We've planted Kentucky Pole Beans in all three gardens we've had at this house. They take to the soil well here, grow fast, and freeze well once picked. The first year, we had no kind of trellis for them to climb, so they became a tangled mess of beans on the ground. The second year, I tried tying string between two sticks in the ground, which wasn't nearly interesting enough for them. The beans overtook it in two days.
This year, we swore we'd be ready. I designed and Kristie built a standing trellis -- with two sides made of chicken wire and hinges at the top, it can fold flat at the end of the summer for easy storage. And the beans are finally happy!
To make one trellis, you will need:
- 12 feet of narrow wood (we used 1 inch-by-1 inch)
- A jigsaw or handsaw
- Two metal hinges (not wider than the wood you chose)
- Nails
- Drill
- Screws
- Hammer
- Chicken wire (we bought a 6-foot roll, the smallest available at our local Home Depot, and have plenty left over)
- Staple gun
- Staples
- Wire cutters
Cut the wood into four pieces: two that are two feet long each, and two that are one foot long each. Put them together in a frame so that the shorter pieces are horizontal, the longer ones vertical. Leave about six inches of vertical space at the bottom rather than making a perfect rectangle (this will go into the ground and hold the frame steady). Nail the pieces in place.
Using wire cutters, cut a section of chicken wire that is a little bigger than the open space of your frame. Holding it as taut as possible, attached the wire to the frame with the staple gun. Bend in the sharp edges.
Repeat the above steps to create another frame. Using screws and the drill, attach the hinges to the top of the frames (which will attach the frames together). We made sure to turn the side of each frame with the staples toward the inside of the trellis so that the staples didn't show.
Holy happy beans! Yes, it's true, we don't have much space in the garden, so the zucchini's been showing some interest in the trellis too, and you can see a small patch of lettuce at the bottom of the picture.
