If you’re like me, and you’ve had trouble finding an affordable cucumber trellis that can easily be attached to the raised beds in your garden, I have great news! I found a super easy and inexpensive solution and I’m going to explain step by step how to build it in this blog post. Millennium Falcon shirt not included.
Step 1: Purchase the Materials
We only need to buy 2 different items for this DIY cucumber trellis. The wood is standard and should be available at either the blue or the orange store or any store that sells lumber. The trellis netting is only available at Home Depot that I have found but they will ship it to your home for free. So if you don’t live near a Home Depot, no problem. I’ve included a link below.
Item 1: Vigoro 5’ x 8’ Trellis Netting
These only cost $3.75 ea when I purchased mine. And we only need one of them. I have used this identical trellis netting in all of my raised bed garden trellises. They are sturdy and easy to work with. If for some reason you do damage the netting, it is easily repaired. Because the netting is designed with a knot between each trellis connection, If you accidentally cut into the trellis, all you have to do is tie a piece of twine to the cut section to repair it. Simple.
Item 2: 2 in. x 2 in. x 8 ft Furring Strips
These furring strips cost $3.98 ea at the time of this post. I don’t recommend having these delivered to your home. You will want to go to the store to pick yours out to make sure you have one that is straight and without defects. We will need 3 furring strips for a 4’ x 8’ trellis and if you want to expand your trellis to the full 5’ x 8’, you will need to purchase one additional furring strip.
Step 2: Align the Trellis Frame
We are going to assemble this frame with only four screws. Just cut two pieces of wood from one of the furring strips to the dimension of the outside width of your raised bed. If you don’t want to cut the wood, no problem, both Home Depot and Lowes will cut that furring strip for you for just $0.99 per cut (with one cut free!). Align the wood on a raised surface just like in the picture below.
Align the top cross member with the top of the side posts. The bottom cross member can be at any length down the side posts. We only need to make sure the dimension is in an even 6 inch interval from the top cross member as the netting is built with 6 inch squares. Leave space below the bottom cross member so that it can easily be attached to your raised garden bed with 2 - 1/2 inch wood screws!
If you don’t have saw horses or another raised surface to work on, this DIY garden trellis can easily be assembled on the ground. Just put a paver stone or piece of wood under each corner of the frame to get the frame off of the ground and make it easier to work with. This job is also much easier when you assemble it with a friend.
Step 3: Assembling the Trellis Frame
Assembling this frame is super easy. The furring strips are soft and you should be able to screw this together without pre drilling any holes. If you are concerned about the wood splitting, you can pre drill the holes for your screws. I suggest a drill bit around 1/8 inch in diameter.
To assemble, just insert a single 2 - 1/2 inch wood screw thru each side rail and into the cross member as shown in the picture below.
Step 4: Attach the Trellis Netting
The key to this step is to find the corners of the trellis netting. Thankfully, the people at Vigoro made this really easy for us. Just unravel the trellis netting, and each corner piece of the trellis netting will have TWO threads coming out of it. Every other trellis connection around the perimeter of the netting will have only ONE thread coming out.
Once you have found a corner, place it on one of the corners of your frame and cover it with something to hold it in place. Next, just drape the trellis over the rest of the frame and we are ready to attach the trellis netting to the frame.
All that's left to do now is staple the trellis to the frame. I’m using a T50 staple gun to do this. Staple each of the four corners first, then come back and staple each connection around the perimeter where it meets your frame.
Step 5: Cut Away Excess Netting
Our final step after we have stapled the netting all the way around the frame is to come back and cut away any excess netting you have left over. Scissors work for this but an "Exacto” knife or razor blade works even better.
Conclusion
Super simple right? This frame will easily attach to your raised bed. Just insert it over the raised bed so the bottom side rails “straddle” your raised bed. Drill two 2-1/2 inch screws into each side and it will be secure.
I hope you enjoy your trellis. And it’s not just for cucumbers!!! You can use it for any vegetables that need the support of a trellis. I’ve used mine for everything from peas to melons without any issues.
Happy Gardening.
