A trellis for tall vegetables
A support for climbing vegetables - such as cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and courgettes - completes your Makkelijke Moestuin raised bed. A trellis like this should be at least 180 cm high and made from sturdy material.
Because your vegetables grow up along the trellis, they take up very little space while still giving you a big harvest. So the investment in materials and time pays for itself quickly.
Why use a trellis?
Tomatoes, courgettes, pole beans, snow peas and pumpkins go next to vertical trellises in the Makkelijke Moestuin.
In a normal vegetable garden, these vegetables take up an enormous amount of space.
If you let a tomato plant do its thing, it keeps making side shoots and turns into a huge plant. Most courgettes also need a lot of room: a square metre is nothing. Pumpkins are even worse.
In the Makkelijke Moestuin, you keep all these plants under control by guiding them up a trellis. That way they take up much less space and are easier for you to care for.
Because you place the trellis on the north side of your raised bed, you also prevent the tall plants from shading the lower plants.
You also do not have to bend down to harvest, your harvest is not lying on the ground rotting, and a trellis full of vegetables looks beautiful too.
A trellis like this needs to be really sturdy, because it will carry quite a bit of weight.
Just think of the pumpkins and courgettes you will harvest. And even when it is full of snow peas or pole beans, it has to withstand strong gusts of wind.
What should a trellis be able to do?
- it must be sturdy enough to carry the weight of the vegetables, even when it is windy
- at least 180 cm high
- the mesh of the wire or netting must be large enough to put your hand through
Our trellises are made from sturdy scaffolding tube, and the connectors and brackets are made from galvanised cast iron. That makes the trellis super sturdy, unable to blow over, and resistant to heat and cold.
(Building one yourself? Sturdy wooden posts can work too.)
Once the frame is up, you still need something for your plants to climb up.
(Building one yourself? Sturdy wooden posts can work too.)
Once the frame is up, you still need something for your plants to climb up.
Netting or mesh
We use nets made from strong, UV-resistant plastic. They are extremely strong and last a long time. Compare a net like this to the goal nets used in football, but with 10 x 10 cm mesh.
You can also use garden mesh with large openings, or galvanised mesh panels. Though those last ones can cut up your hands :(
A trellis against a wall or fence
If your raised bed is against a fence or wall, you do not need to make a frame. You only need something to attach your net or mesh to.
Make sure there is at least 10 cm of space between your net or mesh and the fence. Then your plants still have some room at the back of the net.
Make sure there is at least 10 cm of space between your net or mesh and the fence. Then your plants still have some room at the back of the net.
Ordering a trellis set
Our complete trellis is also available separately. It comes with netting, a drilling template, and mounting materials.
You can attach it to our 8- and 16-square raised beds, or to a sturdy 120 cm wide raised bed.
You can attach it to our 8- and 16-square raised beds, or to a sturdy 120 cm wide raised bed.
On to the electric slug fence
You can have the best raised bed in the world, but slugs can seriously spoil your fun in the vegetable garden.