My bramble trellis system, that consists simply of T-posts top-connected with 2x2 cedar and a couple of lower wires, has lasted over 15 years, was inexpensive, and required no digging or diagonal bracing.
Larry, I know your system works well. I was of the impression that it was involved to construct. Maybe it was the wood that threw me.
Would you recommend it for floppy canes?
If available, could you post or email a picture or diagram of the cedar/T-post interface?
Be careful bending cattle panels. It could result in trip to the emergency room. (Been there, done that!)
A person could construct it with a hand saw, my table saw made the wood portion more precise. The trick to drilling the Tposts is a high-quality, sharp bit.
I put a slot in one side of about 2 feet of 2x2 cedar and plugged that over the stem of the āTā near the top of the post and screwed it on. The horizontal wood just screws on to the vertical wood. The image shows three dimensions because I top-attached 3 separate 10-foot rows. For a single 15-foot row, I would suggest 4 Tposts. The 2x6 horizontal wood bars with the two wires a foot apart are optional, as a single wire run through the Tposts at two different levels would work as well. I used small eyebolts in the end Tposts to attach the single wires, this allows for some tensioning by running a nut up and down the eyebolt thread.
The trellis does fine on ālimp noodleā varieties such as Obsidian and thornless Boysen.
All tie-ons are done using short pieces of macrame, as it is easy to unknot and re-use year after year.
Larry, Iāve decided to do something similar to yours, with a low horizontal wire, a pair higher and horizontal compression bracing at the top.
Iāve ordered some cheats as an indulgence. It should be fun.
For the top Iāll use Wedge-Loc horizontal braces and T-Posts. I think I have more like 12-14 feet to span, so I will use 3 vertical posts per row with 2 horizontal braces connecting the tops like yours.
For the Cross member Iāll try a T-post Steel to Wood Adapter. Maybe just at the two ends, but weāll see.
For the wire, I want to experiment with 8 Gauge monofilament (plastic) and knock-off gripples.
Mine should be interesting sinces its on a slope. I have to decide if I want to run things level full length, level stepped, or parallel to the ground.
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Sounds good, perhaps I will visit it some day. The key to this type of trellis arrangement is the top cross-piece. It sturdies the whole assembly and eliminates bracing and major tensioning systems and serves as another tie-off point. Mine has not rusted out and has supported heavy TC crop loads.
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I really like what you did with that Murky. It looks very good and sturdy.
Thanks clarkinks, but just to be clear. I havenāt built it yet. The picture with the T-Posts and the cross brace is a promotional photo for the Wedge-Loc brand fittings.
My intent is to recreate the type of structure Larry is using, minus the woodworking.
The red part made like the 1st picture in my earlier post and the blue portion from the 2nd picture.
This portion,(red) cut from Larryās trellis would be made with 3 T-posts to form the verticals and horizontal cross compression brace on the top.
The side arms (blue) would be formed from 2x4s bolted or screwed to the steel brackets in my second picture. Iāll drill holes in them and use a gripple on one end to keep the 8 gauge monofilament wire tight.
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My wire is that green vinyl-coated stranded steel stuff fairly common in stores, I donāt think it is heavier than 12-gauge, if that.
Although I have kept and maintained my side-arms over the years, the trick is to tension each wire evenly to keep the arms at each end of the row parallel. During the growing season, unless the berry patch is checked often, canes tend to grow up outside the upper wire pair and I have to loosen and withdraw one wire to place the wayward canes inside the perimeter during autumn training, so a way to easily drop one wire comes in handy.
Thanks for the tip on dropping the wire. For long runs, the monofilament is elastic enough to bend down and then release. But for my 7-14 foot runs, that wonāt be the case. Maybe Iāll use an eye-bolt one one end or something.
I have a new simple system I have been using for blackberries and have been pleasantly surprised with how it is working in my small plantings. I just put in one big stake for each plant, 7-8ā pounded a foot or more into the ground. When any cane touches the ground I tie it to the big stake so its no longer on the ground. Done. It ends up looking vaguely like one of those āegg beaterā windmills if you have ever seen them, the canes loop way out and then come back in to the stake (and then out again etc). When I originally put it in the plants were small and I planned to put in a trellis later, but the posts are still working. The plants spread out a whole lot more than you would ever imagine. I find posts with bumps are best, you donāt want the string sliding down from where you tied it.
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Scott
Bet that works great for a small planting. Tying the canes to individual stakes like you describe was a popular practice for Dewberries in my state at one point. Weeds were controlled by mowing down the row and across the rows between the stakes.
Iād love to see a picture if its convenient some time.
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Sure, heres a couple marginal night shots (its getting dark by the time I am home from work):
The top ones are 1st or 2nd year and the bottom one (Osage) is third year. As you can see I am fairly sloppy in how I tie them up, I just make sure they are off the ground. The top one has some extra posts from the original planting that are too short, its not exactly one post per plant there.
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That is a perfectly good setup. Triple Crown, unless severely pruned, would overwhelm it.
My triple crown would go on it fine - every cane on the ground you just tie up. You donāt need to tie right to the post, several of the ties have the canes several feet from the post (probably hard to see in the picture). The post does need to be strong, some of the initial posts I put in were cheap bamboo and they broke. I am always carrying a big roll of twine for tree training so its easy for me to tie up a down cane whenever I find one.
Thanks Scott. I appreciate you taking the time to take and post the picture. That does look like it works better than Iād expect.
My TC with their fruit load would flatten a 1-foot plus planted stake. My 8-foot stakes are driven in nearly 3 feet. The fruit load causes the whole inter-connected system to tilt a couple of inches.
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If you are tying up on all sides it should be self-balancing to some degree - there is no side force on the pole as a whole, unlike trellis stakes and wires. I have been using this single-stake system on my tomatoes, and in my climate they get as big and heavy as any blackberry plant I have ever seen. I donāt do the normal tomato tying up, I wait until a shoot is on the ground then tie up the tip to be well off the ground. On a mature plant the stem is doing many loops.
Iāll know more in a couple years as I keep with this blackberry system, it is only three years in now.
I heard you guys like Trellis Pics. I have 4x4s in ground with cement, I have parachord and tent guylines for the tensions, works well for me
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