Last year I grew the pole beans on the trellises I made out of 2x2's and trellis netting. They grew great but it had a few short falls. First being that it was not tall enough, they grow 6' or taller. The second and worst short fall was taking them off the trellis netting in the fall. They really wrap tightly and it took forever to clear them out. So with the bed expansion I did this spring I decided to build a different trellis for the beans, here it is:
It is made out of bamboo and compostable string for the beans to climb on. It was really fast to put together, it took maybe 15-20 minutes and was really inexpensive. Best of all in the fall I can just snip the string and put the whole lot in the compost. It is also reusable asides from the string and will last at least 5 seasons. The one I built is about eight feet high, five feet wide and one foot deep. If you are lucky enough to have space it would work great spread across a 36"-48" bed. Here are some closeups of how it is put together encase you want to try one yourself:
First I could only find 6' bamboo poles so I got 2 extra to extended them. This was done by drilling a hole through both pieces, the string was then threaded through the holes, wrapped and tied. These poles ended up being about 9' long leaving extra length to sink in the ground.
Then two poles were sunk into the ground at the width you want the trellis and then pulled together at the top. I then just wrapped the string tightly and finished with a square knot. This was then repeated on the other side. Once both sides were in place the top rail was pushed into place to add support and a place to run the string.
The last part of the frame is to install two horizontal piece of bamboo across the front and back. Like at the top I just wrapped the string around a bunch of times and then tied a square knot. With all the frame together I then added the string about 6" apart. I started by tying the string around the back piece of bamboo, then I wrapped it around the top piece of bamboo a few times and finished it by tying it to the front piece of bamboo.
It is made out of bamboo and compostable string for the beans to climb on. It was really fast to put together, it took maybe 15-20 minutes and was really inexpensive. Best of all in the fall I can just snip the string and put the whole lot in the compost. It is also reusable asides from the string and will last at least 5 seasons. The one I built is about eight feet high, five feet wide and one foot deep. If you are lucky enough to have space it would work great spread across a 36"-48" bed. Here are some closeups of how it is put together encase you want to try one yourself:
First I could only find 6' bamboo poles so I got 2 extra to extended them. This was done by drilling a hole through both pieces, the string was then threaded through the holes, wrapped and tied. These poles ended up being about 9' long leaving extra length to sink in the ground.
Then two poles were sunk into the ground at the width you want the trellis and then pulled together at the top. I then just wrapped the string tightly and finished with a square knot. This was then repeated on the other side. Once both sides were in place the top rail was pushed into place to add support and a place to run the string.
The last part of the frame is to install two horizontal piece of bamboo across the front and back. Like at the top I just wrapped the string around a bunch of times and then tied a square knot. With all the frame together I then added the string about 6" apart. I started by tying the string around the back piece of bamboo, then I wrapped it around the top piece of bamboo a few times and finished it by tying it to the front piece of bamboo.
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