Looks good!

Thank you, holly-2006.

I added the center supports and the nylon mesh on the north side today, so I'm officially done with my trellis. It got too dark to take another picture, so I'll do that tomorrow and post it tomorrow night.

Beautiful work! I'm sure shading the plants from the harsh sun will come in handy soon!

That trellis design don't make no sense to me....I do understand how it could be used to shade stuff though.

Living in North Texas where the July and August and early September temperatures can be 98 to 105 and sometimes as much as 110 or so, I decided I wanted to be able to shade my plants, especially my tomatoes, to avoid sun scald and reduce temperatures in the shade by a few degrees on the hottest days. So I designed my trellis to securely support sun shade cloth. The four corner design also provides some stability for the lightweight conduit structure. If I'd have used galvanized gas pipe, that would not be an issue, but EMT conduit is lighter.

That was my thinking, anyway. The design may still not make sense, but at least you can see in this photo the finished result with the center supports and the trellis netting in place. I also have some okra positioned next to a couple of the other poles on the south side.

I will admit I don't know what I'm doing. I'm pretty much just winging it. :-)

how you gonna keep the netting from slidin down the conduit? And I figure it's gonna sag real bad in the middle.I'm not tryin to bash ya or anything -i'm just tryin to help.

That structure will serve you well if you were to ever get a hail storm or high winds. Throw a tarp over that and you're laughing!

THis is beautiful and for a novice you seem to be doing exceptionally well with this. Good luck. I'm new this year but so far things haven't taken off in my yard yet... I planted late and we're having a wierd spring here in the bay area.

I do agree with the ole' boy... your trellis may not be attached enough along the top to give a lot of support, depending on what you're growing up the trellis. For me, my framework is high like yours, so I just hung my trellis all the way up to 6-7' tall so it could attach to the top bar. If it was me, I'd probably try to string some netting pieces/or string from the top bar down to the top of the netting below, or if cost wasn't an issue I'd probably use a new taller piece and save the one you already cut for some other trellis. (B'cuz you KNOW you're going to get so hooked on this you'll be doing more, right? LOL)

Good luck.
-k

Yrdling - you have a beautiful garden.When designing one, I firmly believe that beauty should be one of it's greatest attributes.Functionality and performance should be high on the list,as well.I'm gonna have to agree with the others on the trellis.I feel that it will not be satisfactory to your needs.The ole' boy has made some good points about the netting - and how it is supported or fastened.Take my advice, and learn from others on here.We are all here for you, if you need help.Take care

Thank you all for the compliments and the cautions and concerns. I do look carefully at other people's setups too, and I've seen others that use conduit and nylon nets, only they are usually attached on the top pole, and mine isn't (yet).

I am somewhat concerned that the netting will be strong enough once the weight of the plants and fruit accumulate. It is just tied right now all along the side poles using the nylon strings of the net itself. It is tied at the top on the middle wooden support with polyester cord.

As it is, it is really hard to slide the strings up and down the poles. The knots are really tight. I suspect that with a lot of weight the net might slide down anyway. Gravity is persistent.

I bought two more nets and I will tie it to the top of the existing netting and to the top horizontal of the trellis when the plants start weighing it down. But that's not all. I don't really trust those nylon strings for tieing up to the poles, so I plan to secure the netting on the poles with plastic zip ties too. You can get those really tight. I ran out of the right size, so it'll have to wait until I can get to the hardware store to pick up some more.

Originally I wasn't planning on using the nylon netting. I was just going to run a wire from the top horizontal down to the edge of the SFG box, and train the tomatoes up the wire. That is still an option on the table at this point. Also, I can tie horizontal string around the poles and the plants if I need to, and if I do, I'll use zip ties on the pole to secure the string. But in reality, the galvanized conduit is not quite a smooth as it looks. It has a bit of grip to it, so I don't think I'll have to go to extraordinary lengths to keep my vegetables going upward.

But we'll see. This is all definitely experimental for me, since I have no experience.

yrdling - the zip ties may work good enough.You could also install a hose clamp on the upright pieces (under each knot).Hmmm....I think I would go with the large zip ties, and use the tool that is intended for use on them to snug it up real tight.That should work well enough for most plants.Of course,you'll have to come up with a different setup - if you decide to grow the larger items.Take care.