It’s time to grow up, literally.  Whether you have a small or large garden, using vertical growing methods can make the most of your space and save you time.  Trellises look beautiful and add interest to your curated garden space. 

Why Use Trellises In Your Garden?

The possibilities are endless with trellising crops~ from tomatoes to pole beans, cucumbers to sugar snap peas, even melons.  All thrive with the use of trellises and trellises give you more growing space.

Harvesting and maintenance are made easier when you utilize vertical growing methods because you can see exactly where the fruit is.  Improved air circulation around the foliage helps climbing plants resist disease.  It’s also much easier to find pests hiding when you’re searching at eye level (I’m talking to YOU, caterpillar!)

Worried about heavy fruit?  You need not be.  Squash and melon actually develop thicker stems to support the weight of hanging fruit.  Try growing luffa gourd in the summer and you’ll see what I mean! 

Garden Girls’ Favorite Types of Trellises

Arches connect two garden beds together and create a beautiful entryway into a garden.

Panels are great for gardens that border a structure.  The panel acts as a focal point and can add interest to an otherwise boring fence or building.  

Obelisks are often placed in the center or corner of garden beds to draw your eye up and show off gorgeous fruit.

Consider materials when selecting your trellis or stakes.  Bamboo or wood, while pretty, is likely to give you only one or two years of use.  Heavy tomato branches have actually bent and snapped our bamboo stakes, which was a hard lesson to learn.  Metal and steel trellises are much sturdier and will give you more years of use for some beautifully trellised plants.

A year of Trellising in Houston

In all three of the Garden Girls’ gardens, we use trellises all year long.  In Spring, we grow tomatoes and cucumbers.  In summer, try an Asian cucumber or Luffa Gourd.  In fall, plant fava beans or another variety of pole beans.  In winter, try sugar snap peas or snow peas on your trellises.  You can also try a variety of vining flowering plants for our pollinator friends.  

How about roses?  The “IT GIRL” of the South is currently the Peggy Martin variety, which is said to have lived through Hurricane Katrina, and was named after the woman who grew them so well.  They look gorgeous climbing up fences and pergolas!

So…. Shall we grow up together?  I hope so!