Growing pole beans on a bamboo trellis

First off, we should keep in mind. Bush style green beans grow on compact, self-supporting plants, commonly planted in long rows. That by their very nature has us stooping over, crawling on our hands and knees tending to, weeding, and looking for beans that are ready for picking. Witch by the way produce most beans the firs picking, then fewer each week over a short 3 to 4-week harvest. Making bush snap beans a favorite among those of us gardeners that love to freeze and can their harvest, and do that whole consecutive planting thing.

On the other hand, there is popular string less varieties of easy to care for and harvest pole beans such as 'Kentucky Wonder' and 'Romano Italian. These types of snap beans require a sturdy structure to support the vining string-less bean producing plants.

Resembling a garden hedge, pole beans easily reach heights of 6-feet and more depending on the height of the supporting structure.

Pole beans produce consistent yields over a longer harvest season of eight plus week.

Making enjoying freshly picked beans in salads, stir fry’s, soups and stews through summer and early fall a welcome treat. For gardeners that enjoy investing a little time, effort, and renewable resources to build this bamboo pole bean trellis.

The A-frame style trellis the kids and I built  requires 15, 7-foot long bamboo poles about 1 to 11/4-inch diameter.

For the frugal minded gardeners like me, I found a fellow gardener with a bamboo patch that was happy to give me all the poles I needed for free.

As it happens, bamboo is an invasive plant that grows like crazy and will take over the garden or landscape beds given the opportunity.

In keeping with the goal of using sustainable materials for building our pole bean trellis, we need select a natural fiver twine / cordage suitable for tying knots and lashings to bind the bamboo poles together securely.

When the time comes to tie a proper knot, not just any slipknot will do the trick. Lashing bamboo poles together requires a special knot that will bind poles securely and not allow the poles to slip out of place.

Thanks to my learning basic knot, and lashing skills as a Boy Scout. Knowing exactly which knot is best for securing the bamboo trellis poles together, rekindles fawn memories of learning how to tie and why use, a diagonal lashing, secured with a clove hitch.

What natural fiber type cordage works great for lashing two or more poles together? Sisal twine is a good choice, it is strong, inexpensive, and unlike synthetic fibers used in nylon wire ties, untreated sisal fibers do break down in the soil.  

Rather wrapping, frapping, and tying several knots. There is another viable option. Consequently, nylon cable ties are not biodegradable, these types of wire ties otherwise known as zip-ties will do a good job of binding the bamboo poles together.

The thing you should keep in mind, when using cable ties in place of the sisal twine. Remember to follow the same pattern as the wraps of twine use to tie the diagonal lashing. Three wraps of twine, will require three separate wire ties, and so on.

Here is a helpful tip, when using cable ties for assembly a quality cable tie installation gun will make the job easier. This tool makes consistently tightening cable ties less strain on the hands, and cuts the excess wire tie all with the squeeze of a handle, no additional tools required.

Follow the amazon links below for the proper cable ties and installation gun you will find extremely useful and save your valuable time and hard earned money.

Start with two bamboo poles of equal lengths; personally, I prefer using something close to eight-foot (2.44m) poles. For the next step, consider enlisting the help of another person, this will make holding and fastening the poles together much easier and less time consuming.

Next step:

Illustrated in the photo, Attaching bamboo poles using wire ties. Take a close look at where the two front vertical poles cross, making an X. The X creates a valley or notch use to support the horizontal pole / ridgepole.

*Something to keep in mind, the goal here, building a custom trellis that fits you and your needs.

Before building your custom trellis, get the soil ready for planting. Till or turn soil, test soil ph. levels, add compost, fertilizers, and all the other vegetable gardening tricks you like.

When building this bean trellis there are no absolute dimensions as to how tall or wide the trellis poles are set. Rather worry about measuring this or that. Simply allow your height, reach, and physical abilities set the scale of things.   

For instance, as you start building the A-frames that support the trellis, one on each end of the structure.

1. Start with one bamboo pole firmly grasped in each hand.
2. Standing in the exact location, you want the trellis built. Face in the direction the trellis will run.
3. With the bamboo poles, firmly grasped one in your right hand and one in your left hand, extend each arm, with arms bent to elbow length, to your right and left side.
4. Now push the end of each pole into the soft soil a couple of inches / 50mm or so. This is easier when you have a helper, one to hold the poles in place, while the other pushes each pole into the well-tilled garden soil. This will help to establish a firm base making the next step easier.
5. With the bamboo poles firmly rooted, stand in the center of the two poles, pull them together forming the X at your eye level, and secure the X as illustrated in the photo.
6. Next, attach the horizontal ridgepole as pictured to the top of the X created by the crossed poles. This will help establish the location of the supporting poles for the opposite end of the trellis. Build the second A-frame repeating previous steps. When finished, the trellis will look like an A-frame tent without the canvas.

With both A-frames build and horizontal ridgepole attached. This is the best time to install center bracing. In the photo above titled Bamboo pole bean trellis. The center braces are clearly visible, running from one leg of both the right and left A-frames to the ground creating an X.

Installing these braces is easy, simply push the end of the bamboo pole into the garden soil at a 45-degree angle a couple inches / 50mm or so and attach to one of the legs of the A-frame. Adjusting the A-frames so they tilt a bit inward / towards the center of the trellis will add stability.

Now it’s time to add the additional poles on each side of the trellis spaced at about 1-foot /30cm intervals.

Simply push each pole into the soil a bit, place the other end atop the horizontal ridgepole, and secure with lashing or nylon wire tie.

All you need do now, plant your pole bean seeds, watch the magic happen, and enjoy the benefits of growing pole beans on a bamboo trellis.