Pole bean trellis idea

Now that you've watched the video about my pole bean trellis, I wanted to better show you how it's set up in my garden.

As you can see by the above photo, I have 4 arbors that span a 3-foot-wide path between two of my raised beds. Each arbor has spikes that you push down into the soil for stability. If you live in a particularly windy area, you might even want to anchor them with stakes but I've never had mine blow over.

The arbors are made out of powder-coated steel and should last a really long time. They haven't rusted and are very sturdy. I bought mine at a local Fred Meyer store a few years ago but you can easily find them at home centers, too.

Each year, I start pole bean seeds indoors about the 1st of May and transplant them outdoors in mid-May. The seedlings are planted along the bottom of the arbors. I've planted them on the inside and the outside of the arbors; it doesn't really make a difference.




 Pretty soon, the plants look like they're in a race to reach the top of the arbors and cross over to the other side! (see above)


I love how the beans hang down on the inside for easy picking (above). And best of all, I get to stand in the shade while picking (see below)!

So there you have it. I realize the gardening season is coming to a rapid close but wanted to share this idea with you for next year.

I just love this method of growing pole beans because it takes up less garden space and also looks really cool. I'm a proponent of crop rotation so I move the arbors to different beds each year. It's been fun seeing the bean trellis slowly marching through the garden over the years!

If you have any questions, either comment on this post or drop me an email at inthegarden@live.com.