Homemade Metal Trellises

Separate your 6-foot rebar pieces from the rest of the pieces. Rebar is a strong iron metal rod that helps reinforce foundation structures. It is available at hardware stores, many of which will cut your rebar to size at no extra cost.

Slide your pipe bending tool down onto one of your 6-foot rebar pieces, positioning the tool about 2 feet from the end. Lay the bar on the ground with the handle of the tool in your hand. Pull up and back on the handle until the rebar bends slightly. Slide the tool up and pull back again, creating a gentle curve in the rebar.

Curve the second 6-foot piece as you did the first. Lay them next to each other to make sure the curves match. If not, use your bending tool to bend one of the pieces to match the more deeply curved piece.

Lay the curved rebar pieces on the ground so they curve away from each other with 2 feet of space between the straight bottom sections of the pieces. Lay your two 5-foot pieces parallel to each other between the curved pieces. There should be about 6 inches of space between the ends of all four pieces of rebar.

Lay your 2-foot piece of rebar horizontally across the longer rebar pieces, positioning it about 1 ½ feet from the bottoms of the longer pieces. Place your 3-foot piece about 1 ½ feet above the 2-foot piece and your 4-foot piece about 1 ½ inches above that.

Put on goggles and leather gloves. Light your propane torch and heat the places where the horizontal rebar pieces touch the vertical pieces. The rebar should turn bright red and melt slightly. Stop heating after the rebar melts a little.

Allow the rebar to cool overnight. Drive the bottoms of the longer pieces about 1 foot into the ground to seat your trellis. If the ground is soft, the trellis may sink easily. If not, dig a shallow hole for the trellis and pack the soil firmly around it.