Trellis ideas for TT on driveway/cement

Greetings all!
I've been searching and searching the forums (and everywhere else!) for ideas, and I'm exhausted. I just cannot seem to find what I'm looking for. I am hoping to get some ideas for how to build a trellis for my cucumbers & melons that, hopefully, could also be used to tie up my tomatoes so they don't become a tangled mess.

Here's the set up:
I have six 4x4 tt boxes that sit in a u pattern (so two that run north/south, then two in the "middle" that run east/west, and then two on the other end that run north/south) As the picture shows, I have cinder blocks, then a pallet, then the boxes. I was going to rebuild my boxes this year, but since they were given to me for free a few years back, I figured I could get one more year from them. They are made of very thin wood (which I think is pine) and are not too sturdy to attach something to, but it is a possibility. I had a decent set up in years past, but between damage from a storm and the need for crop rotation ~ I need a new design this year. The stuff at the store is over-priced and seems to flimsy for my garden. I'm just at a loss.

I hope I did an okay job of describing, but if you have questions just let me know.
OH -- and it needs to be somewhat inexpensive, removable, and is something I can build without a bunch of "big time" tools, and it needs to be done -- like ASAP! (No pressure. LOL)

Here's a pic to help you visualize what I'm working with:


I just know someone out there will be able to help!
Who's up for the challenge?

Many thanks!
Laura

Do you want to use the trellis as described in the book? And since all your boxes are on the cement driveway --
Here is an idea that I bet the men could give a thumbs down altogether or improve upon:
Is it possible to set the trellis legs into 5 gallon buckets (they're 15 inches deep) filled with Quickcrete? Wouldn't that be really strong and heavy to withstand wind plus weight of the veggies/fruit ?

Oh my golly....well that is EXACTLY what my original plan was! I was thinking of getting 5-gallon buckets, filling each with Quickcrete, and either putting a t-post or rebar into the cement (perhaps with a brick at the bottom of the bucket so I'd have more height if I used the t-posts) and then hanging my netting/trellis from that. I even did some testing & found that a 5-gallon bucket slid halfway under a box couldn't tip over because the back half would catch on the box above. I figured I could move them as needed for crop rotation, and could still get between the trellised plants to attend to other plants, etc... It seemed like the perfect plan!
HOWEVER ---- today when I went to the big-blue home improvement store to buy what I needed, I had several men tell me my plan wouldn't work!
*sigh*
So, I second-guessed myself, bought some wood lath per their advice, and came home to try another plan. After fiddling around for several hours -- nothing else seemed to make sense! I figured I'd post for assistance.

THANK YOU!! I'm on my way back to that blue store to implement my plan. The good news is I can return all the stuff they convinced me would be a "better idea" ---- but the bad news? I just wasted an entire vacation day! LOL

You didn't waste a day -- you did have a learning experience. I've found that many clerks at the big box stores just try to talk you into what they want to sell.

instant install using cattle panels. Used the sides of my beds. There is another one using one bed and a few extra block and the tomato buckets.




Kay

Alrighty folks....after having to call a rain delay (hey, I'm in Omaha ~ and it IS the College World Series...it only seems fitting!) I went outside to do some measurements. The top of my boxes are just shy of 30". That means a 5' piece of rebar would stand about as high as one of those green tomato stakes. Yup...not gonna work.

I'm back to needing suggestions. Could I use taller/longer conduit? I don't have a truck, so I'm somewhat limited in some options...but believe me, when it comes to my garden ---- I will find a way to make whatever I need happen!

Thanks again for your help!
Laura

Ok, who is an engineer in this group? I know there is at least one! Why not use longer conduit and attach it to the pallet and bed with "U" brackets, and attach the netting that is in the SFG store to the conduit. Have the ends hang lower than the beds for some bracing maybe even somehow attaching it to your cinder blocks. It's obvious I'm not an engineer type, but maybe this will trigger a good idea from someone.

You could use your bucket idea and have a metal rod sticking out of the cement about a foot and then stick your conduit over the rods each year. It would be moveable.

Seems to me all you need to do is buy the 10' conduit and run it from the ground up the side of you boxes and attach it with some of these clips and you are done.

If it doesn't seem sturdy enough slide poles up add bucket with holes for water drainage and fill with rocks.

I'd definitely do the buckets with what ever you have available to help stabilize them the u clamps would allso be a good thing to help secure the conduit from moving around

Boog

If it were me, I would use conduit over 3ft rebar that you put in your buckets, then use those clamps previously mentioned. It comes in 10ft lengths, they'll cut it to the size you want so you'll get the height you need, and even if you have a car you can tie it to the roof for transporting it home if necessary...just take a blanket to protect your paint job! The bonus is, you can break it down easily to move to a new location, or for storage in winter. BTW, we got 10ft conduit in our Saturn Vue, and you'd be surprised how many things I used to transport in (or on) my old Honda Civic! Where there's a will, there's a way!

Sounds like you can make a regular Mels trellis out of 10 ft emt and set the ends into a bucket of sand, then fasten the emt to the wood box in 2 places along the emt. That should give you about 7.5 ft of growing space. For extra wind and weight support, pull guy wires from the top of the trellis to the other side of the box. See page 153 of ANSFG.

If that makes the trellis too high for harvest, try what I did, a cantelevered trellis. I made a regular Mels trellis with 10 ft sides and 4ft top. I put rebar at an angle in the ground about 3/4 of the way along the side of the bed, slid the emt legs over the rebar and fastened the legs to the side of the box with 2 U brackets at the lowest and highest points. Gives me about 8 ft of growing space at a height I can pick from.

You would have to fill a bucket with concrete and angle rebar out the side to achieve the support needed.

This picture is from when I was trying the layout and is not the final placement, but you can see where the legs of the trellis cross the wooden bed for the brackets. The final layout does not have the emt resting on block although it could.



Here is a back view of the finished trellis.



It gives me plenty of growing space at a height from which I can safely pick.

KAY

chjbr63 wrote:Seems to me all you need to do is buy the 10' conduit and run it from the ground up the side of you boxes and attach it with some of these clips and you are done.

If it doesn't seem sturdy enough slide poles up add bucket with holes for water drainage and fill with rocks.

That is what I use and the clips are cheap, 4 or 5 for $1.00. I did use two sets of clips on each side to add stability.

Like givvmistamps said, get 3/8" rebar, imbed it in the concrete in the bucket, then slip the 3/" metal conduit over the rebar. Pick up a couple of conduit corner connectors to attach the cross piece of conduit, then attach whatever trellis material you choose. When the season is over, just slip the conduit trellis off the rebar and store it and the buckets untill next season. I cut my vertical conduit pieces about 6 feet tall, and the cross piece is 5' long which fits outside my cinder block walls (I hammered the rebar into the ground) . Next time I'll probably make the vertical sections a little longer because my tomato plants have already reached the top.