It had been my first year of gardening and our vining crops got hit with a BAD case of powdery mildew. After applying an organic fungicide and thinning out affected leaves to improve sunlight and airflow on a weekly basis, we yielded nothing from our watermelon, pumpkins and butternut squash. Absolutely… nothing!
Just as I was planning our second growing season, I saw a splendid idea: a cattle panel arch. It was glorious, functional and I just knew I had to have one.
Or… four!
With only a few items needed, most of which we had on hand, we added an arch to each walkway of our four raised beds, allowing our vining plants to grow vertically.
What did we have to lose?
And, so, we planted butternut squash, watermelon and indeterminate tomatoes, waited and hoped for the best. Although we can’t attest that vertical gardening encourages plants to produce better, as there are LOTS of variables like seed quality, location and weather, we are still in awe of how healthy and happy they looked with adequate air flow. Not to mention, it’s a space saver!
I’d like to think that every decision we have made in the garden was the BEST decision. But, we’re so smitten over our arches (and by the looks of it, our plants were smitten, too) we added another arch this year!
If you are new to vertical gardening, have dealt with fungal issues or are gardening in a small space, we encourage you to add a cattle panel arch to your garden! Besides, if you’ve never walked under an arch while dodging butternut squash, have you really lived life at all?
materials and tools needed
- 16′ Cattle Panel
- 4 T-Posts
- 12 Zip Ties
- Wire Cutters
- Post Driver or Hammer
Let’s get to it: how to build a cattle fence
WALkWAY Step-BY-STEP Instructions
- Determine how wide you want your walkway. For reference, our walkways vary from 3 feet to 4 feet.
- Using a helping hand, start on one side, hammer two t-posts 36″-48″ apart into the ground, ensuring that the flat part of the t-post is facing the inside of your walkway. Repeat this process on the opposite side.
- Carefully place one end of the cattle panel against the t-post. Repeat this process on the opposite side.
- Place three zip ties on each t-post to secure the cattle panel. For reference, we placed a zip tie 3-6 inches from the top, 3-6 inches from the bottom and a zip tie 1/2 way up.
- Snip the excess tip, flush with the pawl of the zip tie.
raised bed step-by-step instructions
- Using a helping hand, start in one raised bed, hammer two t-posts the width of your raised bed apart, ensuring that the flat part of the t-post is facing the inside of your walkway. Repeat this process in the opposite raised bed.
- Carefully place one end of the cattle panel between the inside of the raised bed and the t-post. Repeat this process in the opposite raised bed.
- Place three zip ties on each t-post to secure the cattle panel. For reference, we placed a zip tie 3-6 inches from the top, 3-6 inches from the bottom and a zip tie 1/2 way up.
- Snip the excess tip, flush with the pawl of the zip tie.
