No, I don't think you are missing anything. ;) It's just expensive.

I posted a hyperlink below to your site to make it easier for others to go to.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cuke Trellis in question

Seems high to me too...Wal-Mart and Tru-Value carry a plastic mesh that I use a lot in my garden.....It's cheap and does a great job...you could easily make one...If you have something like a fence to attach it to, it would be super easy.

I like the idea, particularly for keeping lettuce shaded. And yes, I'm sure you could make one for a LOT less than $70! A person could also make one of these, bigger and taller, for tomato plant support. Don't know if you could plant lettuce under it though.

It does look super easy to make. I may consider making one for my melons. I bet there'd be instructions either online or in a gardening/woodworking book.

You could also cover the trellis with a gauzy fabric in the spring and set your seedlings under it to begin to harden them off.

If you made one, you'd need to attach it to the earth and stabilize it somehow, or a strong puff of wind could carry it and your plants away.

Gardeners is waaay overpriced on many things. They typically send out catalogs for $25 off your order.

It's kind of their 'scam'. Give away $25, but charge tons for their stuff and add overpriced shipping at check out.

{{gwi:51986}}

It's expensive because there are people out there who have no problem spending money on such products because it's ready made. As said above, get some lumber, some chicken wire, wood glue, galvanized screws, a couple of nuts and bolts, and a friend with a saw and you can make it yourself easily.

I built this with 4 T-Posts and a length of welded wire mesh (concrete reinforcing mesh.

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{{gwi:51987}}

Here is a photo of the cucumbers getting ready to start climbing. I pile grass clippings under the wire to save weedeating around the plants. I do plant radish and lettuce under it as well.

This is slighlty off subject, but I have set up a wire (for electric fences) between two metal posts. Off of this wire, I drop some cheap rope/twine (jute it's called...maybe). It's not very thick...I think it's rated to 8 lbs. I have one rope/twine per Kentucky Wonder plant. Before they grow too tall for me to change my setup, will the plants be able to climb and "grip" this one rope well enough to stay attach through normal wind or do I need to change to some sort of trellis where there is more for the beans to "hold on to"?

Not sure how well those would work. The cucumbers would grow over that in no time. I dont think they would save much space. Very expensive, but you know there are those out there that will spend the money, just to do it instead of making the thing themselves.

westtexan...pole beans grow outward as well as straight up. They will criss-cross each other several times, over - provided they are planted close enough and they do like to be planted close together (every couple of inches is just fine) I would be more worried about that single wire holding up all those ropes. I use some fairly heavy fencing for my beans and by the time it is ready to start picking, you can hardly even see the fence they are so thick.

I was hoping to add 2 beds this year. They are almost in place, just have to add compost and soil to fill the raised beds.
My plan for one of the beds was to put in some metal fence posts and put wire up that then tent it to about 6'. I'll grow green beans and other viners on that and grow my lettuces and other cool lovers under that.
Cost: several metal fence posts from neighbor's old fence-0, metal fencing left over from sister's fencing project-0, compost, home made-0, aged horse manure-got from the neighbor who just cleaned out her barn-0, several railroad tie Anniversary gift from sister)-0,load of good garden soil for raised bed (have to do that here, total clay and high water table, also LOTS of gophers!)about $30, wire to keep out gophers about $20.
So, for about $50, I have a 4'x8' bed as opposed to a 30" screen to shade stuff. NT

I wonder if anyone could help. That photo above gave me a good idea. I have a fence about 3 ft away from my raised bed. between the bed and the fence is about 4 strawberry plants (already with a few berries green of course poking out) if I attached the mesh to the fence instead of wood would it cover the strawberries to much? they would still get sun probably until noon but not after.

I did a search here about a month ago for 'cucumber trellis.' The link below is one of many I found. Scroll down about 17 posts to 'hunter tx' for an arch made from a cattle panel. Scroll down a little farther for instructions. I made 5 yesterday at a cost of 14.88 each.

They really were easy to make, but would be easier with two people. Here are additional thoughts: Fold over with you on the outside. Somehow after reading the instructions I thought I would be standing in the middle and walking backwards. I couldn't make it work that way.

To get an ideal arch, put plenty of crease in the panel. Then put two railroad ties parallel to each other with an interior spacing of exactly 5 feet, staking the ties on the outside. Set the arch between the two ties, then reach up and pull down. Do this before you cut off the botton horizontal wire. Again it is easier if you have one person on each end, but it isn't mandatory.

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cucumber trellis

I like Gardeners. I get a lot of my stuff from there.

One thing I may use for peas and tomatoes, though, is simply tree branches. Cut off the side branches and twigs and stick one or two of them next to the plant. I have a lot of trees. Limbs have fallen, and I've had to prune some dead branches, so I have plenty of raw material.

Everything at Gardners Supply has been outrageously expensive for the last 35 years and probably longer.

I guess they figure the way to get rich is to charge the most and get rich selling a few.

I get a lot of gardening catalogs. They don't seem any more or less expensive than anywhere else.

seedmama,

There is another discussion here regarding cattle panel arches/trellises.

{{gwi:51988}}
(no, not me) ;)

Did you ever make anything orangedragonfly?

Orangedragonfly, may I ask how you arrived at that name, handle or what ever you call it?

I ask because many years ago, vacationing in a remote spot there were bright orange dragonflies around a pool at the base of a high waterfall that few people knew about or had access to. I was told by an Entomologist who was there to study the diverse insect population that this remote little corner of Texas was the only place in the world that they existed. That could possibly have been true at the time, and may still be, but I am thinking that I saw some on one of the Discovery Channel's National Geographic programs from some place in Africa. The program did not focus on them, they were just in a scene of two if I remember correctly and the colors were true on the film. Just curious.

I know that this was off topic and I hope that you will forgive that. To comment relating to the topic, yeah I think that is way too high, and then shipping would probably be very expensive for something that would be easily built.
Thanks
Bill P.

Did you ever make anything orangedragonfly?>>>> not yet violet, I am going to go up instead of sideways. Looking back at that product it would have been WAY to small. I am just going to have my husband make a laddar type trelis going across that end of the raised bed and guide them up as they get bigger. I ended up putting a few toms on the other side so I can go across to the fence.

Orangedragonfly, may I ask how you arrived at that name, handle or what ever you call it? >>>>>>>

Bill im so glad you asked this. Its really a sweet story. Last year we bought our house in the spring, I put my first veggie garden in . Starting around the end of July I had 2 dragon fly's show up every day starting at 10 am. LOL every day at the same time. I had some of those green stakes that my green beans where growing up and they would each perch on one...and sit there. I would go out and sit and read, and they would stay there , occasionally fly around , come back. sit with me. My younger daughter named them Orange and avacado (one had a orange strip and the other was green and blue)

every day they would leave around 2:30pm , which ironically was the time I would go in every day b.c I had to get ready for work.

I came home from a afternoon of picking blueberries with my husbands grandmother and guess what was sitting on top of the tomato stake, a dragon fly. love it. what is the life span of a dragon fly?