Making a Sweet Pea Trellis

Making a trellis is essential for your sweet peas to thrive. Our Cotton Pea Twine has a soft texture and strong hold that will guide your plants as they grow.

You can easily use different materials for the frame, so don’t be afraid to get creative with what you already have lying around. The materials we used for this trellis are:

• 1 spool of Cotton Pea Twine
• 4 - 2x2 wood poles (scrap 2x4's cut in half), roughly 7-8 feet long
• 1 - scrap piece of wood for cross support
• 2 screws for cross support
• 2 bolts & 2 nuts (optional)
• Electric Drill - 1/8" drill bit (optional)

For this trellis, we sawed a couple scrap pieces of 2x4's in half to create four poles. From there, we drilled holes every 4" so the string could be woven through for added security (high winds are common in the area) but it's not a necessary step. Martha Stewart creates hers by tying knots, you can check out her video for another simple trellis setup.

From there we used the bolts to attach the two sets of poles together at the top. Then dug four holes about 1 foot deep and put the poles in. The location of this trellis allowed for an extra couple screws to secure it to the side of a garden box.

Once the poles are filled in and set, you'll want to attach your support beam. We used a scrap piece of trim from a previous project and secured it with a couple screws.

Now you can begin building the net, you'll start with the horizontal lines. Grab the end of the twine from the inside of the ball and it will unravel very easily and neatly. If you're weaving through the drilled holes, have some tape handy to wrap the tip of twine. I also used a small piece of wire to push the tip of the cord through the hole. To make the process easier, we tied the twine off and started a new section every 4-6 rungs.

Reminder: You can tie knots every 4" at this point instead of weaving it through the holes.

Once that's complete, it’s time to start on the vertical lines and finish the grid. Begin by tying the twine to the bottom rung about 4" in from the side. Following the images below, bring your ball of twine up and over the row above it, wrapping around once before moving up to the next row. Continue this to the top of the trellis, then tie and cut the twine before continuing to the next row. Space them every 5'-6" until your grid is complete.

Now all that's left to do is plant your peas and watch them climb!

 Bonus Tip: If you have any critters that are sweet on your peas like the one below, you can deter them with strips of tin foil or colorful wind spinners from the dollar store. 

Good luck and happy planting!