I built what I hope will be a very versatile trellis system for my raised bed - I can use it in the winter to support frost cloth and I can use it in the summer to support my tomatoes.
The trellis is about 7.5 ft tall (the highest I can reach w/o a ladder) and has two "shelf supports" - one at the top of the frame and one about 30" from the top of the raised bed. I purchased a piece of 8' x 50" cattle panel and cut it into two pieces (8' x 20" and 8' x 24"). I slightly bent the 24" piece to form an arched top that fits perfectly between the trellis frame. The arch supports frost cloth w/o sagging and allows water to run off. I can't prove it (I have no engineering experience), but the arch also seems to make the panel a little sturdier.
Now that the weather is warmer, I moved the arched piece to the top of the trellis to hold my tomato trellis hooks. Additionally, I could add shade cloth to the top in the worst part of summer.
To attach the trellis to the raised bed, I removed 8 of the raised bed bolts (two from each corner) and replaced each with the following: washer, 1 1/2" bolt (these are on the inside of the bed), nut, PVC spacer, one-hole conduit strap, then one final nut (these pieces are on the outside of the bed).
The trellis is about 7.5 ft tall (the highest I can reach w/o a ladder) and has two "shelf supports" - one at the top of the frame and one about 30" from the top of the raised bed. I purchased a piece of 8' x 50" cattle panel and cut it into two pieces (8' x 20" and 8' x 24"). I slightly bent the 24" piece to form an arched top that fits perfectly between the trellis frame. The arch supports frost cloth w/o sagging and allows water to run off. I can't prove it (I have no engineering experience), but the arch also seems to make the panel a little sturdier.
Now that the weather is warmer, I moved the arched piece to the top of the trellis to hold my tomato trellis hooks. Additionally, I could add shade cloth to the top in the worst part of summer.
To attach the trellis to the raised bed, I removed 8 of the raised bed bolts (two from each corner) and replaced each with the following: washer, 1 1/2" bolt (these are on the inside of the bed), nut, PVC spacer, one-hole conduit strap, then one final nut (these pieces are on the outside of the bed).
How is the lower and lean working for you? I am going to do that with our deck tomatoes this year (going to post a picture soon of our new deck trellis). How is the build quality of your beds? [I know you have birdies not vego]
When we looked at cost vs replacement materials and the huge amount of labor involved we figure that spending the money on Vegos could be a better option of course...supply chain issues...etc.
The current galvanized panels are starting to rust through and in the bright SC sun the wood is taking a beating. We already use extensive horizonal cattle panel (and hog panel) trellis supported on conduit and it works well, supporting heavy winter squash. The conduit and maker pipe connectors for a new system will outlive us!
We have a lower trellis over each bed (about 6') and a higher one between beds (about 7') and that allows us to slide shade cloth over individual beds as needed but run our winter squash and other vining crops over the walkway - There is so much in my head I want to get to paper.
The vego would allow us to build four long beds with a conduit grid sadly a multi- year project because we need to terrace the garden better to do it right-as each long bed would need to be on its own level and with the location--working out the bed dimensions dimension to optimize use of conduit thinking 4' wide and 6' long trellis sections. [vego allows you to build long continuous beds with 2' long extension panels]
Thanks for sharing. You have expanded my ideas some.
I love the "lower and lean" method! I heard about it from several YouTube channels. I built my first lower & lean trellis last summer based off "Next Level Gardening" channel. I have 11 tomatoes growing in a 2.5 x 9.5 Vego bed and 9 tomatoes growing in a 2 x 8 wood bed. I love that you can grow many more varieties in the same space and I don't mind the pruning. I also really like using a curved cattle pannel for the top and to hold the hooks because you have lots of attachment points for the hooks. One thing I learned the hard way...always keep one sucker towards the top as you prune. I lost the top of one of my plants and since I had pruned all suckers, no more growth.
I have both Birdies and Vego. My second Birdies order sat for months on a ship outside of California...it irritated me so much I looked for another option and found Vego. Vego ships from Houston, so I assume it uses a Texas port. I think the quality of the beds is very similar - they are made out of the same stuff and use the same coating. However, I like Vego much better:
Trim - Birdies trim is cheap vinyl and it shrinks and expands, leaving an ugly gap. Vego is a flexible rubberish material that seems to be higher quality and does not leave the ugly gap.
Hardware (except bracing rods) - The Birdies nuts/bolts are easier to use because it's just two pieces; Vego uses three pieces (bolt, washer, nut).
Bracing Rods - Birdies has bracing rods only for the tall beds and they were a nightmare to attach. Also, since the shorter beds don't have bracing rods, I have noticed the beds bowing. My short (17") Vego beds came with bracing rods and they were SO much easier to install.
Expansion - You already mentioned this, but I love that you can buy expansion panels with Vego!
Accessories - The Birdies available in the US have no accessories. Vego has introduced many - arches, trellises, cover systems, casters, etc. I've ordered the cover system for one of my Vego beds (won't arrive till May or June) and that's what prompted me to figure out a trellis sytem for the Birdies bed. Then, I found Maker Pipe and had a great time! It's like tinker toys for adults.
Please do post pictures of your lower/upper trellis. I'd like to see your shade cloth idea! I think I could put shade cloth on my curved piece but I haven't tried that yet. The frost cloth over the curved piece was fabulous!
Right now I am looking at 3, 4' wide 32 foot beds and 2, 4' wide 24" long beds.
(1) Horizonal pipe at bottom vs burying vertical-Do you feel that added stability?
(2) Would you put the pipes inside the bed vs outside going foward?
(3) Connection details for clamping and stress on bed vs free standing? I am considering copying your plan of horizontals on the ground for support maybe with some ground anchors for them and putting inside the bed because if I go wider than 48" the goat panel I will eventually use on the top will be too wide to ride on the top rails. I may have to do something to protect the clamp from constant soil immersion.
(4) Lessons learned? Other comments?
(1) I actually did neither. I did not use horizontal pipe at the bottom (the pieces you see in the picuture are unattached scraps - sorry about that). I figured that if I needed extra stability, I could attach a set of horizontals right on top of the bed. I did not bury the verticals. Once I attached them to the bed and attached one set of horizontals, the trellis felt very stable.
(2) I did consider putting the verticals inside the bed. However, I was a little worried the pipes would rot. If you put them inside the bed, you could always drive some rebar into the ground and not have to attach them to the frame.
(3) I explained the connection system in the last paragraph of my post, right before the pictures. I think the connection works well, as long as you use the PVC spacer (I think you would bend your bed w/o the spacer). I did consider building a completely freestanding trellis - I thought I could move it around. However, when doing the build, I realized I'd never be able to move it without help and I don't have help.
(4) The top needs some tweaking for shade cloth. I think the shade cloth needs to extend 2-3 feet (or more) from the bed, rather than simply covering the top. I don't have a good solution yet...I hope someone here comes up with a good idea.
Have fun - try things out. And post pictures!
Can anybody comment on whether we need to worry about the conduit rotting if it's in constant contact with wet soil?
(1) Hung it down vertically by several feet or
(2) Because I had between bed trellises I would carry over towards the next bed
(3) Will do more research on the corrosion of underground galivinized pipe.
I am looking at our current configuration on the deck and imagine a horizontal at the top of the beds as well as the top of the trellis along with angles at the ends should provide needed stability......... Then it is a matter of just protected the pipe in ground. This may be a good use of the shrink wrap plastic cut to bed height.