Up, Up, Up They Go

Trellises are an architectural structure designed to help support plants. At the garden we are use trellises for our tomato plants. But not just any kind of trellises, bamboo trellises!

Students lucked out and received free bamboo from a Tuscaloosa resident who was throwing away all the bamboo he had. Bamboo is a great because it is strong and sturdy. It is also tall allowing our plants to grow up. Using bamboo is a creative and sustainable way to help our tomatoes grow.

Tomato plants need some type of trellis, whether bamboo or not, because the plants grow tall and need something to support them. They wrap around the bamboo and grow high allowing many tomatoes to bloom.

One morning out at the garden, Nicole, Camille, and I built multiple bamboo trellises. We had to make sure knots were tight when were tying the bamboo together, that way it would hold and not fall. We tried to learn a specific type of knot Matthew showed us, but we decided to stick to our own methods instead.