Garden Tripods

   Yes, yes, yes. I will admit, I am on a bit of a gardening craft kick right now. I'm sure it will end soon, with the full heat of an Oklahoma summer looming. Blech. 100+ degree weather is not the best environment for plants.

    Which means I must get it out all now, right? This week, I made an easy garden tripod with just 3 simple materials (plus a pair of scissors)! Awesome, right? But I can't take any of the credit. I actually found great instructions to the project online, here. Anyway, it was a snap to put together these bamboo poles. The only adjustment I made was cutting down the bamboo to fit the needs of a small climbing vine rather than using an entire length of bamboo for each leg. This also allowed me to be able to make more support structures for the vines. So let's grab some leftover bamboo and get climbing.

Materials:

• Bamboo (straight, sturdy sticks, or metal rods)
• Twine (or wire if you want it to last longer and be sturdier)
• Zip ties
• Scissors
• tree branch cutter or saw (optional)

How To

Again, for the step by step instructions, go to the site above.

1. For me, I cut the bamboo down to a size I found relevant (~1.5 feet) for my project. I used a branch cutter, which was really easy. The only scary part was when the bamboo section I cut off finally popped away from the cutter blades with a bang (I think it was louder because the bamboo was hollow- however, I'm not complaining as it makes it easier to cut this way).
2. Next, I lined up 3 pieces of bamboo and got out my zip tie. I tried to keep a notch near the zip tie for each piece so that it wouldn't be able to slip off the top when I had the tripod closed.
3. Then I set up the tripod and tied the twine around the bamboo until it would support vines. Then I pounded them into the ground with a hammer so they would stay put in our windy conditions.
4. When you are tired of them, just pick them up and they will collapse back into three sticks with a zip tie on one end.

     The a modified version of this project actually worked better for me. I used two metal rods (the kind used to keep the cards in place in the old school card catalogs...just FYI) and stuck them in the ground so that they crossed at the top at a 45 degree angle. Then I tied the twine around them, starting at the bottom and winding my way down.