Wasn't sure where to put this, so I'll post it here.

Today (Monday) I made a trellis/arch out of pvc and vinyl lattice. Finished most of it after it got dark because this time I had enough sense to wait until it got cooler (although today was overall much cooler than yesterday). Anita wanted a "gateway" arbor to the side lawn so I came up with this.

Material needed is a sheet of vinyl lattice, four 10ft lengths of bendable 1/2 inch pvc (key word is BENDABLE pvc), a couple of 1/2 inch pvc T's, two pvc connectors (1/2 inch), four pvc 1/2 inch elbows, some 8 inch zip ties and purple pvc primer (I guess it comes in different colors now, why, I don't know, because you don't see the stuff anyway, but whatever!). The final design I kind of made up as I went along. I am not one to sit down and draw things out!

I cut the vinyl lattice length-wise into 2 pieces, then lashed them end-to-end with zip ties to form about a 14.5ft length of lattice about 2ft wide. (This would make about a 7ft arch). I cut one of the 10ft lengths of pvc in half and joined them with the connectors to two of the 10ft lengths to form two 15ft lengths. I then cut the 15ft lengths in the middle and inserted the Ts and about a 1ft 10 inch piece of pvc between them (this ain't rocket science). The purpose of the cross piece is to keep the vinyl lattice from folding or bowing cross-wise, and also to keep the 15ft lengths of pvc from sliding as you zip-tied them to the lattice. The elbows go on the ends with two more pieces of pvc to go between them.

After the whole thing is zipped-tied up, it's pretty much good to go. In the pictures I still need to trim the zip ties, plus I forgot the elbows for the ends. The pros to this is that it's entirely movable and so easy even I can do it!

After consulting with Anita, I put it between two 6ft planters in-line with the arch (see the pictures). Anita wanted to use the planter I had in front of the shed, but problem was that the Orange Trumpet Vine that needs to climb on the lattice was in the middle of the planter because that's where I originally had one piece of the lattice I used. I was reluctant to move the plants, but it was the easiest and most practical solution, so I changed the vine and the Purple-Blue sage plant around so that the vine would be on the end.

One thing I was going to do but didn't because I got lazy was paint the pvc bright red because the plants, particularly the vine, are hummingbird attractors, and hummers like bright red.

I'll post more pictures in the morning when it's light out.

CORRECTIONS: I used 1/2 inch bendable pvc, not 2 inch like I originally said.

As promised, here are daylight pictures of the finished project. As an added bonus, a picture of a large bumblebee that stayed on the blue-purple sage all night, including when I dug it out to change places with the vine.

I had enough time before work to run down to the hardware store and get the 1/2 inch elbows to finish the bottom, plus I trimmed and cauterized the ends of the zip ties. I'm sure the whole process can be refined and modified to fit one's particular tastes, skills, equipment and patience you have to work with.

Really good idea on building a sturdy trellis!
Thanks for sharing your project.

Aloha Greg,

Great ideas, now you make me want to build a hoop green house with PVC Pipe using some of your construction ideas.
Will have to price out the pipe and joints. I will have to go online to see how to attach the plastic sheet to the PVC pipe. Maybe I could run a bead of glue on the outside of the PVC pipe and then stretch the plastic tight.
I know there are lots of ideas on youtube. Just have to make the time.

Good job on the trellis, Greg; thanks for sharing your project with us! (I personally think that one can never have too many places to grow climbing plants on...)

One concern may be that the PVC will break down fairly quickly from UV rays, unless it's a certain type -- "schedule" something or other, I believe it's gray in color. Or, painting the white kind will help protect it too, so you may want to reconsider doing the red paint

@microb, if you're thinking of building a PVC greenhouse, here's a link to an article about constructing a simple one:
http://garden.org/ideas/view/B...

There's also a "garden structures" forum here that might have some other ideas for you.

Thanks Sandy, interesting link.

Cool idea! You may want to submit this to the Ideas and Articles section so it can be published on the main page. Plus you get acorns!

Weedwhacker said:Good job on the trellis, Greg; thanks for sharing your project with us! (I personally think that one can never have too many places to grow climbing plants on...)

One concern may be that the PVC will break down fairly quickly from UV rays, unless it's a certain type -- "schedule" something or other, I believe it's gray in color. Or, painting the white kind will help protect it too, so you may want to reconsider doing the red paint

I googled it. From what the first article says, it mostly discolors it, which by itself I'm not concerned about since the vine plants (we got another vine for the other side today) will cover most of it eventually (another reason I didn't paint it). Plus the fact that here in the PNW, we don't get a lot of sunlight over the course of the year. However, it does say "impact strength" is weakened, which would also mean tensile (bendable) strength. Googling "uv resistant pvc" comes up with other articles that also say it will get brittle over time.

http://www.jmeagle.com/pdfs/Te...

http://forum.earthbox.com/inde...

So for the next one, I'll be sure to paint it, or, switch to cattle panel, it's available at Home Depot. That was actually my first choice, but at the time I didn't know HD carried it, thought it was only at farm specialty stores.

Hi. I want to make a row cover for my raised bed using 1/4 or 1/2 inch pvc pipe. My beds are only 36" wide and I'm wondering if PVC pipe will bend that much without heating it. Anyone with experience using PVC pipe out there who can tell me what sort of curve I can get over a 3 foot width. I'm hoping to have enough height so that the curve doesn't compromise the growing space at the edges of the bed.

I'm going to buy a length on the weekend to experiment, but wondered if there are any known formulas out there. Any suggestions for other cheap and easy materials that might work better?

Thanks!

I think you'll need much longer than 3 feet if you want to hoop over a span of 3 feet.

@echloe - I use PVC pipe for all kinds of supports; first, I don't think you can get it in 1/4", but the 1/2" is easy to work with. It usually comes in 10-foot lengths; that would probably be a little long for a 3-foot-wide bed, I would go with something like 8-foot lengths, which would give you a support a little over 3 feet tall in the center. You can buy short lengths of "rebar" (used for concrete work) that can be pounded into the ground and the pipe slipped over them to anchor it down. Hope that helps - happy gardening!

Echloe
You could drive metal rods in the ground on both sides of your row and slide the pvc onto the rod. The narrower pvc size should bend nicely to slip onto the rod.
Hmmmm...you're giving me ideas....