I have used cattle panels, old wooden pallets, small branches leaned against the shed.

I am not sure growing Butternut Squash on a trellis is a good idea. They are pretty heavy and each squash would need a support. I just let mine ramble on mulched beds.

Wouldn't the squash eventually choke themselves if grown too close? Maybe i'll just thin out this year

This is a shot in the dark, but at a local salvage place we saw old porch railings (the metal ones). With a quick coat of spray paint, these might make a decent trellis if lain upon their end. I think they were $5-15 each, but I'll bet some places are happy just to get rid of them.

How about craigslist in the free section? I found a metal plant stand there for outside use with shelves and that would work. Mine is three tiered and you could train it to grow along the plant stand and use the shelves for the squash! Mine is like this one but not as fancy but I think that you get the idea.

http://kansascity.craigslist.org/hsh/1081073350.html

My mother used to grow squashes on a trellis. She used a stocking to support the weight by tying it to the fence.

Something that I've used as a trellis is an old wooden ladder. Painted it green and stuck it in the yard. Looks nice.

Florrie

This sounds difficult but it isn't. First, I found one that was discarded and the frame was made out of metal conduit that runs elec wires in houses and connects to those boxes (junction or light). It is 1/2" diameter and to bend it you need a tube bender made for bending it. or you can buy the 90degree end pieces and tighten the screw to hold it together.

Or you can buy 1/2" pvc pipe and connections.

Either way you make a frame the size you want and stand it up against something. Then you get wire coat hangers and attach a row of them to the top of the frame. Where each hanger touches the other you take a piece of heavy wire (not quite the thickness of the coat hanger) and tie each coat hanger end to the adjoining one and then each end to the frame. Now use the bottom of the row of coat hangers to attach the hooks of the next row of hangers and secure them together and to the sides of the frame. The one I found the maker had opened each coat hanger and slipped one end into the near coat hanger and then retwisted the top but I think this is too much work.

What I have is a frame about 5' wide and 6' tall with coat hangers in the middle for climbing plants to climb up on.
I need to repaint it this year and build my second one out of pvc pipe cause I have lots of that and end pieces also. I will probably use tees and make a couple of horizontal cross pieces but will use coat hangers in the field. Plastic ones might work also. Strong tape should attach them together. Then spray paint the whole thing with fusion paint.

If I can I will post a pic later. Camera died I think. Glad I took out the warranty, if I can find it.

BTW: I heard that if you put the squash, melon or whatnot in a nylon stocking and secure it to the trellis, it will grow in there and there won't be a hanging weight problem.

I'm trying really hard to visualize this wiley, but I think you're gonna have to show me a picture :). So far I'm thinking of a closet

I went to a rummage sale and bought a used soccer net. It is made of pvc. I grow cukes, peas and beans up it. Old bed springs work too!

Hi all. I am a long time lurker, checking in for real now. You guys are great!

Just a comment about the squash needing separate support: the square foot gardening guy--Mel something?-- did experiments with vertical growing of melons and found that they develop strong stems as they grow in the hanging position and end up supporting their own weight. He had prepared all kinds of supports, but found he did not need them. That said, I found that they tend to slide down the trellis from their own weight, unless you have plenty of horizontals in your trellis.

As for free, no-building-skills-required trellis, I had a lucky situation on our property. We took down a hemlock hedge, but left the trunks standing about six feet high. They are about five feet apart, along a 25" side of our yard. Now we tie a horizontal string at top and bottom, and run verticals between them. It looks a little funky. Some of our friends are REALLY impressed, the rest just don't comment! I expect that over the years, the dead roots will stop supporting the trunks and our free lunch will be over. We are at five years and counting.

Have a fantastic spring, all.
Hepatica

Hepatica:
Good to hear of your hemlock hedge as I tried something once and the inlaws questioned my sanity. they could not visualize me using a row of boxelder(?) trees for climbing plants.
Once I cleaned out my garage gutter finally. About five yrs ago. In it were about a dozen little trees growing in the muck. I transplanted them in a row on the other side of my fence near the city sidewalk. Almost all grew and are now about 10 tall. I trim them a little and they suit their intended purpose; Add greenery, make a place for birds to land while they check out my feeders, and now as I move my fence to the other side of them, they will be supports for verticle gardening as you describe.

That is if spring will ever come to Minnesota.