Does anyone have experience filling pots with concrete and posts to brace cattle panels for trellises on decks or other non-soil areas? The internet seems to think that 200lbs is a sufficient minimum for stabilizing a panel in a sheltered area. This would equate to a 10g container filled with concrete, one for each end. Would love to hear what others have done that has worked.
2 Likes
Are you creating an arch?
1 Like
Kinds of depends on how high up you are placing the panel really. We get high winds here so we affix things to firm structures.
Yes, toying with the idea of an arc braced against posts in concrete filled pots. I’m not sure I trust the internet since that will put more force against the pots than if it was just framed and vertical.
@dannytoro1 I’m brainstorming ideas for trellising on my deck against the house/very close to it where there is a wind shadow.
2 Likes
I am neither an artist or a draftsman but hopefully the drawning helps.
You can make a simple wooden frame and attach the cattle panel arch to it. You could stain/paint the wood frame to match your deck. If you wanted to secure the archway in a particular spot you could screw thru the frame in-between the deck boards into the trusses below thereby not scarring your deck.
4 Likes
@Eme
You could use something like these pipe mounting brackets to hold the cattle panel to the wood frame.
1 Like
What a cool idea! I guess if you put brackets on the frame it would help it not break under the tension? I just have the ideas…I am not familiar with the supplies and how to actually do it…and my husband doesn’t care about gardening and prefers detailed plans he doesn’t have to think about to complete, so I really appreciate the help.
Also, that’s a beautiful sketch.
I was thinking about a 7’ wide arc against the sliding door frame, so a base wooden frame would be a tripping hazard for the kids coming and going, but i really love this idea and I think it has value for some other ideas I was tossing around.
We build cattle panel archs just using 2 x 2’s with a basic wedge cut across the bottom. They literally were untouched by the 70mph sustained winds of the last hurricane that blew here. We cut them about 2.5 feet long and drive them a foot and a half down at a slight angle.
We use them on tomato, squash, gourds and such.
We also have mounted them on wooden fence posts for grapes as well.
1 Like
Oh wow. So the 7’ T posts I used for the ones in my vegetable gardens are definitely overkill!! I’m putting two more on-ground arches up in the spring: I’ll save on T post cost and go shorter!
1 Like
What hardware do you use to attach the panel flat on posts? Something like josh6b showed?
I second this idea of using metal U brackets to simply attach the ends of the cattle panel to the deck.
And using this method would be the perfect way to attach a simple wooden frame to the joists which are below your decking, leaving the upper surface unmarred.
The deck is trex…think it would work?
Let me add- unfortunately the deck runs perpendicular to the direction the arc would go. I’ll get a picture.
The following method would create a quick, strong, reusable and relatively inexpensive method to attach a cattle panel to a 2x2 or a T post used as an anchor in the ground:
1 Like
Thank you!
1 Like
I am 6ft tall so using cattle panels to create a walk thru tunnel seems a bit claustrophobic to me. You might need to use two panels to have a large enough tunnel.
Is it easy to access the underside of the deck?
1 Like
With a composite decking like TREX I would definitely want to preserve the upper surface by not marrying it with screw holes. Generally the decking surface runs perpendicular to the joists which run below, the key would mostly be in determining whether you wanted to have a low threshold to step over and utilize a full perimeter frame or whether you just wanted to have a wooden frame beneath the ends. Siting the arch right where you want it might be a little bit more challenging in the latter situation.
1 Like
This is what i would do for a tunnel on a deck.
2 Likes
Valid point. We are not tall. I think the doorway arc idea is going to mulled over for 26/27 winter. Maybe will convert the idea to two vertical framed pieces of panels and a long top piece. For next year, I might go with the more simple idea of a 5’ long piece of panel attached to a 2x2 frame to stand vertical against the house. Though this brings me back to needing a weighted base.
I really appreciate all the ideas.
1 Like
What were you going to grow on the archway?