Maintaining
Supports and netting for climbers, peas and beans
Tall cane ends sit at eye level when you lean in to tie or pick, so fit cane toppers. Loose netting can entangle hedgehogs and birds, so keep it taut or remove it when it is not needed.
- Where to get help
- NHS 111, or your GP.
Peas, beans and climbers crop far better off the ground, with more light and air, less disease, easier picking and less slug damage. Sturdy supports set up early stop wind rock and collapse when the plants are heavy with pods in summer.
When
Set supports up at or just before sowing or planting out: from April for peas, and from late May to June for runner and climbing French beans once the frost risk has passed. Put netting and trellis for sweet peas and other climbers up at planting.
How
1. For beans, build a double row of tall canes (about 2.4m) tied to a horizontal ridge cane, or a wigwam of five or six canes tied at the top. 2. For peas, push in twiggy hazel sticks or fix pea netting between posts. 3. For ornamental climbers, fix trellis, wires or mesh netting to a fence or frame. 4. Space canes about 20 to 30cm apart and firm them in deeply. 5. Guide young shoots onto the support and tie them in loosely with soft twine until tendrils take hold.
Notes
Runner beans twine anticlockwise, so start them the right way round the cane. Keep netting taut or take it down when not in use so it does not trap birds and hedgehogs. Hazel and bamboo reuse for several years if stored dry.