What was your most recent "OOPS?"
.
Showing posts with label trellis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trellis. Show all posts
What Not To Do In The Vegetable Garden
You hear a lot of us garden bloggers always talking about what to do in the vegetable garden, but what about what not to do? We all make mistakes. We all do things that can be categorized under "OOPS". I'm going to share one of those "OOPS" moments with you today that quite frankly I'm disgusted with myself for doing. What was my mistake in the garden? I was very carefully weeding the Bermuda grass from around the base of my cucumber plants when out came something other than a nasty Bermuda grass rhizome. It was the shallow roots of one cucumber vine! My poor cucumbers when into shock so bad that I doubt they will recover. I'll have to replant. Fortunately I had several vines up on this trellis and at least one of them is still alive. I added some shredded paper mulch and newspapers to try to keep the moisture in the soil in the off chance that my cucumbers have a chance. I have other cucumbers in other areas of the vegetable garden so I won't be completely without cucumbers but these were pickling cucumbers that I was pretty excited about. I'll still be pickling but without the pickling cucumbers it just won't be the same.
Weekend Garden Chore: The Vegetable Garden
Over the last two months life has thrown many curveballs that have beaned the batter on numerous occasions. You would think that I'd be making some runs here or there but unfortunately I seem to be getting out at third every time. What does this baseball analogy have to do with anything? Well sometimes we get taken away from what we'd like to to in order to see to things we have to do. Which means something gets neglected and much to my dismay lately it's been the vegetable garden. How bad is it you wonder? (Don't worry I can't read your mind, I'm just guessing that that is what you're thinking.) It's pretty bad.
Weeds are everywhere including the most vexing garden invader to inhabit the United States of America: Bermuda grass. This stuff is nothing short of pure evil when it gets into a garden. The runners go everywhere and every last piece of root has to be removed or else the grass from "you know where" goes "you know where" --- in the garden beds!
Gardener's Advice: NEVER PLANT BURMUDA GRASS INTENTIONALLY IF YOU WANT A GARDEN!
It's enough to tempt a gardener to use some glyphosate. I'll refrain for now. I think I'll see what some good old fashioned hand weeding can do to this mess.
The good news is that despite the tomatoes that desperately need tied up and the weed invasion - the garden is producing. We've harvested lots of orange 'Sungold' tomatoes that I got from Renee's Garden, which are one of the most delicious cherry tomatoes I've had. The melons are producing well too including 'Tigger', 'Old Time Tennessee', and 'Sierra Gold' cantaloupes. None of these are fit to harvest yet but if things go well I can see eating some delicious melons form the garden very, very soon.
The cucumbers are producing at an extremely alarming rate too - nothing wrong with that! Some are pickling cucumbers which were also from Renee's Garden and others are plain regular cucumbers from the Greenland Gardener Kit. I need to give you an update on that garden bed soon.
The trellises I built for the cucumbers are doing fantastic! They are heavy enough to withstand the 50-60 mph winds like we had last night and perfect for climbing vine vegetables like cucumbers and melons.
One other issue with garden neglect is the monster cucumbers that continue to grow until someone gets out there to pick them!
Weeds are everywhere including the most vexing garden invader to inhabit the United States of America: Bermuda grass. This stuff is nothing short of pure evil when it gets into a garden. The runners go everywhere and every last piece of root has to be removed or else the grass from "you know where" goes "you know where" --- in the garden beds!
Gardener's Advice: NEVER PLANT BURMUDA GRASS INTENTIONALLY IF YOU WANT A GARDEN!
 |
| Yes there is a garden under that Bermuda grass! |
 |
| 'Tigger' Melons |
The cucumbers are producing at an extremely alarming rate too - nothing wrong with that! Some are pickling cucumbers which were also from Renee's Garden and others are plain regular cucumbers from the Greenland Gardener Kit. I need to give you an update on that garden bed soon.
The trellises I built for the cucumbers are doing fantastic! They are heavy enough to withstand the 50-60 mph winds like we had last night and perfect for climbing vine vegetables like cucumbers and melons.
One other issue with garden neglect is the monster cucumbers that continue to grow until someone gets out there to pick them!
Needless to say I have my work cut out for me this weekend, but all that really matters in the vegetable garden is what its produces in the end - yum!
 |
| 'Red Zebra' tomato |
Homemade Cucumber or Melon Trellises
I've been trying for several weeks now to get my garden trellises built for the vegetable garden. This weekend I finally managed to put two together, one for my cucumbers and one for my 'Tigger' melons. Building these two trellises can easily be done in just a few hours. I had to decide how high I wanted them to be and what kind of configuration I wanted. I was considering a simple 'A' frame design but instead went with this modified structure here:
The legs of the trellis are 5 feet long and the top horizontal bar is 24 inches. The base of the trellis stands at 45 inches and is 33 inches wide. The dimensions are designed to fit inside two 4'x3' raised beds. Making the first side was a little tricky but once I had spaced it out and screwed it together I used it as a template for the other three trellis sides I needed to make.
I opted to go with a homemade mesh made from garden twine or jute. Mostly because the price for simple garden twine is less than three dollars per roll and can be tossed into the compost bin at the end of the growing season. My first attempt (below) at weaving the mesh didn't look so hot but the second one turned out much better (above). I tied the vertical strings first then weaved the horizontal strings through so that each horizontal string wrapped tightly around each vertical string.
We had some extremely high winds this weekend after I built the trellises and they held up fine. These structures should last several seasons and can be covered with plastic in the winter time to extend the growing season as if they were small greenhouses. The total cost for both trellises was less than $35. Most of the wood was purchased for this project but a few pieces came from leftover scrap lumber used on previous projects.
The legs of the trellis are 5 feet long and the top horizontal bar is 24 inches. The base of the trellis stands at 45 inches and is 33 inches wide. The dimensions are designed to fit inside two 4'x3' raised beds. Making the first side was a little tricky but once I had spaced it out and screwed it together I used it as a template for the other three trellis sides I needed to make.
I opted to go with a homemade mesh made from garden twine or jute. Mostly because the price for simple garden twine is less than three dollars per roll and can be tossed into the compost bin at the end of the growing season. My first attempt (below) at weaving the mesh didn't look so hot but the second one turned out much better (above). I tied the vertical strings first then weaved the horizontal strings through so that each horizontal string wrapped tightly around each vertical string.
We had some extremely high winds this weekend after I built the trellises and they held up fine. These structures should last several seasons and can be covered with plastic in the winter time to extend the growing season as if they were small greenhouses. The total cost for both trellises was less than $35. Most of the wood was purchased for this project but a few pieces came from leftover scrap lumber used on previous projects.
What kind of garden trellis do you use?
Building an Arbor Style Trellis
In the vegetable garden there is always a need for more space. You never have enough. The garden is constantly being filled with more plants than you really have room for and you have to find ways to organize it. That's why going vertical is a great option and the most classic way to go vertical is to use a trellis. For my March (yep I'm late) Lowe's Creative Ideas post I put together a trellis for growing my edibles with a little bit of arbor style. This trellis would be an excellent option as a stand alone feature or could be incorporated into a garden fence as I am doing. Lowe's sent me gift cards to purchase the supplies and I went to work!
To build this trellis I purchased 2 8ft. 4x4's, 2 deck boards, a box of 2" deck screws, a box of 1 1/4" deck screws, a set of black coated lag screws, 14 - 1x2's, a 1x4, a bag of gravel, and an 80 lb. bag of concrete. All of these materials together cost about $75-80.
I started by digging the holes for the 4x4's. My challenge in this was to match it up with last year's gutter planter arbor project. I wanted the height of both arbors to match. Then I measured the height of the 4x4's and cut them appropriately. You can cut them to whatever height you need for your project. Next I measured the deck boards to allow for an 8 1/2 inch over hang on each side of the posts plus the width of the posts themselves which comes to 72 inches. The posts needed to be exactly 4' across to match the other arbor. Then I cut the bottom corners off of the deck boards.
Into the holes I put a couple inches of gravel to allow for drainage. I put the arbor completely together on the ground before lifting it into the holes. I attached one side of the arbor top with some black coated lag screws then flipped the arbor over and did the other side. I like to build arbors on the ground before setting them in the holes since I can get the measurements like I want them without the need for a second person to hold everything.
Once the arbor was built on the ground I raised it up into the holes and leveled it. Adjust the level of it by adding more gravel or taking it away from the hole. To help with this I secured the arbor with clamps and sawhorses. Clamps are a necessity when doing a project like this by yourself! Once it was all level I put half the concrete into one hole and the other half into the other hole. I let the concrete cure over night then came back to do the inside lattice work.
For the inside trellis area I secured 1x2's vertically to each 4x4 with enough space to allow the horizontal slats to fit flush with the outside edge of the 4x4s. I used the 2" deck screws to attach them. These 1x2's were placed flat against the 4x4's to give my slats a piece of wood to grip into. Remember to pre-drill all the holes for any 1x2 you need to screw or you will crack them! Then I put the top slat just underneath top of the arbor and secured them with the 1 1/4" deck screws. I measured the slat positions at 6" on center and made marks across the top slat. I attached a 4' long 1x4 to the bottom of the side slats to secure the vertical pieces. Once the bottom and top were in place I cut and secured the vertical slats to the top bar. Each slat was centered on the marks I made and allowed to hang. After they were all hung on the top bar I leveled them and secured each slat to the bottom 1x4 bar.
I marked and measure the horizontal slats also at 6" on center and cut the 1x2s to fit between the posts. I pre-drilled the holes into the ends and began securing one side, leveling, then the other side. You only have to measure one side when you do it this way. Make sure that you are using fairly straight 1x2s for this. They tend to warp so you will need to inspect each one. It's not a bad idea to buy a few spare ones just in case! Then I worked my way down the arbor with the slats until I finished.
I used the same method to continue the fence around the vegetable garden. A fence not only prevents deer from entering but will also be a great place to grow climbing vegetables like cucumbers and peas. An arbor like this is not just great for a fence but would be a very nice stand alone project for any climbing plant. Unfortunately it isn't time to plant the warm season vegetable yet so I'll have to wait until after April 15th (last frost date here in our area of TN) before growing on the trellis!
To build this trellis I purchased 2 8ft. 4x4's, 2 deck boards, a box of 2" deck screws, a box of 1 1/4" deck screws, a set of black coated lag screws, 14 - 1x2's, a 1x4, a bag of gravel, and an 80 lb. bag of concrete. All of these materials together cost about $75-80.
I started by digging the holes for the 4x4's. My challenge in this was to match it up with last year's gutter planter arbor project. I wanted the height of both arbors to match. Then I measured the height of the 4x4's and cut them appropriately. You can cut them to whatever height you need for your project. Next I measured the deck boards to allow for an 8 1/2 inch over hang on each side of the posts plus the width of the posts themselves which comes to 72 inches. The posts needed to be exactly 4' across to match the other arbor. Then I cut the bottom corners off of the deck boards.
Into the holes I put a couple inches of gravel to allow for drainage. I put the arbor completely together on the ground before lifting it into the holes. I attached one side of the arbor top with some black coated lag screws then flipped the arbor over and did the other side. I like to build arbors on the ground before setting them in the holes since I can get the measurements like I want them without the need for a second person to hold everything.
For the inside trellis area I secured 1x2's vertically to each 4x4 with enough space to allow the horizontal slats to fit flush with the outside edge of the 4x4s. I used the 2" deck screws to attach them. These 1x2's were placed flat against the 4x4's to give my slats a piece of wood to grip into. Remember to pre-drill all the holes for any 1x2 you need to screw or you will crack them! Then I put the top slat just underneath top of the arbor and secured them with the 1 1/4" deck screws. I measured the slat positions at 6" on center and made marks across the top slat. I attached a 4' long 1x4 to the bottom of the side slats to secure the vertical pieces. Once the bottom and top were in place I cut and secured the vertical slats to the top bar. Each slat was centered on the marks I made and allowed to hang. After they were all hung on the top bar I leveled them and secured each slat to the bottom 1x4 bar.
I marked and measure the horizontal slats also at 6" on center and cut the 1x2s to fit between the posts. I pre-drilled the holes into the ends and began securing one side, leveling, then the other side. You only have to measure one side when you do it this way. Make sure that you are using fairly straight 1x2s for this. They tend to warp so you will need to inspect each one. It's not a bad idea to buy a few spare ones just in case! Then I worked my way down the arbor with the slats until I finished.I used the same method to continue the fence around the vegetable garden. A fence not only prevents deer from entering but will also be a great place to grow climbing vegetables like cucumbers and peas. An arbor like this is not just great for a fence but would be a very nice stand alone project for any climbing plant. Unfortunately it isn't time to plant the warm season vegetable yet so I'll have to wait until after April 15th (last frost date here in our area of TN) before growing on the trellis!
