Last weekend (Memorial Day Weekend), I built my bean arbor and planted some blue lake pole beans. I saw a picture of an arbor similar to this last year and fell in love with the idea. Now, I cannot find the original pictures I saw, so unfortunately I cannot give credit to the person who built it, nor can I compare mine to theirs. I built mine based solely on what I remember that one looking like, but by golly, I think mine will work.
I started by driving a short (approximately 12-14 inch long) piece of rebar about halfway into the ground. I slid one end of the pvc pipe over the end of the rebar and then carefully bent the pipe in an arch to see how tall I could make the arch without putting the pvc in too much of a bind. I marked the spot on the ground and drove a second piece of rebar in, and slid the other end of the pipe onto that piece of rebar. Then I measured out how long I wanted the arbor to be (this one happens to be 7 feet, but it's really your choice) and arched a second piece of pvc in the same manner as the first. Next, I used some scrap hay string and lashed a 1 inch square wooden stake (purely because that's what I had on hand) to the top of each pvc arch, near the center (see the bottom right photo below). Finally, I stretched plastic bird netting across the whole structure to form a tunnel of sorts, and wove more hay string through the netting and around the pvc (again, see the bottom right photo below). Down the center of the tunnel, I layered empty feed bags and covered them with straw, to help keep the weeds down. I planted my beans down each side of the arbor, for 14 total feet of planted beans.
Today I noticed that all of my beans have sprouted! We have had steady, gentle rain all day today, which I'm sure helped a great deal, because the beans are 2 inches tall already. Once they begin to climb the arbor, I will take more photos to share with you. Have you ever grown pole beans on an arbor like this? What is your favorite trellis design for pole beans and why?
I started by driving a short (approximately 12-14 inch long) piece of rebar about halfway into the ground. I slid one end of the pvc pipe over the end of the rebar and then carefully bent the pipe in an arch to see how tall I could make the arch without putting the pvc in too much of a bind. I marked the spot on the ground and drove a second piece of rebar in, and slid the other end of the pipe onto that piece of rebar. Then I measured out how long I wanted the arbor to be (this one happens to be 7 feet, but it's really your choice) and arched a second piece of pvc in the same manner as the first. Next, I used some scrap hay string and lashed a 1 inch square wooden stake (purely because that's what I had on hand) to the top of each pvc arch, near the center (see the bottom right photo below). Finally, I stretched plastic bird netting across the whole structure to form a tunnel of sorts, and wove more hay string through the netting and around the pvc (again, see the bottom right photo below). Down the center of the tunnel, I layered empty feed bags and covered them with straw, to help keep the weeds down. I planted my beans down each side of the arbor, for 14 total feet of planted beans.
Today I noticed that all of my beans have sprouted! We have had steady, gentle rain all day today, which I'm sure helped a great deal, because the beans are 2 inches tall already. Once they begin to climb the arbor, I will take more photos to share with you. Have you ever grown pole beans on an arbor like this? What is your favorite trellis design for pole beans and why?
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None of the information contained on this site is intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise substitute for the care and advice from a qualified human or animal medical professional. Please consult the trusted medical professional of your choice before using any of the information contained on this site.
None of the information contained on this site is intended to diagnose, treat, or otherwise substitute for the care and advice from a qualified human or animal medical professional. Please consult the trusted medical professional of your choice before using any of the information contained on this site.