I originally designed this squash arch for my garden way back in 2010. It turned out even more beautiful than I imagined, and it’s been the main centerpiece in my veggie patch ever since.
It’s also become an internet sensation, with hundreds of thousands of shares, and tons of people have built one of their own! If you want to add one to your garden, below I’ll give you exactly what you need to make your own.
How I Designed This Squash Arch
When I first set out to design this project, the biggest challenge I had was constructing an arch that would be strong enough to support the vines once they became heavy with squash.
I knew I wanted to use metal garden fencing, but that alone isn’t strong enough to hold up, especially around the top of the arch. So I came up with a design that uses PVC piping to support the fencing.
To make it tall enough, I needed two pieces of pipe for each side. I glued them together using a special PVC glue, and then weaved them into the fencing.
Once my squash arch was up, I spray painted the PVC black to make it look like metal. You can paint it any color you want, be creative.
Just make sure to use a plastics spray paint, and do it before you plant any seedlings so they don’t get sprayed with paint.
Planting Your Squash Arch
My favorite types of squash plants to grow on my arch are Sugar Pie Pumpkins, Butternut, and Delicata. But you could choose any variety that you want, as long as it’s not a bush-type.
Once you have your arch set up, you can plant your squash on the inside or the outside of the arch, that doesn’t matter. I have mine in a raised bed, so I plant the squash on the inside of the arch.
And, if you’re not a squash person, you could grow any type of vining, climbing plant that you want to on this arch – it doesn’t even have to be a vegetable.
Amazing right? Who knew squash could be so gorgeous. I’m super excited about this arch, I absolutely love it! So many people rave about it, and want to make one for their garden.
Well, the great news is that you can get my detailed step by step instructions to learn exactly how to make one!
So, if you love my unique DIY squash arch design, and want to build your own, click the button below to download the full plans and instructions today!
Interested in building your very own Squash Arch?
Click the “Buy Now!” button to purchase your step-by-step instructions.
Building A Squash Arch – Step-by-Step Instructions
More Posts About Squash
- How To Trellis Squash For Growing Vertically
- How To Grow Winter Squash
- How To Grow Summer Squash
- When & How To Harvest Squash
- How To Hand-Pollinate Squash For Maximum Production
More About Vertical Gardening
- How To Make Sturdy DIY Tomato Cages
- How To Build A Pea Trellis Arch
- 20 Excellent Trellis Plants For Your Garden
- 15 Types Of Vertical Gardening Systems & Supports
- How To Build A DIY Greenhouse
Leave a comment below and let me know what you think of my squash arch design.
Margaret says
Now why didn’t I think of that? I grow a squash that apparently goes by a number of names – Trombocini and Rampicante are two of them. If I grow it on the ground it tries to take over the garden and on the fence it leaves little room for beans. It’s spring here (New Zealand) so I need to begin some serious arch making. Thanks for the timely idea.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome, have fun!
Barbara M. says
OMG this is just beautiful ! To me , gardening is all about the “magical” return on my creative effort.. And this arch is truly MAGICAL..next year I’m arching away! Maybe even in the FRONT of my house. It’s THAT cool. Thanks Amy! Just subscribed tonight.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome, glad you love my squash arch design so much! Thanks for subscribing! 🙂
Ed Kniska says
Can you tell me if it is better to plant the squash inside the arch (fencing) and leave a gap so that the vines can be brougjht through and then ran up the trellis arch or plant the squash in front of the arch and then rub the vines straight up the arch as it grows?
Thanks
Amy Andrychowicz says
You can plant the squash plants either on the outside or the inside of the arch. It doesn’t matter because as they vine out, they will grab onto the fencing and weave themselves in and out of the fencing. You do have to help them out sometimes though, here’s more information on training your squash vines to grow vertically… How To Grow Squash Vertically
Judy says
Perhaps this question came up in other comments but I’m wondering if you move your trellis to different garden boxes each year. I have been trying to do a sort of crop rotation in my boxes but it gets hard to do if you have permanent hard structures!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, I do move it between boxes. I also use it to grow beans, and have alternated years with growing beans and squash on the arch so that I can do crop rotation that way too.
Diana says
Hi Amy,
Just wanted to let you know that we built our squash arch last Sunday. Where it was placed is a step down from our driveway which made the original length look too short, so we used 2 10 footers instead and spread the legs apart further than in your instructions. It was a bit wobbly feeling at first but adding 10 or so zip ties to each side stabilized it very well. Everyone that has seen it thinks it looks great. I’m so excited to get some plants growing on it!! Thanks again for such a nifty and easy idea.
FYI: I chose to go with the schedule-80 dark grey pvc pipe since it’s supposed to stand up to UV rays better and it’s not that much more expensive.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Sounds like you made some great modifications! I hope it will work out well for you. I love the idea of using the dark grey pvc, then you don’t have to paint it. Thanks for sharing that tip!
Gwen says
Just found your site after seeing your squash arch on Laurie Neverman’s Home Grown Food Summit presentation- really like your ideas!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Thank you Gwen!
Esther says
Very cool~ What I wd do is use zip ties to connect the fence wire to the pvc pipe.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Sounds like a great idea!
Brigg Franklin says
I notice in your squash trellis picture above you appear to have used a 10′ PVC pipe and a shorter section hooked together. Is the short section 5′ to make the arch total 15 foot? It seems an arch of two 10′ sections is too tall and one 10′ section too short. You could also use three 5′ sections with “T” connectors to link two arches together with short PVC sections and give the fence more support. Ideas?
Amy Andrychowicz says
You could definitely customize it any way you want. That’s part of the fun!
Julie says
If you did this for cucumbers approximately how many plants do you use per raised bed? My worries I may plant to many lol vs using the ground
Amy Andrychowicz says
The seed packet for the cucumbers I’m growing this year says to space them 12″ apart. I usually plant my cucumbers a little closer together than the recommendation, since they climb the trellis and have more room to grow than the bush varieties do. If you’re worried, then I would stick with the recommendation on the seed packet. Here’s a post I wrote about how to grow cucumbers vertically that might help you out.
Lissa says
Have you planted different varieties of climbing plants- squash, melons ect or do they cross pollinate?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Squash and melons do tend to cross pollinate, so if you’re worried about that then don’t plant them together. I usually stick to one type of squash on the arch, but have experimented with mixing them before. It’s fun to try different varieties. I’ve never grown melons on the arch, melons are tough to grow in our short season here in MN.
Diana says
We’re in Wisconsin and this year are starting our melons early under lights and then will move them to the greenhouse before planting them outside by the arch. Maybe we can get a good harvest that way instead of direct seeding them and being disappointed because they don’t have long enough to ripen.
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, melons are hard with our short growing season. Starting them indoors ahead of time should help a ton!
megan says
Do the squash climb themselvs or is it easy to train them to do so?
Amy Andrychowicz says
Squash plants do climb a little by themselves, but they aren’t great climbers. Here’s a post I wrote that explains how to train them to grow on the arch… How to grow squash vertically
Skye says
I see from your link that you are using the metal rabbit fencing but not seeing it at the bottom of your picture. I don’t need rabbit fencing, is this type flexible, it looks like it is? Also, you possible know how many inches the squares are and/or the mm of the wire? Great idea, I want to try it! Thanks.
Amy Andrychowicz says
This is the exact type of fencing I used… Metal garden fencing
Rae-Lyn says
What length of PVC pipes did you use? How high is it? My hubby is going to build right away for me!!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Mine is about 6′ tall. The lengths of PVC you use depend on how high and wide you want the arch. The exact specs of mine are in the downloadable plans. 🙂
Diana says
Hello, I loved your idea so much that I purchased the PDF and am planning on building two of these this year Such a great idea!
Two questions: I can’t tell from the pictures how ‘woven’ the pvc is in the fencing but it looks like you skipped a few fencing squares between weavings? Could you comment on that?
Also, in your experience is 3″ of rebar long enough above ground to keep the trellis adequately stabilized?
Thanks so much, this is the most functional, economical and relatively easy to build trellis idea I’ve seen yet!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Awesome, hope you enjoy it! 🙂 I loosely weaved the PVC into the fencing. Yes, just enough rebar to stabilize the arch. Once you get it in, you can readjust if you need to. You’ll see how stable it is once you put the arch up. 🙂
Amy
Ed Abayon says
If I buy the book Building a Squash Arch, do you send a pdf copy of it via my email? Am from Philippines. I just need a pdf copy, to avoid shipping cost .
Amy Andrychowicz says
Yes, you will be emailed a pdf downloadable file of the squash arch instructions.
Amy
Kimberley says
I built my arch earlier this spring with my nine-year-old daughter it was a great project for us! My two questions are how many individual squash plants do you typically have a growing up the trellis, and what are the dimentions of the planting area at the base of the trellis?
Thank you!
Amy Andrychowicz says
Wonderful, I’m so excited to hear that you built your own squash arch! I’m not exactly sure how many plants I’ve put in the past few years. Probably 6 or 8 seedlings/seeds per side, then thin out the weak ones. I’m not sure what you mean by the dimensions of the planting area at the base of the trellis. If you’re asking about the dimensions of my raised beds, they are 2’x4′.
Amy
Kimberley says
Perfect that answers my question! I’d read from another source to have only one squash plant per 4 ft wide trellis and that left me thinking I wouldn’t get much yield. I’ve got 4 plants per side in raised beds that are 1.5’x3′ which seems consistent with your planting.
Thanks for the inspiration, I’m eagerly awaiting a full squash arch later this summer!