Re: vine supports



On Tue, 26 Jan 1999 21:37:39 -0600 Wade & Michelle Peterson
<wdpmap@lse.fullfeed.com> writes:
>Hello everyone,
>
>
>Anyway, I don't have room for a huge garden so I have been thinking
>about planting vining varieties of as much as I can.  Does anyone 
>have
>any ideas for cheap supports?

First, think cheap materials.  What in the home centers can you buy
a lot of for very little money?  I have found EMT  (Electrical Mechanical
Tubing) to 
be the answer to quite a number of contraptions.  It is also called 1/2
inch
conduit.  You will find it in the electrical supply section.  They are
steel, galvanized, tubes,
and come in 10 foot lengths and cost about  $l.15 pet 10 foot length. 
You 
can cut them with a hacksaw.  
     Check out the price of Electric Fence wire.  It usually comes in
a couple of thicknesses and since it is sold by the mile, (or 1/4 mile)
it works out to be pretty cheap per foot. Also, it too is galvanized.
     In the plumbing department, check out all the PVC tubing there is.
(Poly Vynal Chloride)  It comes in diameters from 1/2 inch to 3 inches,
in various strengths and there are a huge number of fitting that you
can use to connect them together.  They, too, are weatherproof.  It can
be cut with an ordinary hand or power saw.  
     I also like those 3 inch by 5 inch peeler core logs that have 
been pressure treated.  For about $3.00 a piece.  I cut them many times 
length wise to make skinnier pressure treated sticks and poles.  They do
like to warp sometimes.  
     I also use those steel posts that are mainly used to build a 
barbed wire fence.  I forget what they are called.  They are 
usually green and have a T cross section, and a flat piece
of triangular sheet metal attached about a foot in from one end.
They run about $3.00 for a six foot post, which adds up fast when
you buy a bunch of them, but they too last forever and can easily
be used over and over again.  I use these, and electric fence wire, to
hold up my grapes.  I also use them for my electric fence around the
garden and spray paint them a kind of camouflage to help them
blend in better.  
     Anyway, have fun, and don't be afraid to experiment.  

Stan.............the cheap and lazy gardener.
     Boulder CO............Zone 6

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