Q&A: What kind of trellis should I use for all of these summer crops?
So you’ve chosen your summer crops, and those tiny seedlings are just so cute as they sit tucked beneath giant kale and broccoli plants. But, you know the summer jungle is on its way. “Babies don’t keep,’ so they say, and neither do tiny squash plants. So what can we do to prepare for the 12-foot tomato stalk that will be in your garden in a few short months? Get the right trellises! And get plenty! But what kind of trellis should you use for specific summer crops? Read on for some TKG know-how.
Now before we get further into this, I’m not talking about those wire tomato cages you see at box stores. They are too short and too dinky. Maybe they can be helpful for pepper plants or dahlia stems, but no thanks. I’m talking about robust wood, steel, wrought iron or copper trellises that I’ll categorize into three main buckets: Arches, Obelisks, and Panels. All three of these trellis varieties should be at least 4 feet tall, and they should all be sturdy. You should be able to let a 9- year-old dangle off any of these structures without any concern. MmmK?
So let’s get into what’s what.
Arches
Everyone loves a good arch, right? I mean, it’s a wedding scene right there in your garden! We use arches that are made of heavy steel, no plastic. They are between 40 inches wide and 72 inches wide, and they reach up to 8 feet. What summer crop do we grow on arches? INDETERMINATE TOMATOES, that’s what. We love indeterminate cherry tomatoes like Sungold, Sweet100 and Black Cherry because they drip just so perfectly off the the arches, but you can also weave larger indeterminate tomatoes like Better Boy, Carbon, or Amish Paste up an arch, too. Keep in mind, tomatoes don’t have stems that grab and grip, so they will need to be tied or tucked into the arch as they grow. If you start to have several rogue vines that flop on the ground or encroach on the wrong side of your garden, you can simply prune them off.
Let’s not get stuck on tomatoes though— what else can you grow on an arch in the summer? ANY PLANT THAT GROWS ON A VINE! That means vining cucumber (not the bush variety!), winter squash like butternut or acorn or pumpkin, pole beans like green beans and black eyed peas, and a fun array of vining flowers like black-eyed Susan vine, hummingbird vine, or clematis. Keep in mind, if you’re itching for that lush late summer archway like in this picture, opt for tomatoes or flowers. The cucumbers and squash will likely start to dry up by September, and won’t be as pretty.
Obelisks
“Obelisk”: A very strange word that I dare you to say three times fast. But it’s a lifesaver in the garden. Especially when you accidentally buy 7 tomato varieties and don’t have a place to put them. Buy more obelisks.
The trick to selecting a great obelisk is to find something that is as large as possible without looking like the Seattle Space Needle. We have some that are 72 inches tall and others that are 96 inches tall. The taller version is easier to maintain when the plants are really going gangbusters, but some people think they look too big when the garden is bare. Personally, I still recommend that you go big :)
What crops to plant on an obelisk? In my opinion, the obelisk is a great place for cucumber. Because the cucumber is a shorter-lived summer crop, it’s not going to ruin your whole garden focal point if it’s tucked into an obelisk and it croaks in July. Also, cucumbers are hard to train up and over an arch, so I think the obelisk is just right for this spiky veg.
But what else?
A large obelisk is a great place for large tomatoes like BetterBoy, Carbon, Mortgage Lifter, or whatever big Daddy tomato you picked up this year. They will be well supported and the fruit will be easy to find.
I also like obelisks for tomatillos or eggplants, as those crops get surprisingly tall by summer’s end.
This is another great opportunity to put in a plug for winter squash or pumpkins; you may just need to keep winding those wandering vines up the obelisks because they would love to sprawl across your entire garden.
You could plant pole beans on an obelisk, but you may need to add some string to help the beans climb. Check out my next section on panels for the real deal on pole beans.
Panels
We often use panels because of the design of a garden. Imagine a long garden bed like this one, there’s just not a side-by-side set up that’s right for an arch, and the panels in this garden provide growing space that it would take 12 obelisks to match.
Our panels are either made of steel or galvanized wire with a cedar frame. We need them to be beefy because they will eventually support a lot of weight. Honestly, anything can go on a panel, and often it’s the only option in a garden, so we get a little OCD weaving the tomatoes through the grid. Panels are a great options for pole beans because the vertical lines allow for lots of vertical growth, which is exactly what pole beans want to do. In fact, in a garden like this one, we have planted those classic summer field peas on the fence panels and got a nice crop.
There are yet other vertical structures that I haven’t included here, and you can certainly get creative, too. In the past few years, we have built a bean teepee, dozens of berry trellises, and we even created a large pergola that doubles as a shady seating area and a support for hardy kiwi vines. Don’t let your lack of verticals stop you from experimenting in the garden this year. Give us a call for a restock or go find yourself some tall bamboo stakes, and get those plants in the ground! It’s grow time in Nashville!
