Expand your planting space, grow a living screen, or add vertical interest to your garden beds. Train vines up a decorative support, onto a fence, or allow them to climb a trellis set in front of a wall or structure. Pole beans, peas, Malabar spinach, cucumbers, melons, and squash are all edible candidates for growing vertically.
Training these vegetables up a support saves space in the garden. Plus, the increase in light and airflow through vertically trained plants helps reduce the risk of mildew and other diseases. Growing vertically can also increase your yields and make harvesting much easier.
Pole beans typically produce an extra picking. Plus, it requires less bending to harvest. If it is easy, you are more likely to pick regularly, increasing productivity and ensuring the best flavor.
Try scarlet runner beans or purple podded pole beans for added color. Train Malabar climbing spinach up an obelisk in a container or over a decorative trellis in the garden. Use the leaves the same way you use true spinach.
The buttery nutty flavor is great fresh, added to a salad, used as a sandwich wrap, stir-fried, or steamed. The red stems, flowers, and seeds make an attractive display in the vegetable or ornamental garden. Support the heavy fruit of melons and squash when growing vertically.
Create a sling from cloth strips, an old T-shirt, or macramé – yes, it’s back! Tie the sling to the trellis to cradle the large fruit. The sling handles the weight, preventing the heavy fr.
