Runner beans on walls

[Upwood]

Is there any reason why I can't grow runner beans against a wall, provided I give them adequate support in the form of wires to hang onto?

[kentvegplot]

Hi Upwood, no, there's no reason why not. Runners can get pretty heavy when they are in full leaf and cropping well, so just make sure those supports are quite sturdy. If you can provide them with canes rather than strings, I'm told they prefer that,although I haven't done a proper trial

[Snadger]

Bottoms of walls are usually quite dry so you will need to add a lot of organic matter. As long as it's a sunny aspect tho they should do well and the added advantage is that once the sun goes down the absorbed heat from the wall will keep the night time temperatures up!

[hawthorns]

bob flowerdew says growing runner beans on walls is a no go. they cant keep the water well as the wall soaks it up

[Vecten]

Bob Flowerdew is right The wall will prevent rainfall falling on the roots and also soak up any moisture you put down. Another thing is that all the slugs and snails in your neighbourhood will gravitate to the wall and hide under the foliage to feast on the beans.

[smallblueplanet]

Well I'm on the don't see why not, side. If you put in a couple of upturned top half of 2l pop bottles to direct any watering to the roots and maybe even temporarily line some of the wall below soil level with plastic? Give it a go! (ps I don't like runners so I won't feel bad if they fail, but you will, sorry. )

[Snadger]

Bob Flowerdew is right The wall will prevent rainfall falling on the roots and also soak up any moisture you put down. Another thing is that all the slugs and snails in your neighbourhood will gravitate to the wall and hide under the foliage to feast on the beans.

Far be it from me to contadict the great Mr Bob, but.................If the canes were set, say, 3 foot away from the wall, area was well mucked and canes were angled back to the wall at the top the rain would get to the roots ok?

You are in effect creating half a wigwam!

[Vecten]

That's right - but Upwood is talking about training them on wires on the wall. Believe me I have tried it and lived to regret it.

[Upwood]

Thanks for all the advice. I was talking about training them on wires on the wall, but if that won't work, I like Snadger's idea of canes angled back to the wall. I've got enough space, and enough beans, so I might try both. I want to try alternative ways of growing veg, though at the back of my mind I know that veg are grown in traditional ways as a result of centuries of trial and error!

[Herbgardener]

I agree, we used to grow beans in grobags against a 40 foot long garage wall, used netting for them to climb up. Wasn't unheard of to pick 20lb+ of beans at a time..

[diana]

I am going to try runners up a wall this year as due to the wind up here a wigwam would be blown down, I am going to use fishing nets as support as we get enough thrown up on our beach to cover the north sea well lots anyway, I will report how I get on.

[JennieAtkinson]

I am going to try runners up a wall this year as due to the wind up here a wigwam would be blown down, I am going to use fishing nets as support as we get enough thrown up on our beach to cover the north sea well lots anyway, I will report how I get on.

Sounds like you are settlling into island life well Diana! Fishing net works well up here too and as you say it is in great abundance on the beaches.