Ready to give your garden beds a boost? Learn how to build a DIY garden trellis arch that’s perfect for supporting cucumbers, green beans, and other climbing plants. It’s easier than you might think—no expert skills are needed!
Ever feel like your vegetable garden is just a tad too small for your big gardening dreams?
I get it.
We only have two relatively smaller raised beds in our backyard, and we love cucumbers, sweet peas, and other climbing veggies, but our garden beds were just too small to accommodate these sprawling plants.
Trying to squeeze all your favorite veggies into a small garden space can feel like playing Tetris with plants—fun but frustrating!
You’ve probably noticed that without enough space, your plants can get tangled, overcrowded, and just plain unhappy.
Not to mention, your harvest might be a lot less bountiful than you hoped.
So, to solve this dilemma, we had to go vertical.
We decided to build this arched trellis after seeing similar ideas for cattle panel trellises on Pinterest.
And let me tell you, it’s a game-changer!
Creating this DIY garden arch trellis was a simple way to maximize our space and give our climbing plants the room they needed to thrive.
Plus, it’s a pretty cool looking focal point too!
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced gardener, these step-by-step instructions will help you easily build your own beautiful and functional garden trellises and make your plants (and yourself) happier.
We also have some personal tips and lessons learned along the way to share so be sure to stay tuned!
This post is all about how to build a garden arch trellis.
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How to Build a DIY Raised Garden Bed Trellis
TL;DR
We built our DIY arch trellis for vegetables with T-posts, wire fencing, and PVC pipe support. Plant your climbing veggies and enjoy a bountiful harvest!
Materials Needed
Below are the materials we used to build our cucumber trellis for our raised beds.
We have linked products from Home Depot, but you can likely find what you need at your local farm supply and hardware stores.
- 4 six ft. studded fence posts: Green Steel Fence Heavy Duty U-Post with Anchor Plate
- Fencer wire: 3 ft. Galvanized Steel Green PVC Coated Welded Wire
- Black zip ties
- 2 1/2 inch PVC pipe: IPEX – 1/2 in. x 10 ft. White PVC SCH 40 Potable Pressure Water Pipe
- Green spray paint (optional): Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch 2X – 12 oz. Gloss Hunter Green General Purpose Spray Paint
A couple of notes about our chosen supplies:
1. We originally wanted to build our arch with a steel cattle panel as it would have been a stronger material, but we couldn’t easily find any panels less than 4 feet wide, which would have been too wide for our existing garden beds.
2. The needed widths and heights of each material will vary based on your individual garden design.
3. Your zip ties can be any color, but I prefer black because it blends in better with the fencing.
4. If you use a cattle panel, you may not need the PVC pipes for support, but I can’t say for sure since we haven’t tested one with a steel cattle panel yet.
5. The spray paint ended up scratching a bit on the PVC pipe. We probably would have had better luck if we had primed first and done a top coat, but we were looking for a quick and easy solution, not perfection, so this worked.
Step-by-Step Guide:
1. Insert the fence stakes
The first step is to insert your four fence stakes into the ground at your desired width. These will act as your support posts for your arch.
Our stakes are each 6 ft tall from the ground level.
If you put your stakes directly into the ground instead of a raised bed, you will likely need taller stakes so that you have a tall trellis you can walk under (which I highly recommend).
If you’re using raised garden beds like ours, place the stakes on the inside corners of each bed.
This was the perfect fit for our 3 ft wide beds.
2. Install the wire fencing
Next, unroll your wire fencing and install it onto the posts.
Make sure you latch it into each notch on the fence stake to secure it properly.
As you install, wrap the fencing over to the posts on the other side in an arch shape.
Take a step back to ensure you like the overall height and shape of the arch before securing it to the opposite posts.
Remember, it’s better to tweak now than regret later!
3. Paint the PVC pipe (optional)
If you’re like me and want everything to look cohesive, spray paint your PVC pipe green (or whatever color you want that will match your fencing).
I used Rustoleum 2x ultra-cover spray paint.
I’m going to be honest here and say that it just worked okay.
It scratched a bit during installation, but it still looks way better than plain white.
4. Install the PVC Pipe
Fit the PVC pipe into the fence stakes on the inside of the trellis, drill small holes through the pipe to anchor it more firmly, and secure it with zip ties.
For this step, it really helps to have two people: someone who can hold the PVC pipe in place and someone who can drill the holes where they need to go.
You could probably also use a piece of wire to tie through the holes, but zip ties were the easiest way for us to get a tight fit.
Our first year without the PVC pipe ended in a collapsed arch under the weight of an insane amount of cucumbers.
Lesson learned!
The finished garden arch
Building a homemade garden trellis for our raised beds was an easy DIY project.
It took less than an hour to put together and has hugely benefited our garden’s functionality and beauty.
Overall, it cost us probably around $100 to complete, but that’s a great value for the price and size compared to pre-made metal trellises you can buy online.
It’s also a great conversation starter, as people are seriously impressed with how cool it looks.
Planting and Maintenance:
What to grow:
- Cucumbers (our top pick—they grow like crazy!)
- Snap peas (great for variety)
- Other climbing plants like pole beans, vine tomatoes, grape vines, or even flowers like morning glories. Here’s a list of edible climbing plants if you want more ideas.
Tips and tricks:
- Tie your vining plants with twine to guide their growth. This helps them climb the arch and makes harvesting easier.
- Monitor the weight on your DIY garden arch trellis, and be careful with really heavy plants. Last year, our cucumbers were so heavy on top of the arch that they nearly brought the whole thing down! Basically, I earned a master’s degree in “How to Overload a Trellis,” but we’re hoping with the additional support of the PVC supports added to the trellis design this year, arch collapses will be a thing of the past.
Benefits of arch trellises:
- Space-Saving: Vertical gardening in raised beds is a great way to free up growing space for other plants.
- Healthier Plants: Better air circulation reduces the risk of disease.
- Easier Harvesting: No more bending or searching through tangled vines.
- Aesthetically Pleasing: Garden arches add a beautiful garden structure to your yard.
Conclusion:
We hope this guide on how to build a raised bed garden trellis will help you create a sturdy and attractive arch for your climbing plants.
Good luck!
May your harvest be as abundant as ours was (seriously, we were picking 5-10 cucumbers every couple of days from just two plants)!
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