11 Garden Trellis Ideas (2024)

Gardeners often feel constrained by the amount of space that they have in their garden. Many treasured vegetables, fruits, and flowers have a significant spread to them, and they take up a lot of real estate in a garden bed.

Growing vertically is a phenomenal solution for using space efficiently, growing more varieties, adding visual appeal and charm to the garden. Plants that creep or climb like creeping roses, wisteria, grapevines, sweet peas, pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, beans, gourds, climbing hydrangeas, or simple morning glories and nasturtiums can be productive showstoppers in the garden with sturdy structures to climb on.

We’ve got 11 garden trellis ideas that will free up space for more varieties of plants, help with plant spacing, and showcase your personal style.

*Pro Tip for Growing Vertically with these 11 Garden Trellis Ideas: “As you plan your garden, be mindful of the light requirements of each plant as well as any shadows that may be cast by trees and other structures in your garden and how those shadows will shift throughout the year.”

1. Wooden Arbor Trellis

Arbors are fantastic choices for vertical gardening, as they offer a sturdy, classic structure for vining plants. They come in a wide array of styles to suit any garden motif or budget, and they can either be purchased at the store or built from scratch if you are handy and eager to take on the challenge.

Depending on what you are growing, you may need to secure the arbor into the ground so it is durable enough to withstand a vigorous vine and nature’s elements.

• Climbing Roses
• Grapevines
• Sweet Peas

• Climbing Hydrangeas
• Wisteria

2. DIY Cattle Panel Tunnel Trellis

Another garden trellis idea is to create a tunnel trellis out of cattle panels and create a magical spot in the garden for climbing plant varieties. To provide support of the cattle panel arch, you can frame it with 1X1 boards. Experiment with different varieties of plants to see which are most vigorous to fill the immense trellises.

Once the vining plants climb and fill in space, you’ll have a lush arched tunnel that will draw tons of attention. Fruits will hang down through the trellis tunnel for easy harvesting.

• Green, Scarlet Runner, or Purple Queen Pole Beans
• Cucuzza Squash
• Other vining squash varieties

• Cucumbers
• Asparagus Beans or Python Beans
• Pumpkins

3. Iron Trellis

Next time you are out at a big box store or garden center looking for garden trellis ideas, keep an eye out for a decorative iron trellis. This stand-alone feature is excellent for ornately growing climbing flowers and veggies. You’ll be amazed how beautifully peas and delicate flowering vine tendrils will meander around the iron decorative features.

4. Raised Bed Panel Trellis

A raised bed panel trellis is a stellar feature to support plants like tomatoes. While not technically a garden trellis idea per se, you can use twine or string to secure your plants by supporting them and wrapping the string around the back of the wall.

5. Upcycled Metal Trellis

Turn trash into treasure with an upcycled metal trellis. If you have an old gazebo frame or canopy frame, you can use the corner features as supports for growing vertically as well.

In this video, Holly shows us how she mounted these metal canopy supports on the side of her home to showcase and support her climbing roses. She recommends scouring through unwanted items that you may already have in your basem*nt or garage that can be repurposed in a similar fashion.

6. Bamboo Teepee Trellis

Another practical and visually appealing garden trellis idea is a teepee trellis. Holly from @bigfamilyliving found an ideal and versatile teepee trellis for under twenty dollars and puts it to great use with vertical gardening.

This beauty of a store-bought garden trellis provides the convenience of accordion-style folding for easy storage when it’s not in use in the garden. It also has lots of surface area and spots for tendrils to take hold as fruits and vegetables climb high.

Types of Plants to Try

• Pole Beans
• Nasturtiums
• Morning Glories

• Sweet Peas
• Cucumbers

7. DIY Raised Bed Netting

Looking for an easy and inexpensive DIY project for your garden this year? A DIY Raised Bed Netting trellis is one of our favorite of our 11 garden trellis ideas. Holly constructed a frame and attached inexpensive trellis netting that she found at her garden center.

• Untreated 2×4
• Stain or sealant (optional)

• Trellis netting
• A staple gun and galvanized staples

8. DIY Wooden Lattice Trellis

Turn a sheet of lattice into a DIY vertical growing trellis charmer! By adding some 1×1 supports around the edges of the sheet of lattice, you can turn a scrap piece of lattice into a study climbing support for all of your favorite vining plants and it doubles as a privacy screen. Dress it up with some of your favorite vining flowers for a wall of color that draws in the pollinators.

9. DIY In-Ground Cattle Panel Trellis

Much like number 7 (DIY Raised Bed Netting) on our list of 11 garden trellis ideas, the DIY in-ground cattle panel trellis is constructed the same way, except that instead of netting, a sturdy cattle panel is attached to the wood frame instead of the trellis netting. The cattle panel is very strong, and you will be able to grow just about any vigorous vine on this garden trellis.

10. Using Pergolas as Trellises

Just like arbors, pergolas also make phenomenal trellises and allow vining plants a solid and permanent structure to climb. This garden trellis idea is particularly ideal for sizeable perennial vining plants with robust vines. You can train vigorous vines to go over the top of the pergola, making quite a statement in the garden.

• Climbing Hydrangea
• Wisteria
• Climbing Roses

• Grapevines
• Kiwi

11. Cattle Panel Chicken Coop Trellis

If you are raising a backyard flock of chickens, you know how much they love to eat plants! Consider building a cattle panel chicken coop trellis to grow some favorite edibles or nasturtiums to add beauty and make feeding them treats a breeze. Some plants are toxic for chickens, so be sure to pick a flock-friendly plant.