Backyard Trellising That Doubles Yield

Imagine walking along rows of vegetable crops surrounded by vines trained on natural support systems for optimal yield and harvests, all while making more efficient use of your landscape. Such a garden design offers healthier plants, easier harvests, and greater use of space than its conventional equivalent.

String trellising is an economical, simple technique used to guide vegetables up toward light and air while simultaneously decreasing soil-borne diseases by lifting leaves off of the ground.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are an easy garden vegetable to cultivate in containers or on their own in the ground, yet can be challenging when grown directly in soil. Tomatoes require good airflow in order to avoid disease; trellising provides that airflow while also helping plants remain upright without drooping over. Trellising can also provide a convenient means of collecting fruit that might otherwise fall to the ground and feed pests.

Wooden stakes or PVC pipes or rebar are an easy and less labor-intensive alternative for supporting tomato plants in a garden, providing space-saving support while making picking simpler. When planting tomatoes, insert this stake at the same time. As it grows over time, use it to tie each tomato as it develops. While cages provide more support, this method saves space in your garden while making picking easier.

Another solution is a rope or twine trellis, which provides an easy and straightforward solution. However, this may not work in all climates due to potential issues with ground water flow if too many tomatoes grow at once; furthermore, adjustments may need to be made as the tomatoes expand and develop as it can become quite heavy over time.

Use of hog panels or wood and wire fencing is another more complicated option, requiring more work but providing an adaptable and sturdy trellis for tomatoes and other vegetables. Hog panels also make great indeterminate varieties (those which continue to produce through summer) since it allows the plant to expand without being limited by an area constraint.

When using a hog panel or other fence to support plants, be sure to inspect it regularly in order to remove suckers, which are small shoots that appear between leaves and can take over as separate stems if left alone. Doing this will reduce the amount of foliage needing support while encouraging its main stem to focus more on growing upward – further increasing yield of your crop!

Natural trellises can also be included in your garden to support vines and vegetables, adding visual texture while supporting heavy climbing crops like beans and corn. Bamboo provides a sturdy framework to support heavy climbing crops like beans and corn while adding visual texture; castor beans provide another sturdy alternative that double as windbreaks/privacy screens; corn stalks provide organic support that works for lightweight climbing plants while adding visual anchorage in garden layout.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are another vineing vegetable that benefits from being trellised. Like tomatoes, cucumber plants grow quickly and can take up considerable space in your garden when their vines are heavy with fruit. A trellis allows you to make the most out of each square foot in your garden space, helping maximize yield without taking away space for other crops or adding too many structures into the landscape.

At five to six feet in height, an ideal cucumber trellis height allows plants to reach their maximum potential while making harvesting simpler for gardeners with limited mobility. Anything taller would become increasingly challenging to manage.

A simple string trellis provides all the support a cucumber plant requires to climb. This may simply consist of string or jute strung between two posts such as T-posts or wooden stakes driven into the ground. For something more decorative, try an A-frame trellis made out of reclaimed wood or sturdy twigs angled so the growing surfaces face east and west for optimal light exposure.

Livestock panels are an affordable building material that makes an excellent trellis frame for cucumbers. Plus, their lightweight nature means you can even paint this type of trellis to add some flair to your garden design! If space is an issue for gardening enthusiasts, try planting cucumbers in containers or pots, where trellises may not be required as much.

Or you could use an existing chain-link fence as support for your cucumbers. Or create an A-frame trellis from wooden lattice or bamboo slats using simple stakes for anchorage in the ground; alternatively tomato cages work well for cultivating cucumbers – these can often be found at home and garden centers.

Create an eye-catching living trellis design element by choosing a species of tropical climbing plant such as castor beans. These vines create a living vertical structure that maximizes space for other crops while improving soil health through nitrogen fixing roots.

Beans

Growing beans on trellises helps save space in your garden layout while improving air circulation and sun exposure. Grouping climbing vegetables such as beans together also enhances soil health, making it easier to avoid pests and disease.

Use polypropylene or nylon cord to create an inexpensive trellis by tying plants securely to stakes placed 6-10 feet apart in the ground. Tie one cord end around one stake before wrapping around two more, ensuring it runs between their tops just above the soil surface. Repeat the process with each additional stake, making sure to tie each plant securely before continuing until all cord runs between their tops, just above soil surface.

Bamboo or corn make great options for more elaborate support structures, with their tall stalks providing an organic framework to support intertwining plants like sweet peas or morning glories. In tropical gardens, bamboo adds depth and texture while giving gardens a tropical flair. When the season ends, simply disassemble and reuse next year!

Sunflowers

Sunflowers add vibrant color and visual height to any garden, not to mention being strong natural frameworks for supporting lighter climbing plants and vines. Each Helianthus species offers different benefits; see here for more info.

Sunflowers make an economical trellis alternative. A single sunflower can serve as a sturdy freestanding structure that supports cucumbers, tomatoes and other vining vegetables; its flowers also attract pollinators that boost plant production while contributing to an eco-balance. If growing sunflower seeds for seed production purposes, choose varieties bred specifically to produce high yield and quality seeds.

To make a sunflower trellis, place posts about 20 feet apart in the ground and attach either hog wire or nylon mesh to each post. Next, tie vines to the trellis using zip ties or similar gardening clips so as to maximize growth without stressing out its structure. If using wire, ensure its bottom edges are covered either barbed or smooth wire so as to safely harvest and move the vines when harvesting or moving them.

If you’re growing sunflowers to harvest their seeds, select tall varieties with large flowers like Holiday. It has thick branches reaching 5 to 7 feet high with orange-yellow blooms reminiscent of classic yellow petals and dark centers, and stays full bloom throughout the season.

Teddy bear plants make an excellent choice for smaller gardens and containers, reaching only 2 to 3 feet in height and offering feathery, deep gold blooms with branching stems that allow harvesting multiple side blooms from multiple bloom heads for vase arrangements that last days in water. To reduce risk of wilting, be sure to cut main flower heads early morning before stripping leaves away to expose stems before placing into water.

For a tropical-themed garden, use flowers to form a living fence or tepee of sorts. Russian sage’s silvery-blue foliage and fragrant blooms creates an ideal background for delicate climbing plants like sweet peas and morning glories to climb upon. Or try adding color with varieties like lemon queen rose and cherry rose that combine yellow, pink, and wine-hued blooms for an unexpected touch of elegance in any garden setting.