On Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:37:30 -0700 (PDT), Higgs Boson
wrote:

On Apr 27, 10:32*am, Sean Straw wrote:
On Fri, 27 Apr 2012 07:53:25 +0000, Brian Sims

wrote:
I everyone.

I to you too.

For the DIY or budget minded, you can get "mild steel' in the form of
"rebar" (concrete reinforcement). *Here in the US, you can purchase a
20' length of 3/8" rebar for about US$3.00. *You can cut it with a
hacksaw, or as I prefer to do, a large pair of bolt cutters (which
makes for easy cut-to-length while in the homecentre parking lot
before loading it into your auto or trailer, er, caravan).

I insert 5' lengths into holes in the corners of my raised beds to
allow me to wrap 4' aviary netting around some raised beds.

You can cut three or four pieces about equal length, set up a
"tee-pee" and wrap cord around the top, and you're good to go. *At the
end of the season, you can collapse the rebar into a neat bundle and
put it away - it won't take much space at all.

An added benefit is that rebar has a "knurled" surface - it has ridges
intended to allow it to grip concrete securely (a smooth rod could
eventually slip), and this textured surface is beneficial to climbing
plants.

Anyone with a welder could of course make a more permanent teepee with
just a few quick welds.

BTW, this is an INTERNATIONAL newsgroup for discussing gardening - not
an avertising venue.

They make a great present for the gardener who has everything.

Excepting perhaps the gardener who has a DIY perspective and some
inexpensive welding equipment.

One can forego metal and use wood instead. *I have several "ladder
trellis" which I fabbed by ripping cedar fence planks into roughly
3/4" cross sections (here in the US, a 1" stock is really about 3/4"
thick), cut some of those into shorter pieces for "rungs", and make
say 5' tall ladders (which you'd NEVER try to climb of course), tack
and glue the rungs to the longer pieces, then connect a pair of the
completed ladders together at the top (I drill a pair of undersize
holes and press a roofing nail into them, but a piece of cord or wire
would work too). *They work great situated above things such as peas,
and fold nearly flat for storage in the off-season.

Makes a great homemade gift for the gardener who has everything,
except as noted above.

****Whoa, Sean, let's not be snotty to our UK friend. Maybe you're
savvy and handy enough to construct your own gizmo, per above
descriptions. But how many of us poor peasants can match your
expertise. Live & let live. Let the UK group members decide whether
they want to buy Brian's structures or build their own.

I used netting to protect my blueberry bushes from birds. I hammered
8' metal fence posts into the ground, attached small eyebolts at the
top and strung them through with clothesline. This made it very easy
to drape the netting and it worked perfectly keeping birds out. The
following spring I erected another for my strawberries. I had over 6'
height under the net making it comfortable to work without stooping.
Only warning is if you live where it snows remove the netting before
winter, ask how I know.