Cow panel trellises are a great way to add vertical growing space to your garden for a few cents compared to other arbors and trellises.
Cattle panels, also known as hog panels or hog wire, are welded wire panels originally manufactured as easily movable fencing sections for enclosing cows and pigs. They are typically made from heavy-duty 4-gauge wire and are 50 inches wide and 8 or 16 feet long. At about $25 for the 16-foot size, they're an affordable way to add vertical growing space to your garden, especially for vegetables. They're covered with a thick zinc coating, called galvanized, which will last at least 20 years outdoors.
There are many ways to use a cow panel trellis in your garden, but here we will focus on creating a trellis and arbor. Before you start, make sure you have chosen a sunny location for placing your trellis, and also take into account the excellent screening effect provided by these structures. By mid-season these are covered in greenery so you can easily have privacy and grow more food at the same time.
tomato wall trellis
material
1- 16ft x 50inch Cow Panel/Pig Panel
3- T-post, about 8-10 feet tall (your decision)
3-4 feet – 14-gauge tie wire cut into 6-inch sections (or about 3 heavy-duty zip ties per T-post)
tool
sledge hammer or post driver
tape measure
gloves
bolt cutter
direction
Use bolt cutters to cut the 16-foot cattle panel in half to create two 8-foot-by-50-inch pieces. You can also clip another row of sections onto the bottom of the cattle panel pieces to give you more room to press the panel deeper into the ground or rely more on the T-posts for stability.
Measure where you want to place the three T-posts from the center point of the tomato wall trellis, making sure that all three posts are in a very straight line. Drive three T-posts several feet into the ground. You must leave at least 6 feet of height above the ground to support the cow panels.
Cut the tie wire into 6-inch sections. Place the two sections of the cow panel vertically in front of the T-posts and secure them in three places on each T-post with zip ties or zip ties.
cow panel arch
material
One 16' x 50' cow panel/pig panel
4 T-shaped posts approximately 4 to 8 feet tall (optional)
4-5'- 14 gauge tie wire cut into 6 inch sections (or about 3 heavy duty cable ties per T-post)
tool
sledge hammer or post driver
tape measure
gloves
direction
Drive two T-shaped posts 4 feet apart (slightly less than the width of the cattle pen) to a depth of several feet. The width of the arch can be changed depending on the space available. Measure whether the two sets of posts are vertical to create a straight arbor.
After the T-posts are hammered in, you will need a few people to bend them and place the cattle panels on the inside of the T-posts. Shape and bend the top of the arch and secure it with multiple tie wires or zip ties.
grow vertically
These trellis walls are some of the most productive square footage in our gardens. Plants like tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, melons, and squash all grow healthier from the ground. These trellises give your plants excellent airflow and reduce the incidence of disease. You can also get more sunlight by creating a south-facing plant wall. These cow panel trellises give gardeners easy access to tie and weave plants, and also make pruning and harvesting easier.
These cow panels are truly the Swiss Army Knife of the garden. Once you start growing with them, the possibilities are endless.
This article about cow panel trellis vertical gardening was written for Hobby Farm Online. Click here to subscribe.