After a great harvest this year, I’ve decided to overhaul my garden for next year and am extremely happy with how it’s coming along. I still have to add coverstone in the area.
I have always used tomato cages but with this new setup, I would really like to build more permanent tomato trellises for a couple of the beds.
I thought I’d ask and see which type of trellises or any other ideas everyone might have or think would be the most beneficial here. Thanks!
by ejmozo
4 Comments
https://preview.redd.it/re9hck6nzxmf1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b43596180aac9ecd107cc3e3ff9f33878c12b7dd
I don’t have great close up pics because it’s 10’ tall. But if you zoom you can see the cables and strings use plant clips to hold it. Love it. Throw a shade cloth over when brutal summer shows up and keep the plants happy.
Your plot looks amazing, mine is a bit crowded with all the berry bushes. Wish I’d have planted them outside the fence.
A good base framework is using T or U posts every 4-6 feet, with EMT as a header in-between posts to minimize bowing. From there you can try a variety of options: remesh / cattle panel, horizontal rows of heavy gauge wire, florida weave, or a top mounted single leader to lower and lean.
Honestly, I’d ditch the landscape fabric and cover stone. You will regret it about 3 years from now. I have fabric under stone around my bulkhead, and it’s a PIA to maintain. I would definitely not want it around my garden beds. Use woodchips directly on the dirt. Or grass. Or a low growing, walkable groundcover.
My plan for tomatoes next year is to use 4×4 posts on the ends with another 4×4 along the top. Then plant the tomatoes under this in a 2′ wide bed. That way I can string trellis them in a long run. I’m also going to run the trellis East to West and there will be a shed on the West end to protect them from the brutal 4PM-6PM sun we get here in the heat of the summer. I grow indeterminate San Marzano’s vertically.