Garden Trellis

A garden trellis is a lattice structure used to support climbing plants as they grow. I recently bought a passionfruit plant, and needed a trellis to grow it on. I was keen on trying to reuse as much scrap material as possible, as it was going into the garden anyway. I also did not want to use the pine lattices available at Bunnings / Masters, as they are made from Copper-Chrome-Arsensate (CCA) treated pine.

Scrap 2x4s (90x45mm) structural pine was used to create a frame. Pine is not particularly durable, but it should last for more than a few years, given that it is not directly in the ground.

The lengths were dressed with the planer to remove the surface grime - they were previously used to support my surface grinder. The target frame size is 1500x1200mm.

A 1/2" round grove was cut in the sides. This allows the wires to be flush with the sides after they were installed, and allows me to bolt on additional trellises in the future as required. 8mm holes were drilled at 100mm intervals. Screw holes were also drilled at the ends where required.

The members were positioned accurately with my homemade 90 degree welding jig and C-Clamps before being screwed together. An impact wrench makes this easy.

The fence was "weaved" with 4mm pneumatic hose. I am not sure how well these will hold up to UV and the weight of the plane (they are rather stretchy), but there was a lot available. It will be replaced if necessary. The fit against the fence was tested below. 

A total of 6 galvanised angle brackets hold the trellis against the existing garden fence.
4 angle brackets at the base align it to the sandstone blocks.

Two angle brackets at the top clip into a gap in the fence overhang.

This creates a surprisingly rigid attachment. The trellis won't go anywhere without the fence, and did not require any modifications to the existing structures.

The trellis was finished with an Exterior Stain and Varnish product in "New Jarrah" colour (same as my floating floor).

Let's grow some passionfruit!