure that provides support for climbing, crawling, or vining plants to grow upwards. A trellis can be built from different materials like wood, metal, bamboo, or PVC piping. Providing vertical support for trellised plants allows air to properly circulate on the ground, for the soil to stay loose, and for your plants to get more sunlight.

Certain plants like pole beans, peas, grapes, squash, and cucumbers all produce better crops when growing with a trellis. Trellises can be freestanding or attached to other structures like walls, providing a way for small-space gardeners to use vertical gardening to their advantage.

You can buy a trellis online or at your local gardening store, but creating your own trellis can be a simple and inexpensive way to maintain your vegetable garden. Below are a few DIY garden trellis ideas:

1. 1. Freestanding teepees: A teepee trellis is a freestanding structure that usually contains three posts joined together at the top with garden twine or zip ties. Teepee trellises help maximize your garden bed space. They can be built with accessible materials such as plastic piping, wood, or bamboo poles.
2. 2. Obelisks: A garden obelisk is a tall structure with four sides (though some come in rounded shapes) with a pyramid or rounded top that allows flowering vines and other climbers growing upright.
3. 3. A-frame trellis: An A-frame trellis is a freestanding structure that uses two panels joined at the top, similar to an A-frame cabin. The trellis panels can be made from wiring, PVC pipes, or lattice woodwork.
4. 4. Arch trellis: You can use chicken wire or another flexible material to create an arched trellis design in your garden bed. You can also create an arch trellis over a garden walkway similar to an arbor.
5. 5. Wall trellis: Wall trellises are typically grids made out of wood that are usually installed on walls, but can be installed on a variety of structures. They provide vertical growing support if your outdoor spaces are limited.

One of the simplest trellises you can make is a simple, teepee-style trellis. Just tie bamboo stakes together in a teepee structure and watch your greenery grow along the stakes. You can even surround it in wire mesh to increase the surface area of your trellis. Follow this tutorial to make a simple, teepee-style trellis in your own garden bed at home.

1. 1. Choose your area. You’ll need to make sure you have enough space in your garden bed for your trellis before you start building it. Be mindful of how much shade or sun your climbing plants may need, and build your structure in the appropriate place. If you’re building a trellis for plants that are already established, make sure you have enough room between your other plants to create enough support.
2. 2. Select your materials. You can choose from a number of materials to create a trellis that fits your garden design. Wood is one of the most accessible, customizable, and sturdy materials to use. Bamboo is also lightweight and easy to work with.
3. 3. Obtain and customize your materials. If you aren’t able to find pre-cut poles in the size you need, you may need to use a hacksaw or other woodworking tools to cut the material down to the desired length.
4. 4. Install and bind your stakes. Stick your wooden poles into the garden soil as far down as they can go, taking care not to force it too much. You want to avoid puncturing any piping structures or damaging long tap roots nearby. Angle the tops of the stakes toward the center, so that they can be joined at a central meeting point at the top. Secure them together with a material of your choice (zip ties, velcro tape, twine, etc.).
5. 5. Cover with netting (optional). You can use tomato netting to provide an additional climbing surface to this simple trellis design. Wrap an open square of netting around the bound poles and circle the material around the structure, occasionally using the pointed top to re-secure the netting.

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