Creative bean frames!

[Laura Hillier]

Hi everyone,

Here in the GYO office we are big fans of re-using and recycling. We like to create fun and unique structures to use in our gardens or growing spaces. This has got us thinking about unusual bean frames. Do you know any innovative ways to make frames from recycled materials? How do you normally support your beans?

Answers may be edited and published in Grow Your Own

Laura

[KittyColdNose]

My first serious year so I have gone with bamboo. Although I have been eyeing up fallen branches in the local wood.

[Samurailord]

I am planning on using several 8' tall hoops made from willow and/or hazel between two of my raised beds with beans planted on either side to make a green tunnel.

Hopefully the bean pods will hang down and make harvesting much easier.

Andy

[Jamesy_uk]

There's actually an old thread on frames, mainly Munty but some other let's see if I can dig it up.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ht=munty+frame

[binley100]

I am planning on using several 8' tall hoops made from willow and/or hazel between two of my raised beds with beans planted on either side to make a green tunnel.

Hopefully the bean pods will hang down and make harvesting much easier.

Andy

Make sure your willow is dead unless you want a permanent frame .............

[Bigmallly]

Not a very good photo but hope you can make it out. As I wanted to save on growing space, I collected some saplings from the nearby wood. Fastened them to the outer edge of the beds then hooped them together, the arches initially went over the path but it didn't quite work so now the arches go parallel to the beds. The idea is that I still have full use of the beds & can still grow my runners.

[veggiechicken]

My garden is terraced and I grow my beans on bamboo canes, set at an angle so that the beans dangle over the terrace below and are picked from underneath, imagine fishing rods!
Last year, I built a framework from thick bamboo (said to have been from rolls of carpet) and grew the beans horizontally, with more beans growing up the uprights on the outer edge.

[binley100]

I aquired some old rose arches and they go over my path .......beans up one side and anything else that fancies a climb up t'other ......

[solway cropper]

We get some very strong winds up here in west Cumbria and I got fed up of having wigwams and assorted structures blown over so last year I tried an experiment: grow the beans up a hedge. With 4 plants per bucket of rich compost my runners grew up canes tied into the privet hedge and I got my best crop ever. Now I know it works I'll have ten buckets this year.

[Likac66]

I got some bargain rose arches in the sales at the end of last summer so am planning on using those this year.

[scorpius]

Bamboo canes & hazel here.

[Bren In Pots]

My main bean frame uprights are made out of a metal bed frame with a fishing pole for the cross piece, then last year I won a very pretty runner bean frame here on the vine from Agriframe so that will replace the cane wigwams.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I have a hazel in my garden at home. It throws nice straight branches and the tree/bush needs kept under control. I wait till branches are about 8ft long then cut them off at the base. I now have sufficient to make a frame of inverted v's with a branch along the top to which everything is tied in.

[Storming Norman]

These metal hoops from Wilkies seemed to do the job across a path from 2009 to this year.

Just to be greedy I often had early beans [or peas] closely followed by squash, sometimes both together.

They were cheap and lasted 4 years. I've just replaced them and the old hoops were cut down by one section [the rotted bit] and moved to the allotment and reused.

[snakeshack]

I'm using metal electrical conduit which I dug up 5 years ago when I got my allotment,held together with reusable cable straps from work the beans grow up polypropylene rope tied to the top and nailed into the raised bed sides