Trellises for Peas and Beans
Okay. Your peas and beans are in the ground or about to be, and now's the time to think about what they're going to climb on, because doing it after they're a foot tall means you're wrestling vines instead of just setting a post.
Not every bean needs this. Bush beans stay low and don't climb, so if that's what you planted, skip this lesson and go read something else. But pole beans and most peas want to climb, and if you don't give them something to grab, they'll flop over each other in a tangled mess on the ground, and you'll be picking pods out of mud and slug territory all summer. Give them a trellis and they'll go up instead of out, which also means more plants per square foot of bed. At altitude with our short season, I want every plant working as hard as it can in the space it's got.
What actually works
You don't need anything fancy. Here's what I've used, cheapest to fussiest:
String and stakes. Two sturdy stakes at the ends of your row, a horizontal line of twine strung between them near the top, and then vertical strings running down to the base every six to eight inches. The plants climb the verticals. This costs almost nothing and works fine for peas especially, since pea tendrils are polite and grab onto thin string just fine.
Cattle panel or remesh, arched or upright. If you've got a piece of stock panel or leftover concrete remesh, bend it into an arch over the bed or just stand it up vertical along the back edge. This is what I use for pole beans because beans are heavier climbers than peas and want something sturdier to grip. It also lasts years, so it's worth the one-time cost if you're planning to keep gardening, which, if you're taking this class, I'm assuming you are.
A-frame made of two cattle panels leaned together like a tent. Good if you want a shady little tunnel and don't mind ducking to pick from underneath. My oldest did this with me one spring for the fun of it more than anything.
Netting on a frame. Works, but here the dry wind can tangle it and I find myself untangling more than trellising. I've mostly given up on netting for that reason. Your yard might be more sheltered than mine, so I won't tell you not to try it, but that's my honest experience.
Whatever you use, put it up before you plant or right when you plant, not after. Trying to slide a trellis in around established roots means you're either damaging roots or giving up and doing it badly. Set the structure first, then plant right at its base.
Height and spacing
Peas don't need to go much above five feet. Pole beans will happily climb six feet and keep reaching if you let them, so plan taller if you've got the material for it. Space your uprights or panels so the bed isn't overcrowded, same rule as always here: crowding plants doesn't mean more harvest, it means more disease and less air movement, and our humidity swings enough already without adding a wall of wet leaves that never dries out.
The pea trellis afternoon
I'll tell you the actual reason I like this lesson. A few springs back my daughter Jane was home for the weekend, and instead of doing anything that required real conversation, we spent an afternoon out back stringing up pea trellises together. Neither of us said anything important. We just measured twine, argued a little about how tight to pull it, and got the whole row done by the time it started cooling off. It's one of the better afternoons I had that whole season, and I didn't even realize it until later, looking back at the photos on my phone. Sometimes the plain, boring garden task is the good part. Don't rush past it looking for something more meaningful to do with your time outside.
A caution worth saying plainly
If you're using panel or remesh, the cut wire ends are sharp enough to open up your hand if you grab wrong. Bend or cap the ends, or at least know where they are before you reach in to pick beans in a hurry.
Before next time
Get your trellis up before your pea and bean seedlings need it, not after. If you haven't decided what to build yet, look at what you've already got in the garage before you buy anything new. Half of mine started as scrap.
- D