Homemade Trellis

Fan Style Trellis

• Begin by cutting an 8 foot 1-by-4-inch piece of wood that is free from knots. Knots within the wood may cause breakage once the fan is bent into place. Mark the end of the board at each 1/2-inch mark, then cut the wood board lengthwise into eight pieces with a table saw, setting three of the pieces aside. Clamp down the five pieces tightly and drill out two 1/4-inch holes 4 inches from the bottom of the trellis, and 2 inches apart. Place one 1/4-by-2 1/2-inch bolt through each of the holes and secure with a nut and washer. Cut the remaining three pieces into lengths of 24 inches, 38 inches and 50 inches.

  Mark out the five fan pieces onto the top crosspiece with a pen. Space the fan pieces 9-inches apart, leaving 1/2-inch space for each individual fan piece. Secure the center fan piece by inserting a screw through the top cross piece and down into the fan piece. Repeat this for each one of the remaining four boards, pulling and fanning the other pieces out into the fan design. Tighten them to where they have been marked on the top crosspiece. Mark the 24-inch piece at each 4-inch interval, leaving 1/2 inch in between for the fan pieces. Screw this lower crosspiece into those five joined boards at the 4-foot mark of the boards. Mark the 38-inch piece of wood at 7-inch intervals, leaving 1/2 inch for each fan piece. Secure this center piece down onto the joined boards at the 5 1/2-foot mark.

Planter Box Trellis

• Place a 2-foot 1-by-6-inch piece of wood down as the bottom of the planter. Screw down two 1-by-6-by-6-inch pieces to each short end of the planter. The longer ends will receive two 2-foot 1-by-6-inch pieces screwed into the baseboard. Secure the box by placing screws into the corner sections of the box, bringing the sides tightly together. Place two 3-foot 1-by-3-inch boards into each corner on the back side of the trellis. Screw them tightly into the corners using one screw at each 1-inch interval. Place four horizontal boards, 2 1/2 foot 1-by-3 inch, at each 6-inch interval measuring from the top ledge of the box. Center the horizontal boards so there is an excess of 3 inches of board on each end. There will also be 2 inches of excess wood at the top of the trellis that pokes out for design.