Sitting under the tunnels has given me a new perspective on the garden and gives me a chance to really observe and appreciate the many creatures that visit the space pollinators, hummingbirds, butterflies and more.ĭo you practice any vertical vegetable gardening?įiled Under: Garden Projects Tagged With: Vertical gardening, DIY plant supports Reader Interactions
Usually when I’m in the garden, I’m working, watering, or puttering. The bean tunnels have become my favourite shady place to sit and read. Why grow one type of pole bean, when there are so many beautiful varieties? These are Gold Marie and Blauhilde. I also made another tunnel for cucumbers which is now smothered with the dense vines and dangling fruits of varieties like Lemon, Suyo Long, and Sikkim. Now that the tunnels were ready for beans, it was time to get planting! I picked a handful of bean varieties Gold Marie, Emerite, Blauhilde, Fortex, French Gold, and Purple Podded Pole. Related post: Growing cucumbers vertically The wooden spreaders were just pieces of scrap wood that we notched and painted. What better place to meet than in the garden? It’s a phrase often used by the Canadian military to signify a meeting place. The wood strips turned each tunnel into a gothic arch shape, which I love! They were then painted a gray-blue colour to help them blend into the foliage (the stark unpainted wood was distracting) and I quickly jotted the phrase, ‘Muster Point’ on the first piece of wood. Knowing that this would affect their ability to support vertical crops, we installed wooden spreaders.
Initially, the two pieces of mesh bowed in – not such a pretty, or sturdy structure. The pole beans are just emerging and you can see the strips of wood that secure the panels to the raised beds. To ensure they would be sturdy, the bottom of each panel was secured to the raised bed with a strip of wood.
#Vegetable garden arch trellis zip
Bonus – they cost a mere $8.00 each! I used two panels per tunnel, joined at the top with zip ties.
In the end, it came down to the 8 foot long by 4 foot wide concrete reinforced mesh panels that I have used as trellises for years. With that idea scrapped, I began to look at other materials that could be upcycled for vertical vegetable gardening.
#Vegetable garden arch trellis plus
With four tunnels in mind, that would cost me $560.00, plus tax and transportation. Not so cheap after all. They also didn’t deliver and I would have to factor in the cost of a truck rental to pick them up. Once I was ready to erect the tunnels, I called around a dozen farm, building, and garden supply stores around my province, but only found one that offered the panels at a cost of $140.00 each. Vertical vegetable gardening building the bean tunnels: By late July, the tunnels were covered in bean vines. They provide a strong support for climbing vegetables like beans and cucumbers, but they are also much cheaper than more elaborate trellises and arbors… or so I thought. My initial plan was to form the tunnels from 16 foot long by 4 foot wide cattle panels, which could be bent over the spaces between my raised beds to make an arch. I could have gone with pre-made garden arches, but I was looking for something more rustic. The biggest issue was sourcing my chosen material. There were, however, a few speed bumps along the way. Plus, easy-to-build structures, like bean tunnels, are so much fun! Vertical vegetable gardening allows a very efficient use of space, helps prevent insect and disease problems, and adds beauty to the garden. When I redesigned my vegetable garden this past spring, I knew I wanted two things raised beds and plenty of vertical structures, including bean tunnels.
0 kommentar(er)
