Growing Up: Using Arbors in the Garden

I turned 50 this year, and I'm finding that my lower back is not so crazy about the weeding and harvesting that requires a lot of time spent leaning over the ground. I use mulch to reduce the amount of weeding that I need to do, and I am in the process of installing fencing and arbors to grow climbing roses, tomatoes and cucumbers on.

The arbors will allow me to stand upright while harvesting my garden, and they keep the plants' foliage up off the ground which reduces fungal diseases, damage from stepping on vines, and leaves fewer hiding places for critters in the garden.

Installing the arbors wasn't a lot of fun. It required purchasing and hauling cattle panels home from the farm store (they aren't especially cheap, but they are very, very durable), and then cutting them in half the long way. To prevent a bloodbath, it also required grinding down the sharp edges (youngest daughter) where the wires were cut. And then dragging them out to the garden.

I don't think my husband was super excited to pound the t-posts into the ground to hold the panels in place. Fortunately, he's had a lot of practice with the post pounder. I know my oldest daughter wasn't too thrilled with helping me wrestle the 16-foot long panels into place and wiring them onto the t-posts either.

Despite the no-fun process of installing the arbors, they are very handy, and they look pretty spiffy once they're all in place. You can choose to install them temporarily and take them down in the fall, or move them to a different spot in the garden if you're rotating crops. I plan to leave mine more or less permanently in place and rotate through different crops that will grow on them. I just have to remember to write down what I planted on each arbor.

What can you grow on a cattle panel arbor?

Indeterminant tomatoes

small squash

small melons

beans

peas

cucumbers

grapes

clematis

climbing roses

hops

wisteria (you need a very sturdy trellis or arbor for this)

Now, I just need to find the tomato clips and T-post staples to finish the project.