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Best and affordable sweet pea cage

jeremiahgoudreau

6 years ago

Hi all,

I had a great trip to Ireland last fall and fell in love with sweet peas as I was exploring different public gardens! I want to grow an assortment of varieties but Im having a hard time finding structures for them to grow up in.

I was thinking that taking long sticks and tying them together at the top would be my most affordable option but was wondering if anyone had any good online sources for cage like structures? Maybe a little ornate but affordable. Im attaching a picture (not the best) of how they were growing them across the pond. They were about 6' high and rounded.

Thank you for your help!

-Jeremiah

Midcoast Maine

Featured Answer

wantonamara Z8 CenTex

6 years ago

I take winter trimmings from my spring pruning and use them to create structures. They look a little messy in a natural king of way till they are covered, then they look better than any panel that I have used . This is a traditional English technique. They often use willow. I don't have willow. I use whatever I have been pruning like Tecoma stans. I use my "slash" for a dash of sweat pea.

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Comments (12)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
6 years ago
They climb by tendrils so they need something thin to climb on. String, netting or twiggy prunings. Hazel is traditional.
zen_man
6 years ago
Hi Jeremiah,

Re-purposed tomato cages might work.

We have found that cattle panels supported by steel posts make a good support for a lot of things, including indeterminate tomatoes and pole beans.
You might check to see if cattle panels are available locally.

ZM
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
6 years ago
The cattle panels are a great idea. I use an expandable (accordion) bamboo trellis for my sweet peas. Very easy to remove and store once the peas are done flowering.
jeremiahgoudreau
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you for the wonderful suggestions! I will look into the cattle panels and the accordion trellis' :)
nanelle_gw (usda 9/Sunset 14)
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I have this iron thingys in pots. Not really tall enough.

and sometimes I use pea cages in my Earthboxes.
jeremiahgoudreau thanked nanelle_gw (usda 9/Sunset 14)
User
6 years ago
Re-using my prunings. This is exactly what I do - using anything from nice straight hazel rods to thornless roses. Pretty much any woody shrub will yield a decent number of 'pea sticks'. If I use willow though, I make quite certain the stick it in the ground upside down to avoid the inevitable rooting. Just wound together in as rough obelisk, the structures will vanish as the peas spread.

To be fair, I also grow a few sweet peas as cordons, on bamboo canes in a timber support frame...for when I remove the tendrils to keep the stems as long and straight for cutting.

I don't like pea netting because it is a pain, detangling the old stems from the netting at the end of the season.
jeremiahgoudreau thanked User
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
6 years ago
Sorry for the willow reference. I was mistaken there.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Not mistaken, wantonamara. You can use willow and various trellises, obelisks and other supports are commonly made out of it over here. But if you are making them from fresh willow you need to do as Campanula said or dry them out after making but before use. Here's a project if you fancy it. But these are not pea sticks. Those are just twiggy prunings and brush. I use theprunings from my soft fruit bushes. Which also have a tendency to root ....
rob333 (zone 7b)
6 years ago
what I wouldn't give to have access to willow (from coppicing) so that I could wattle edge my garden. Such visions. Any way, I use those bamboo stakes they have at your local garden center for a pea tent. It's at least a natural material, so it blends well.
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Me to. They have some type of willow east of here in the stream beds but none where I am. All I have is cedar and Bacharas neglecta AKA Consumption weed. That actually might be a good substitution if I think of it. Quick growing reedy straight flexible growth and I get a tax exemption for ripping it out. Look here, they also call it False Willow. HMMMM.
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I do a bit of basketry and it is surprising what materials can be used. I use hazel or sweet chestnut for framing and clematis, honeysuckle and dogwoods for weaving...as well as willow and canes/grasses and even bizarre stuff like plastic packing tape. Its just a weave. Anything which retains enough flex, often after soaking - ie. willow, will do. The important parts are the joins and the 'recipes' - tools are basically a knife, a tamper and secateurs. many useful books and vids are appearing as we all find a desperate urge to seek our latent inner crafter (in these dark days).

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