Who doesn’t love a cucumber? The delightfully fresh, crunchy produce always makes a welcome addition to salads, cheeseboards, and crudites. But what tastes even better than a cucumber is undeniably a cucumber you’ve grown yourself, at home. It’s actually surprisingly easy to get a cucumber plant going in your garden, but there are certain tips and tricks which can help you along the way.
One way to ensure you get the very best out of your cucumber plant is by making sure you’re giving it adequate support. Growing cucumbers vertically can save space in your garden, but the heavy produce the plant bears means they can’t stand alone. Luckily, there is a wide range of different ways you can create homemade trellises to add extra stability to your cucumber plants.
1. A fence
If your garden already has a fence, you can use it to add support to your cucumber plant. Any type of fence, be it chain-linked or wooden, can work as a backbone for your cucumber growing – plus, the attractive plants can help conceal any less attractive fencing areas.
2. A wall trellis
Some gardens are surrounded by brick walls rather than fences, and if that’s the case, you can create your own supports against your garden walls. You can use hooks or screws to affix a wooden trellis to your wall or create a more natural structure using bamboo or other strong, sturdy sticks.
3. A vertical trellis
To make the most of limited bed space, you can install a vertical trellis right down the middle, acting almost like an extra layer of fence! You can use a readymade trellis, or create your own from natural or reclaimed materials then dig down into your beds and place the trellis to install.
4. A tent trellis
Another way to create support over existing beds is the tent trellis. This is a structure using two trellis sides joined together at the top in a triangular shape. This offers a surprising amount of strength to the structure to help hold up heavy cucumbers.
5. A reclaimed trellis
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