The Grow Frame is a raised garden bed with its four legs run on to a timber rail 1.8 m off the ground. It is built to take the mesh, net and cloth that hardware stores sell by the roll, so you can net it, cage it, shade it, wrap it or grow up it, and change your mind with the seasons.
This page is the working list: which roll does which job, how much you need for a Wide (157 x 110 cm) or a Large (157 x 60 cm) frame, and how to fix it on. Everything here goes on with a staple gun, a drill or a handful of zip ties. Nothing needs a special part.
First, the numbers you need
Every side of the frame is one flat face: the board at the bottom, the rail at the top, legs either side. The gap you are covering is:
- 80 cm raised garden bed: 90 cm from the top of the board to the underside of the rail. A 90 cm roll goes on flat, edge to edge.
- 50 cm planter box: 120 cm from board to rail. A 120 cm roll does the same.
Lengths around the frame, between the legs:
- Wide: two long sides at 1.32 m, two ends at 1.10 m. About 4.9 m all the way round. The top is 1.52 x 1.10 m.
- Large: two long sides at 1.32 m, two ends at 0.60 m. About 3.9 m all the way round. The top is 1.52 x 0.60 m, so one strip off a 90 cm roll covers it.
A 30 m roll of 90 cm mesh does the sides of six Wide frames, or the sides and top of about seven Large ones.
Which roll for which job
| Keep out or do | What to buy | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Birds and possums | Galvanised aviary mesh, 12 x 12 mm holes, 90 cm x 30 m roll (Bunnings sells the Jack brand) | All four sides and the top. Possums climb, so the top matters as much as the sides. |
| Rats and mice | Mouse mesh, 6.5 x 6.5 mm holes, 900 mm x 5 m roll | Sides and top. Run it under the bottom board too if they are digging in. |
| Cats, dogs, chooks, rabbits | Cage mesh, 25 x 25 mm holes, 90 cm x 30 m roll | Sides. Add the top for cats. |
| Fruit fly, cabbage moth, aphids | Fine insect net or exclusion net (2 mm holes or finer), sold in 2 m wide rolls or packs | Wrap the whole frame and close the top. Roll one side up to pick and water. |
| A net you can throw over | Wildlife-safe knitted bird net, white, holes 5 mm or smaller: about 3.6 x 3.1 m for a Wide, 3.6 x 2.6 m for a Large (add half a metre for the 50 cm frames) | Over the top, pegged or bricked at the ground. The rails hold it up off the fruit. |
| Summer shade | Shade cloth, 50% for vegetables, 70% for seedlings and ferns, 1.83 m wide by the metre | The hot side (west, then north) and the top in a heatwave. Leave the other sides open for air. |
| Frost and cold nights | Frost cloth, or clear greenhouse film (builders' plastic works) 2 m wide | Wrap all four sides and the top. Open it on warm days or things cook. |
| Climbers: beans, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes | Garden twine, or a 100 x 100 mm reinforcing mesh panel (1.8 x 1.2 m) cut to fit a side | Strings from the rim to the rail; a mesh panel screwed to one side; cables from hooks under the rail. |
| Hanging pots and baskets | S-hooks or cup hooks | Along the top rails, right at picking height. |
Fixing it on
- Net, cloth and fine mesh: a staple gun with 10 mm galvanised staples into the rail and the board. Fold the edge over once before you staple and it will not tear.
- Wire mesh: screws with a washer, or a thin timber batten over the edge, into the rail, the board and the legs. It is all timber, so it takes a screw anywhere.
- Anything you want to take off again: zip ties around the rail, or bulldog clips. A rolled-up side held with two cords is the easiest door there is.
- Coming soon: Corrogarden panels, gates and doors made to fit the frame, so a bay can be clipped in and out in seconds.
Mix and match: make the climate you need
The frame is four separate bays and a top, so you do not have to pick one thing. A few combinations that work:
- The summer bed: shade cloth on the west side and the top, insect net on the other three sides, one side rolled up in the morning.
- The winter bed: greenhouse film on the cold sides and the top, the north side open on sunny days, closed at dusk. Seedlings started weeks early.
- The possum-proof bed: aviary mesh screwed to every side and across the top, and nothing gets in. Roll the netting off the top when the crop is done.
- The climbing bed: twine from the rim to the rails on both long sides, a reo panel on one end, and the whole frame turns into a green wall by January.
- The gourd tunnel: one vigorous vine trained over the rails and across the top, fruit hanging down through the middle.
Swap it around as the year turns. The frame stays put; the covers change.
See the frame itself: Grow Frame raised garden bed or planter box (delivered and built in South East Queensland) or the Grow Frame kit, shipped Australia wide. For a cheaper hoop over an ordinary bed, see the DIY poly tunnel.