12 Garden Trellis Structures That'll Upgrade Your Gardening Game

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For those looking to transform a garden space into one that appears more curated than chaotic, trellises are simple but effective features that can be added to almost any yard. While they can add style, character, and an extra visual layer to your garden, they are also very practical. By introducing these structures into your outdoor design, you not only save valuable ground space, but also encourage climbing plants to thrive. You don't have to only think vertical though. With the right trellis, you can guide everything from delicate flowers to heavy vegetables to grow taller, healthier, and more productive. The trick, however, is to know which type of garden trellis is suited to your overall space, as well as the specific plant you want to grow and flourish.

While you may feel that a quick trip to your local garden center to grab the first trellis you find will do the job, these structures are not all created equal. It's best to first understand the different trellis options, which materials work for which plants, and how the design will influence the overall aesthetic of your garden. While a simple wire trellis is great for light vines like star jasmine, if you're looking to grow heavier vegetables like cucumbers or melons, you'll need something a little sturdier. In this article, we take a closer look at the various types of trellises out there, which one you'll need for your specific vines or vegetables, and how you can even make them yourself.

Starting with a simple and relatively rustic option, the A-frame bamboo trellis is a classic garden staple that is both practical and visually appealing. As the name suggests, it consists of bamboo panels or poles fixed together to make a triangular "A" shape. What we love about this type of trellis is its simplicity and that you can easily make it your own. An A-frame bamboo trellis is best suited to smaller, lightweight climbers, including garden peas, pole beans, sweet peas, and climbing legumes. Thanks to the open lattice created by the criss-crossed bamboo canes, if you go that route, tendrils can easily grab hold and quickly scale upwards. The result is healthier, more productive plants and a reduced risk of disease, thanks to the improving air circulation below the leaves.

One of the main advantages of the A-frame bamboo trellis is that it's affordable and straightforward to DIY, with no expert woodworking skills needed. All you'll need is a handful of bamboo poles, some strong twine or garden wire, and a bit of time. Start by cutting the bamboo canes to your desired height and then tie two together in an "X" shape with the twine or wire. Do the same another two or three times, depending on the length of the bed you're wanting to grow along. Then, using a long bamboo pole across the top of each pair you've made, join the set together. You can then use wire or twine between each frame for the climbers to grow up.

Sturdy, sleek, and refreshingly low maintenance, the flat cattle panel trellis is a favorite for gardeners tackling heavy climbing plants and vines. This type of trellis is very simple — a strong wire cattle panel, which was originally designed for livestock, secured vertically against a wall or sturdy frame. It's great for supporting vegetables with some serious weight, like squash, cucumbers, melons, or even rambling tomatoes. With a rigid, grid-like pattern, the panel provides stable grips for tendrils, allowing the plants to climb, firmly secure themselves, and stay upright as fruits or vegetables develop. Unlike flimsier supports, cattle panels stand up well to wind, weather, and large harvests. This means you'll have a trellis that won't buckle under the weightier plants.

The flat cattle panel trellis is relatively simple to install and affordable. You can find these already pre-made at most farm supply shops, major garden centers, or even hardware stores. If you prefer the DIY route, all you need to do is purchase a cattle panel — often available in 16-foot lengths and made of galvanized wire — and use metal T-posts or strong wooden stakes to secure it upright against a wall or fence. This is a great DIY garden trellis for those looking for a simple but sturdy design, and one which won't break the bank.

If you want to add a slightly more bold, architectural element to your yard, while giving climbing plants the ultimate vertical playground, try using a cattle panel to create a dramatic arch. The arched cattle panel trellis is made by bending a large section of cattle panel into a curved shape, then securing each end firmly into the ground or to raised beds. This structure makes a stunning tunnel or garden gateway and is a sturdy support for climbers. If you're looking to use one in your vegetable garden, they are perfect for cucumbers, climbing pole beans, mini pumpkins, and more. If it's a floral gateway you're looking to create, consider flowering plants like nasturtiums, passion vine, and various types of jasmine.

While the arch provides great support to climbing plants, they will also create shaded walkways or entrances. How easy is it to build an arched cattle panel trellis, though? The answer is surprisingly simple. All you need is a standard cattle panel, which you can get from your local garden center or farm supply store, a few metal T-posts or sturdy stakes, and some elbow grease. Simply bend the panel into an arch and drive the supports deep into the soil or raised beds to keep everything steady. Then, plant away.

The Florida weave trellis is one of the most practical yet simplest ways to support tomato plants, especially when you're growing several in a row. This trellis is made up of stakes placed at regular intervals along your planting beds, with strong twine or garden string woven horizontally between and around the stakes and plants. The stakes could be as simple as bamboo or wood, or you could go the route of using T-posts. As your tomatoes grow, stems can be tucked between the twine rows, keeping the plants upright. This also helps to keep them well-aerated and less prone to disease. It's not only limited to tomato plants — you can also use this trellis for the likes of cucumbers, peas, or squash.

Setting up a Florida weave trellis is relatively straightforward and doesn't require any fancy tools. Simply drive stakes into the soil at both ends of each row, then about every 2 to 3 feet between each end. You'll want to have about 6 feet above ground. Then, use strong garden twine or string to create horizontal lines that you loop and weave around each stake as the plants grow. As your crops gain height and weight, simply add more rows of twine higher up the stakes. With the Florida weave trellis, you'll have a reusable, affordable, and easy-to-make system for growing plants like tomatoes.

A teepee trellis is another simple structure to add to your garden if you're looking to give your climbing plants a growing hand or to simply add a bit more depth to your outdoor spaces. They are generally made from sturdy poles of bamboo canes, which are lashed together at the top. This freestanding frame is particularly effective with pole beans, which will climb the teepee as they grow. It's not only for pole beans, though, as it's just as good for sweet peas, morning glories, and other lightweight climbers. Using the vertical height created by the teepee, the plants will spiral upward naturally, creating a living tower that not only looks great, but also maximizes the use of your vertical space. As with so many other trellis designs, the openness will give your plants good airflow and sun exposure, which will limit leaf spot diseases that plague more densely planted areas.

How do you make a teepee trellis? With very little fuss, as all you need is three or more long poles — bamboo, wood, or even sturdy branches will do — and some garden twine to hold them together at the apex. Arrange the poles in a circle, push their ends into the soil, and tie the tops tightly to keep them stable. You can wrap extra twine or string around the sides to add additional climbing support for plants with shorter tendrils.

The wire or string trellis sits at the top of the simple trellis ideas list. As the name suggests, the main component of this trellis is either wire or string, which each form horizontal support secured at either end by stakes or other anchors. Multiple rows are added to the stakes as the plants climb. Not to be confused with the Florida weave trellis, this simpler type of trellis supports plant growth, with each horizontal wire or string helping the plant as it looks to gain height. Wire or string trellises are great solutions for peas, cucumbers, and vining squash, particularly when plants are just getting established and benefit from extra guidance as they grow.

Setting up this kind of trellis is quick and affordable. All you need are a few garden stakes or metal posts, plus a sturdy length of garden twine or wire to stretch in horizontal lines between them. As plants climb, you can simply add additional rows of string higher up the posts or guide wayward stems by loosely tying them to the structure. If you're looking to use this trellis idea for cucumbers or squash, go with wire instead of string for the additional support needed to carry the weight.

No, this isn't about adding a comic character in your garden as a tribute to "Asterisk and Obelisk" — we're talking a tall, four-sided structure that tapers elegantly to a point and provides support to growing plants. This type of trellis adds instant height and sculptural style to flower beds and vegetable patches. They are well suited for showcasing exuberant climbers — think plants like clematis, black-eyed Susan vine, nasturtium, passionflower, and even tomatoes. Their tapered design keeps plants growing upward, channeling energy into healthy, vertical stems, instead of unruly, tangled growth. An obelisk is as much a focal point as a support, making it a great option for those looking to add a design element to their garden spaces.

What are obelisk trellises made of? You'll mostly find them in wood, wrought iron, steel, or bamboo. You can easily pick up a ready-made obelisk from your local garden center or even a large retail store, or you can go ahead and make one yourself. The simplest option involves four wooden or bamboo poles, which you secure in a square in the ground. Then, you bring the four points together at the top and secure them. Either add wooden poles as vertical connectors down the height of the obelisk, or use wire or string. Once a plant has covered the trellis, you'll have an impressive-looking feature in your garden.

Similar to the wire trellis, instead of placing a line between two stakes in the ground, this type of structure either uses an existing wall or a plant wall is created, so as to add an aesthetic break in a patio or garden space. A wire trellis wall is ideal for training fruit trees, guiding vines, or developing striking vertical plant displays. With its minimalist look, it's especially suited for espaliered fruit trees, passionfruit, star jasmine, and other climbing ornamentals you want to highlight or shape.

You can either call in the experts to create this trellis wall for you, or you can do it yourself — it's relatively uncomplicated if you know the DIY basics and have a decent drill at home. If you're adding this to an exterior wall, start by mapping out what the wire trellis wall will look like. You can go with horizontal lines or create a criss-cross shape that vine plants can grow along to create a striking visual element for your outdoor space. Geometric shapes are also a nice touch. Drill holes into which you'll insert hooks or eye bolts, then stretch galvanized wire from each end, around the mid-anchor points, and then finally secured on the other end. It's a simple trellis that creates a green layer to your walls once the plants have grown up and along each wire.

The stick trellis is a great option for those looking to infuse more rustic elements into their garden. While it's not really suited to the carefully curated, modern, and sophisticated garden, if you want to incorporate more of nature into your flower beds or vegetable garden, and don't mind the homespun look, a few carefully selected branches or sticks will do fine. The only other material you'll need is some garden twine. Depending on the sticks or branches you choose, you can either grow light climbers like star jasmine, or heavier vegetables like pumpkins or cucumbers.

There is no one style here — you can create an A-frame, teepee, or even a wall trellis with the right sticks. For example, a few fallen and sturdy branches can be grouped together in a teepee shape, or you can trim back longer branches to create makeshift poles for an A-frame style. For the wall, sticks will be fine as long as you have anchor points into the soil and they are secured with string or twine against a wall anchor. Just don't expect them to be as hardy as a wall trellis you'll get from your garden center. To create more climbing opportunities for plants between the sticks, use twine to create a mesh (think of it as a spider web).

A netting trellis is a great option if you're looking for something flexible and lightweight to support vigorous climbers and sprawling vines. This trellis uses garden netting stretched vertically between posts or over frames to create a grid that's both customizable and easy to install. You can also place the netting at an angle to create an interesting "bed" of foliage from the ground and up towards a wall or fence. It's a great option for growing sweet peas, melons, morning glories, or tomatoes. The formation of the netting creates the perfect holds for tendrils and shoots to latch onto, allowing for aeration as they grow.

For the netting, you'll want to buy this already made, which you can do from your local gardening center or from some of the larger retailers. Once you have the netting in hand, tie it to vertical poles with strong twine or gardening wire, and you'll be good to go. For the angled design, you'll need to first anchor the poles in the ground and fix them to the wall or fence that the plants will be growing towards. This is also a handy design if you're looking to give plants a bit more aeration and access to sunlight. Simply weave some of the stems and leaves through the netting, and let nature take care of the rest.

Here, we're going to show you how to combine both traditional flower or herb baskets with a wall trellis. This design is a creative way to transform vertical space, where baskets hang from your exterior wall against an aesthetically pleasing trellis wall. There's no need to have multiple holes drilled into the wall for hooks to then be inserted. If you are an avid herb grower, your parsley, cilantro, and chili plants become not only accessible for quick harvesting, but also a prominent and visually appealing part of your garden design. It's the same for growing flowers, with the end result being a colorful array of plants that will stand out in your yard and become an interesting feature.

To create this design, you'll need a trellis wall, sturdy S-hooks, hanging baskets, and, of course, your plants of choice. Start by fixing the trellis to the wall, considering the position for sunlight, and then hang the S-hooks in your desired positions. You could go for a uniform look or something a bit more scattered, depending on how structured you want to be. Then, hang your plants, water as required, and enjoy the space as it grows

An unusual trellis that will give you a fair amount of adaptability, adding privacy and plant support, is the expandable trellis fence. These are often made from interlocking panels, where each one can be stretched to fit the space as needed. You can use these as a divider in your garden, fix them to a wall, or use them as walls around your patio. The accordion design means the structure can be easily compacted for storage or adjusted on the fly to suit your needs throughout the seasons.

They work well for everything from sweet peas and clematis to light vegetables and annual vines. For renters, this is a particularly handy trellis to have, as you can simply pack it away between moves and set it up at your new home. They are not readily available from all garden centers, so you may need to look around for them, or shop one online, like this Bounmer 4-Piece Expandable Garden Trellis. A customizable option for nearly any home, it's a great choice for someone who needs a bit more flexibility in their garden.