You’ve heard me talk before about our berry tunnel, berry bramble, berry jungle, etc.  It was getting quite overgrown which meant two things in my mind – A) I haven’t pruned as I should have and B) we need better supporting structures.

I was picturing some beautiful trellis, archway that you might see in a movie scene where there is some unrealistically romantic moonlit kiss so I sent this idea to Cactus via my mental powers and he came up with exactly what I wanted…  Oh wait, who am I kidding?  That’s not true at all.  I showed Cactus a few pictures and he said, “No, I have an idea. Here’s what we’ll do.”

Supplies purchased (approximately $70 in value)

• Eight 4x4x8 posts (purchased an extra just in case)
• Four 2x4s (purchased an extra just in case)

Supplies being reused:

• 5 pieces of galvanized tubing

So here’s what we did (nothing fancy, but I quite like it):

1. We measured the current set up.  Assessed that we needed to improve both sides of the tunnel – one side is about 30 feet long, the other about 20 feet long.  This was actually super important and a step we usually skip.  How do you know how much of anything you need without measuring?  Sidenote: I’d like mention the value of staring at a project site and walking around a bit.  I’m being 100% serious. It’s really valuable to just walk around your garden/yard/etc. to daydream and let inspiration flow.
2. From this two-minute assessment, we determined the spacing between the current posts was too far and they weren’t tall enough. That little bit of planning guided our marching orders.
3. We decided to increase the number of supports by adding one post on each side, and to also make them taller and have the horizontal support between each post much more sturdily attached.  To explain a bit more clearly, the 30-foot distance originally had just 3 posts so we increased that to 4 posts, each just about 7.5 feet apart. Similarly, the 20-foot distance originally had just 2 posts so we increased that to 3 posts. 
4. We laid the posts on the ground and spaced them out evenly across the 30-foot side. This helped us determine where we would need to dig the holes and that 3 of the 4 would easily align with where the posts would go on the shorter length of the berry tunnel.
5. Cactus then used a 1-inch wood bit to drill two holes in the top of each post.  These holes are where we inserted the galvanized tubing. The tubing serves as the top ‘shelf’ for the berry vines to go up and over as they grow.
6. While the posts were laying on the ground, Cactus did the drilling and inserted the tubing so that it was one long structure that just had to be stood up and put in place.  But before we stood up the posts, we had to dig the holes.
7. We have an auger for another fence project currently underway so we used that to dig the seven holes. I’m usually a fan of doing everything by hand but it made sense to use this so that we could complete the project that afternoon (instead of having to come back to it the following day). 
8. Once the holes were dug, we lifted up two posts at a time and placed them in the holes just dug. Then we just had to insert one final piece of the galvanized tubing.
9. The final step was bridging the 30-foot side of the tunnel to the 20-foot side of the tunnel to make my romantic berry trellis. Honestly, no idea where I’m going with this romantic notion.  That at is not my life at all. So we used 2x4s to connect both of the sides.  Since each side is not the same length, we had just ensured that three of the four posts were lined up to each other and connected at those three points.  The 4^th post on the 30-foot side is not attached to anything, but it’s right next to our trailing rose archway so I’m sure it won’t be lonely.

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This took us about a little over an hour to do (excluding the trip to Home Depot that Cactus did on his own) and it all went super smoothly. Now, the more dedicated work will be spent re-directing all the berry vines up and over the trellis to make my beautiful archway. And then the jelly, jam and pie fillings!!