I like it, too! Great idea to shape it differently. Can't wait to see some future photos with this arch covered in vines! Going to look marvelous!

I would like to try one of these in the veggie garden for vine veggies. I would like to use the Gothic arch also, just so I can keep the bases closer together.

Suddenly, we are all liking the pointed top!! It looks really nice! How I wish I had such a sprawling yard!

I built a cattle panel greenhouse....it is shaped in an arch

GoatDriver, that looks great!! How many cattle panels did you use for it?

What a great idea!!!

Weedwhacker said:GoatDriver, that looks great!! How many cattle panels did you use for it?

Thanks!..2 panels...inside it measures 7 feet wide and 8 feet 4 inches long.

mandolls said:What a great idea!!!

It is a great idea but I can not take credit for it.
A youtube'r by the name of TexasPrepper2 is where the idea came from.You can see his video about building one at this link
https://youtu.be/-DKlXs8iov0

Thanks for the link -- That really is a greenhouse that just about anyone could build! Interesting (especially to me, I imagine ) that the way he put it together is remarkably similar to what I came up with to frame and cover a steel frame for a hoophouse that I bought several years ago, which came with a fitted cover with zippered doors, etc, and unfortunately the cover deteriorated over the course of the first summer... took me a couple of years to come up with a good way to recover it, without having to drill into the steel hoops, but then came up with the idea of using "pipe clamps" to fasten the boards to them (along with screws and brackets, much the same arrangement as in the video). I also used the foam pipe wrap over the tops of the hoops to help keep the plastic from abrading, and instead of a window at one end I put in a door at both ends. And bought a bundle of "lath strips" instead of cutting the furring strips for securing the plastic.



The only suggestion I would make is to use ground anchors in the corners of the GH -- he did point out that the wind pretty much "rolls over" the structure, which is true as long as it's all closed up -- but when the ends are opened there would be a real potential for it blowing over.

Weedwhacker said:Thanks for the link -- That really is a greenhouse that just about anyone could build! Interesting (especially to me, I imagine ) that the way he put it together is remarkably similar to what I came up with to frame and cover a steel frame for a hoophouse that I bought several years ago, which came with a fitted cover with zippered doors, etc, and unfortunately the cover deteriorated over the course of the first summer... took me a couple of years to come up with a good way to recover it, without having to drill into the steel hoops, but then came up with the idea of using "pipe clamps" to fasten the boards to them (along with screws and brackets, much the same arrangement as in the video). I also used the foam pipe wrap over the tops of the hoops to help keep the plastic from abrading, and instead of a window at one end I put in a door at both ends. And bought a bundle of "lath strips" instead of cutting the furring strips for securing the plastic.



The only suggestion I would make is to use ground anchors in the corners of the GH -- he did point out that the wind pretty much "rolls over" the structure, which is true as long as it's all closed up -- but when the ends are opened there would be a real potential for it blowing over.

Nice work

mandolls said:I am new to ATP, and am just cruising around the site. I am surprised that I don't see examples of these posted. Cattle panel - found at farm supply stores at about $20 each make great arch trellises. The panels are 16' X 4'

I pound 18" rebar into the ground, leaving 6" above, and wire the cattle panels to the rebar, using 3 pieces of rebar on each side.

I have 6 of them in my kitchen garden. One for the entrance, two on each side and one in the back. I use them for cukes, beans, tomatoes, and this year I started a few grapevines.

Awesome! My wife and I want one or two arched trellis's, but have been wary of the cost of traditional wood ones, or even metal ones. For example, $400 for a metal arched trellis at Molbak's. Thank you very much for this great tip! How flexible are they? IOW, are they difficult at all to bend into an arch?

beckygardener said:I found this thread and thought I'd add my cattle panel arbors. I have built 4 of which 3 are in my yard and 1 at the school I used to work at.

I grow roses on this one:

I like the addition of securing them with posts. Did you secure them in the same way fence posts are, that is, sink them in concrete footings?

Greg - I saw those expensive prices for those metal arbors and guess what? I bet they wouldn't last but a few years before they would rust and break. The cattle panels are galvanized steel and will last longer than the wood posts!!!

I actually wrote an article about making cattle panel arbors:
http://garden.org/ideas/view/b...

Hopefully, this article will answer your questions, but if you have more questions, feel free to post here to ask. Good luck making one (or more). I love mine and actually have plans to build a couple more in my yard.

Becky's article should be very helpful for you. Mine are much simpler, but not nearly as classy.

I brought home the cattle panels in the bed of a friend's pick up. They were arched as they were loaded in, and stood up in the back of the truck. I hooked bungie cords on to them before pulling them out of the truck so they would stay arched. Once they were out of the truck I could easily carry them to where I wanted them by myself. And then adjust the distance between the sides by tightening the bungie cord. So - to answer your question - flexible enough to easily bend, when using the full 16' length, but they will spring back if not secured.

I use full panels, not cut in half as Becky did.

You can also choose how sturdy you want the arch to be.

Cattle panels are very stiff and storng.

Hog panels use thinner wire, so they are lighter, probably cheaper, and more easily bent, but won;t support as much weight before they try to sag.

I don't know if there is another, even lighter grade before you approach flimsy chicken wire.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/w...

I see 4 gauge wire for cattle , sheep and goats
4 and 5 gauge for hogs
6 gauge for horses (but more wires per yard)

Welded, galvanized steel fencing might be another alternative, but I would expect most fencing to be much more flimsy.

"Remesh" (welded wire in big squares, like 12" squares) won't come 16 feet long.

There are also flimsy "masonry ladders" but they are quite narrow and you would probably have to use two for strength.

RickCorey wrote: "'Remesh' (welded wire in big squares, like 12" squares) won't come 16 feet long."

Actually, I bought a 50-foot roll of remesh (5 feet wide) last year to use for my "hoop trellis" . The openings are about 6" square. The biggest downside to the remesh is that it isn't galvanized and rusts. It also comes in panels, I think 4' x 8'.




Edited to say: The 50' roll cost about $40, so not a whole lot different from buying the cattle panels at Tractor Supply, which are always around $20 each; but it was a lot easier to transport...

Oh, cool! I never saw those.

I was thinking that, if I bought remesh, I would paint it with a roller to reduce rusting.

I bought mine at our local Home-Depot-wannabe store, Menard's, where they store the remesh outside -- so it was already rusty when I got it; it was/is fine for the purpose that I used it, but other than the fact that it was a lot easier to just stick in my SUV to get it home, I would hands-down go with the cattle panels.

I think those 4x8' pieces of remesh have some good potential, though -- maybe as bean trellises, instead of the trellis netting that I've been using.

Yes, the first consideration for me is "will it fit in the trunk of my little car?

That cattle panel GH looks great. We were so busy traveling, I never got to try mine. But I still want to.

Okay, so a brief followup on my hoophouse covering... I would suggest to NOT use the foam pipe-wrap over the hoops, my plastic covering totally degraded wherever it came into contact with the pipe-wrap, either from the sunlight being accentuated by the black color of the foam, or something in the foam causing the "plasticizer" in the plastic covering to break down. I'm about to re-cover my HH (without the foam pipe wraps) and will see how it works out for next summer. Considering where I live (in the north), I really believe that I should get, at a minimum, a winter-summer-winter-spring out of the (cheap) plastic cover. At the moment I'm glad I didn't spring for the far more expensive 4-year plastic covering, which I think would also have been degraded by the foam. But once I get this figured out I believe it will be well worth the $$, because re-covering the thing is kind of a pain