Mistakes were made.

I remade one, actually many of my raised beds this spring ( thanks to Mr. Gopher) one of them I wanted to have a built-in trellis in one corner.  I was very happy with it. I thought it looked great.
I still think it looks pretty, but... The 1/2" hardwire cloth is to small to be a good trellis.

Yeah, critters will do their best to get in. In the beginning we also had to remake a lot of beds do to them. I find that unless you use a metal raised bed, you will need the hardware cloth to go up the sides as well as the bottom.
About trellising. I like the 1/2” hardware cloth for some of it. It’s good for cucumbers and beans, and if you put it around 3 sides of the bed (the two shorter sides and one of the longer)and fortify it with posts, you can trail wire between the two short sides and use it for tomato plants.

I have a hard time finding metal panel/grid/fencing material with the right gauge and grid size combo. Cattle panel is good but kind of heavy for most jobs. Concrete mesh is about right but not long enough and rust easily. I bought a roll of coated fencing with 2" by 3" grids. I can put my hand through the hole but can't get the fist out after a harvest something. I am experimenting with trellises made of bamboo poles and so far they are most versatile for all kinds of plants

Before I got my cattle panel arches I used wire fencing between two t posts(I think it was a little left from the dog fence). It was 4' high, so I used two pieces. They worked very well. I grew peas, beans, cucumber,  and even melons. It wasn't pretty, but it was quite functional.
I was going to attach a picture, but the fencing is very hard to see.