How to Build a Trellis for Peas

Overview

Add natural charm to your garden or backyard with an inexpensive bamboo trellis that supports climbing pea vines. Different types of pea plants, such as sugar snap peas, English peas and snow peas, are comprised of light green vines with delicate flowers. Supporting these vines to grow upward dresses up a particular spot and produces a better and healthier crop. A bamboo tepee trellis does not require any prior skills. Purchase bamboo canes from a local hardware store, or collect the required amount from a park or field.

Step 1

Wear gloves and clear the selected spot from weeds, rocks and plant debris. Collect these in a wheelbarrow and dispose appropriately.

Step 2

Mark a 4-foot-wide circle with a stick over the selected spot for a single tepee trellis. Measure and mark six points on the edge of the circle, spaced evenly apart. Space multiple trellises 4 feet apart.

Step 3

Measure and cut 2-inch-wide bamboo poles until you have six 8-foot lengths. Use a handsaw to cut above each node.

Step 4

Insert an end of a pole 6 to 8 inches into the soil, directly above a marked point along the edge of the circle. Angle the pole slightly inward so the tops of all the poles meet, forming a tepee. Repeat the process as you insert the remaining poles over the marks. Have a friend or family member hold the poles while you insert them.

Step 5

Secure the tops of the bamboo poles together. Wind a length of wire or rope 5 to 6 inches from the top. Tamp soil around the base of each pole to secure it in the soil.

Step 6

Loop wire around a pole, 2 feet below the previous bind. Pull it taut and extend it to the pole next to it. Loop it around this pole before weaving it around all the remaining poles. Loop it around the last pole and cut any excess off. This wire supports climbing pea vines and tiny tendrils as they grow upward and secures the trellis.

Step 7

Weave wire or rope at every 1 to 1 ½ feet throughout the structure, until you reach the base of the trellis.