Last year we used the dried okra stalks left in the ground as a natural trellis for the new sugar snaps. That method worked up to a point but then the sugar snaps grew too large for the okra stalks to support them. So this year we are trying something else. With some leftover wire fencing and wooden stakes we built a trellis that looks like my drawing (below). To do this, drive the wooden stakes into the ground and then secure the fencing to the stakes either by wrapping the edge of the fence around the end posts or staple or tie it to the stakes.
Most of the stakes we used are T shaped because we then drape a netting over the entire bed to keep out the birds. The house sparrows around here really like to eat the tender leaves.
There's lots of ways to make a trellis. Do you grow sugar snaps? What trellis method do you like?
HEATHER! i love your drawing (!!!) & what you bring to tend as both a gardener & artist! beautiful trellis & perspective. luke & i planted bush snap peas this year- a variety we had great luck with last year. i plan to make trellises from found object this year, including the freshly cut twigs we found in our neighbor's yard. their organic shape is beautiful & a perfect companion in our beds.
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful drawing and plan for a trellis. we always plant english peas because no one sells them at the farmer's market, but yes. we still need a trellis. we used branches last year and it worked pretty well, though the peas got a bit unruly.
ReplyDeleteThanks Natalie, and I know your trellis will be beautiful!
ReplyDeleteShari, we've done that too, and yes it works pretty well. One year our trellis was formed from branches in arch shapes. Our peas get unruly no matter what. :)
we like to take a day or afternoon and head to the woods to gather straight twigs and branches, however long they need to be (depending on which variety i am growing). then once collected, i trim anything off with secateurs like twiggy side branches, etc. i push these into the soil, first with one row on a slant, picture on a diagonal, and then i diagonally enter the other twigs into the earth the other way...follow? what i end up with is a pretty, and rustic sort of "W" pattern, repeating itself for the length of my rows, at whichever height i gathered for.
ReplyDeletei love using natural elements whenever possible, and have such fun with my boys gathering these twigs and branches mindfully in the sun.