How To Make A Folding Garden Trellis

It’s time to plant early veggies here and I needed a trellis for my snow peas and sugar snaps to grow on so I decided to build one. Here’s how to make a folding garden trellis (and it’s not too hard!)

The calendar says it’s Spring here in New Hampshire but it’s been unseasonably cold, that hasn’t stopped me from getting my garden ready though

Some of my favorite Spring vegetables to grow are snow peas and sugar snaps. They need to have some sort of support structure because they are a climbing plant. So today I am going to build a new folding garden trellis to use in my garden this year.

Growing vegetables horizontally saves space in your garden plus I think the vegetables just grow better. I especially love cucumbers grown up on a trellis; it makes it so easy to find the ones ready to be picked.

DIY Folding Garden Trellis

To make this project even easier I bought precut boards to use.

Supplies you will need:

• 6 1”x2”x4’ boards (to make the frame)
• 8 1/4”x2”x4’s to run across
• 1 1/2” narrow hinges
• 1” exterior screws
• cordless drill
• your choice of stain

Step 1. Measure Out The Frame For The Trellis

I put 3 of the thicker boards (1x2x4s) on the ground and made sure the tops were all level with each other; this step is very important for when you need to attach the hinges later on. I spaced out the 3 boards 20 inches apart.

Starting 8 inches from the top I placed my first horizontal slat. I measured 10 inches between the 4 boards. I used a pencil to mark the frame to make sure the slats stayed level when I screwed them in.

Step 2. Screw Slats In Place

I used 1” exterior screws to attach the slats to the frame using my cordless drill. The pencil marks in the previous step made this step much quicker because I could just zip across and attach the slats without having to stop and measure out each one.

I repeated the above steps to make the other side of my folding trellis.

Step 3. Attach The Hinges

Now that both sides of the trellis are done it’s time to attach them together.

I put the two frames on the ground so the tops were touching…this is when you will find out if you did a good job measuring! I used 1 1/2 inch narrow hinges to attach the tops together.

Assembled Folding Trellis

Step 4. Stain the folding garden trellis

Now, I stood my trellis up and got ready to stain it.

I used Minwax in “Classic Gray”; I love that already weathered look it gave the trellis.

Now to get my trellis set up in the garden. I’m adding it to one of my raised beds in my garden. Then I am going to plant my snow pea seeds on one side and my sugar snaps on the other.

Happy Gardening Friends!

Are you looking for other gardening ideas?

• Garden Obelisk Tower
• Raised Planter w/ Trellis
• How I’m Expanding My Garden
• Starting a Vegetable Garden
• Seed Starting Basics