Cheapest Trellis You've Ever Seen!

You're gonna love this .. I was wandering around Home Depot and was looking at rebar thinking I could thread some chicken wire through it for a trellis and right next to it was something called a Masonry Ladder. My jaw dropped. It's 10 feet long and 6 inches wide with cross pieces every foot or so. The ends are free so you can just step on them to get them in the ground. If you need something bigger then wire two together length wise or side by side. They cost only $2.79 here .. Here is the SKU number 213 470. If your Home Depot has them they should be right next to the rebar.

They aren't very sturdy to you'll need to shore them up for heavier vines.

This message was edited May 30, 2011 12:31 PM

that is such a great idea !

Wow! Exactly what I am looking for.
Thanks!

They are terrific! I went and got more yesterday. I'm using some old metal poles to shore them up, they were part of the frame for that cheapo Gazebo thingy you get at the family dollar stores that blows away with the first good breeze .. (I'm so glad I'm a packrat - kept them for 2 years and finally found a use for them). I just pound them into the ground then wire them to the sides of the arch .. makes them super strong.

So grateful to you for posting that piece of information. Last year I planted some red honeysuckle on an obelisk. This year the honeysuckle was shooting out the top of the obelisk two or three feet and I just couldn't find some kind of inexpensive trellis or attachment to give it the little bit of support it needed (and was too cheap to spring for a six or eight foot trellis.) The masonry ladder should work just perfectly. Now if only my husband happened to be heading into town . . . . but sooner or later we'll get some. Thank you!

They work really well and I have plants climbing all over them. I'm trying some of the heavy luffa on one this year and if it can hold up I'm considering make a luffa tunnel next year.

Now that's what I call clever. Excellent!

I'm loving them and they are really easy to move!

after reading these posts i went out and purchased a few. they are wonderful. i am so glad you passed along this info.

Update .. these things are perfect! Plants love them and do very well. Next year they will replace all those crappy arches I used to get at the Family Dollar store! Every time I go to Home Depot I pick up a couple .. I'm afraid if I get bunches at once they will raise the price! At less than 3 dollars they are a steal!

You hit the nail right on the head with these they have like 8 hundred and something at mine there actually rusting they have been there so long I am running white christmas lights on them with the vines looks good at night

What a great idea, thanks for sharing it! I am late in the game this year but going hog wild with planting more and more seeds . I figured hey, if they don't fully mature, at least I have an idea of what I'm dealing with next year (habit, growth, etc.). Like the elephant ear bulbs I "thought" would be good houseplants that are now 4' high in the garden and waaayyy too big for my house :).

I have some various baby vines started I want to play with so I'm going to get me some of that too!

You know, I looked for those at Lowe's and they didn't know what I was talking about. Is it only Home Depot that has them?

I haven't even bothered to look for them at lowes so I don't know .. being masonry ladders if they had them they'd probably be where they keep the mortar, rebar and blocks. At home depot they are right next to rebar.

I checked at Lowe's also, and they didn't have them. Home Depot is a hike so haven't taken the time to go all the way down there.

You might look at any local lumber yards or builders supplies. They won't be as cheap as HD but they are a common item used in laying block.

Found another great use for them .. shade cloth holders! It's been so hot and dry here that when the sun hit my Black Runner Elephant ear it was literally cooking the leaves! So I spent about a half hour trying to figure out how to get shade cloth over the area to no avail then said Ah ha! Drilled holes in the fence for one end and stepped on the other end to get it in the ground. Then threw the shade cloth over it. Voila!

Love this idea. You are so clever ;) I've been trying to find something to make an arch over my backyard gate. I have several vines planted next to it that need and arch to climb over. Thanks for sharing.

They are great and I keep finding more uses for them!

Love this kind of find. You scored, GOOOAL!

Yep .. they are certainly going to replace all those flimsy crappy arch/trellises I'm using now! They both passed the test. A single one on the left held a Clerodendrum and the two wired together on the right were able to hold a luffa vine with no problems.

This message was edited Aug 29, 2011 9:58 PM

I love that. It is not a trellis for a Wisteria but there are a lot of climbers that don't need that type of structure. MG would be great on those. Thanks.

Great idea for an arbour...wow

Great idea...thanks!!

Now I just need to find them here in NJ.

Went to our HD and they told me no such thing. What else is new. I checked myself next to rebar and they didn't have it. Will check with lumber supply place not to far from me. Small bus. and if they don't have something they will order it in.
Thank you for the tip.

Bonnie

Did you give them the SKU number? SKU 213 470

yep, no such thing

Hmm .. that's strange! Your best bet would be to try a builders supply store - don't think a lumber yard would have it. I just did a quick check in the yellow pages for your town for Masonry Equipment & Supplies stores. You might want to start calling a few on Monday.

what are these wonderful little ladders made of?

I don't know but I'm thinking galvanized something .. doesn't seem heavy enough for steel.

Well I just finished up making the arches for the passion vines using the masonry ladders .. they are working out amazingly well!!!!

Oh you are going to have to send us a picture when you have your plans growing and blooming on them. They look great!

Thank you for posting the information Xeramtheum. Truly, this is a splended solution for vines. Plus a very attractive one with vines in flull bloom or just plain green! Even good wired together to make a nice wide vine trellis against a wall - easy to paint the wall behind the vines should that be necessary in the future!

Great find! That's exactly something like what I'm looking for. I better write down the name of it now before I forget by the time I go to the store. Cool!

They are nifty! If you can't find them at Home Depot (I've never seen them at Lowes), you should be able to find them at masonry supply stores .. they even come in different widths too!

I've searched their web site and can't find anything named Masonry ladders. But I did see some in a web search. I may just go down to Home Depot and look.

I've never seen them HD website either.

Thanks for your very clever idea
and cool find!

Most masonry supply houses that handle stucco supplies will have them. I used to work for one and we handled it all the time, and most of the different sizes. Never thought of using it for trellis... You might have better results searching for "ladder wire"...I think the biggest size is 8" or 10", but they measure real weird. If I recall, they measure about 2" less than what they are called, 10" is actually 8", and so on.