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  • Hi, I’m Emily

    Emily Fazio

    I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle.

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Building the Perfect Garden Archway Trellis

March 5, 2018

Our garden’s archway trellis was a new addition in 2017, and one that we’re going to use again this spring. Aside from being a great way to raise climbers in an enclosed garden space, it was the perfect little tunnel for those kids of ours. We have lots of family photos that prove that, but today, think about making one your own before it’s time to plant seeds.

Build raised garden beds with a connecting archway trellis for climbers in the garden.

I use scrap wood for projects whenever possible, so when it came time to build two rectangular boxes for raised garden beds, I turned to some weathered barn wood boards that had already stood up to wind and rain and were still plenty sturdy for a new project. You can see in the below picture that the assembly wasn’t anything complex; cut 8 pieces and lap the corners (4 boards measured 4-feet long, which was determined by the width of my fencing, and 4 measured 1-foot, decided by how much space I had available in the garden). A few screws are all it takes to hold them together. If you’re using 1x boards like I did, be sure that the wood screws are at least 2″ with a 1″ shank, and always predrill the holes to prevent splitting – whether the wood is new or old. Throw it back, Codeman! We miss you, bud.

Building raised garden planter boxes from barn wood for an archway trellis.

Transfer those raised beds into your garden. Position them parallel with a preschooler-sized pathway between them… ~18-24″.

Four pieces of 4′ rebar come in handy for the next part – adding the archway. Put one rebar post in each inner corner so that it’s sturdy and upright, with about 2.5′-3′ of rebar extending above the soil and into the air. The arch itself is a 12′ length of galvanized rolled fencing, and a little feisty to wrangle. Start by weaving one end of the fencing through two pieces of rebar so that it fits down into one of your planter boxes. Create the arch by weaving the other end of fencing through the other two pieces of rebar. Make adjustments until the shape of the arch is perfect. Depending on how tightly the coil of fencing was bound, it might need a little bending and finesse, but it’ll come together, promise!

Building raised garden planter boxes from barn wood for an archway trellis.

Fill the planters to the brim with soil. I used ordinary garden soil and mixed in some nutrients, too. Use it as an opportunity to teach your kids about gardening and seed starting. We used our trellis for cucumbers, and it worked wonderfully even when the plant was loaded and heavy with fruit/veggies. Nasturtiums would be wonderful; climbing beans would be fun too.

Teaching kids to plant and harvest vegetables in their own trellis archway garden.

The height of the archway isn’t quite tall enough for me, a 5’8″ adult, but still big enough for me to easily duck into.

As the plants sprout and grow established leaves and tendrils, train them to grow up the fencing. It’s likely that they’ll catch on themselves, but it doesn’t hurt to guide the end of the plant back and forth upward through the fencing throughout the growing process to assure a neat, passable archway.

Build raised garden beds with a connecting archway trellis for cucumbers in the garden.

You’ll be able to access your harvest from the inside of the trellis as well as out. The wire fencing held strong for us in its first-year trial, even when there were dozens of cucumbers weighing on the archway and putting it to the test. On to year #2!

This DIY trellis is fun for kids to play in, and an easy way to grow lots of climbing vines in your garden – perfect for beans, nasturtiums, and cucumbers!

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DIY  / Gardening

Emily
I'm a home improvement enthusiast, living a very merry DIY lifestyle. You can find me writing for HGTV and DIY Network, follow me on facebook and instagram, or drop me a note if you'd like. I love notes.

10 Comments


Garden Dad
March 11, 2018 at 8:40 am
Reply

This project looks very doable! I’ll include this on my spring projects. Looks amazing too! :)



Carolyn
March 17, 2018 at 10:10 am
Reply

I would love to have that much outdoor space. What a great project!



Cait
March 22, 2018 at 3:35 pm
Reply

Aww Cody. I always love a good howling Cody photo. *sniffle*

I really wish you lived closer, I was just telling Robert I want to start a vegetable garden. You would be the perfect person to help me with that, if only we didn’t live so far away! (Sidenote: I’m always surprised with how much Hattie has grown, and then I’m like “omg, that lunch was 3.5 years ago”.)



    Emily
    March 22, 2018 at 3:37 pm

    I second that! And any excuse to get to FL, really. Hattie is a totally big kid now; those pictures of her in the garden are from last spring!

    Cait
    March 22, 2018 at 4:14 pm

    Oh I know! I’ve been seeing your skiing videos/photos, and I’m constantly having to remind myself that she’s a big kid now!

    We do have an actual guest room now… ;)

Handy Squad
December 13, 2018 at 4:47 am
Reply

Fantastic guide, thank you for sharing!



Marc Erick Destro
February 10, 2019 at 2:36 pm
Reply

Ooooo… I absolutely love this! Can’t wait for spring to come so I can make it! Thank you for sharing this!!!



James
February 27, 2019 at 6:34 pm
Reply

I absolutely love this project, I love that you use scrap wood. I have some wood lying around ill give it a try!



Garden DIY
September 13, 2019 at 8:15 am
Reply

Scrap wood has is so often disregarded when there are so many great ways to put it to good use. Great project.



The Handyman London
December 9, 2020 at 7:16 am
Reply

Thank you for the great idea and the amazing post!



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