Teepees for vines

If your garden is short on space, consider growing vertically. Vining vegetables like cucumbers, beans, winter squash, and gourds can be trained to grow on a structure, saving valuable space for other crops.

Permanent structures like a trellis or fence work great but if the gardener wants to be able to rotate crop locations, consider moveable structures like a teepee.

Teepees can be constructed from organic materials like wood lathing or bamboo, or they can be constructed out of metal poles that are durable and will last indefinitely or plastic stakes that are lightweight.

Before assembling the teepee, work the soil under the chosen spot for the teepee so that the soil is loose, and poles can be easily inserted into the ground. This can be accomplished by mere tilling or by amending the soil with organic matter that will loosen the soil.

Poles should be long in length because the lower foot will be inserted into the ground. Place poles several feet apart in the shape of a triangle. Lean each pole into each other, meeting in the center of the triangle. Wrap sturdy twine, plastic tape, or rope to secure the ends of the poles at the top of the teepee. Nylon rope will last several seasons, plastic tape will quickly disintegrate in the sun, cotton string and jute twine will last only one season. Twine and string are the easiest to handle.

After securing the tops of the poles, bind the rope or twine tightly together by wrapping several times around the poles. Next weave a network of twine through the poles, forming a network so that as plants grow and vines or stems have something onto which to latch onto as they extend. Otherwise, the vines will just flop about and slip back down to the ground. The vines need to be directed onto and through the twine strands as they extend in length and grow up the poles.

Many teepees can be constructed in one garden. Try one teepee for each crop, like a cantaloupe teepee, a cucumber teepee, a pole bean teepee, a gourd teepee, or even several for different varieties of the same vining crops devoted to their own teepee. Have fun constructing and placing them in the garden.

Ellen Peffley Harp, a retired professor of horticulture at Texas Tech University, writes about gardening for several Texas newspapers.