I've just built my first raised garden bed that measures 4x16 feet and I'm planning to attach a 16-foot wide cattle panel as a trellis. I'm curious about how many plants I can grow on this trellis. If I try to plant four different types (like cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, squash, and zucchini), will it get too crowded? Or should I just stick to two crops? Also, considering that 8 feet of cucumbers seems like a lot, what advice can anyone share about using a cattle panel for vertical gardening?
4 Answers
In my experience, I can comfortably fit about 16 tomato plants in that space as long as I keep tying them up. If you choose the right cucumber varieties, you could manage 16 of those too. Just a heads up, squash and zucchini tend to spread out a lot, so be careful not to overcrowd. Personally, I mix tomatoes across the trellis and have some lower maintenance stuff like garlic or strawberries as fillers. It’s all about balancing space and type of plants you want to grow!
If you're into green beans, I’d suggest a mix of cucumbers, beans, and cherry tomatoes. They’re great combo plants and should work well on a trellis like yours! Also, remember the square foot gardening technique; with that, it suggests you should regularly prune your tomatoes to keep things manageable. For squash, they have a bush habit, so you'll need to assess whether they’ll climb or not.
Yeah, I’ve had similar experiences. The squashes can be a handful. Keeping them tidy through pruning is key!
We use cattle panels for our garden by making them into arches about 7 feet tall. On one side, we plant 6 tomatoes, and on the other, we usually have some bush beans or basil. We’ve also tried a few zucchini plants, but those do like to sprawl! It’s important to consider what plants can coexist; some will create too much shade for others. So plan accordingly!
Last season I had 12 tomato plants on my 16-foot cattle panel and interspersed them with basil and marigolds for that extra zing. I staggered the tomatoes on either side, and while I've seen people cram them more closely, I'd recommend against it unless you really enjoy pruning! Squash can go on the corners, and you might even let them hang over the side a bit.
You can tie those squash plants to the trellis if you want, but they can get really bushy! I tried that approach once and it worked okay, but it required a lot of upkeep. They actually spread quicker than I anticipated.