Cattle Panel
A support structure - any of: Cattle Panel, Bamboo Tripod, String Trellis. Not a plant; it earns its place by what it carries.
- Carries
- a climbing vine - effectively any load a garden asks
- Cost
- ~$10–$40
- Lasts
- 5–20 years, reused season after season
Fills the support role with zero nutrient competition, zero timing constraint, and effectively unbounded load. Loses biomass, ground cover, and the story.
Plantings that use it
Where it goes: along the shaded (poleward) edge of the bed, so its shadow falls out of the growing ground - set with the planting, before the vine needs it.