After years of growing half a bed of pole beans and half a bed of bush beans, I’ve given up on bush beans and I’m not going to plant them anymore.
This bed was planted about July 16th. It was previously a bed of garlic inter-planted with lettuce. I’ve had very good luck planting a late crop of green beans mid-July right after the garlic is harvested.
We don’t grow beans for drying. Organic dry beans in bulk are quite inexpensive, so it doesn’t make sense to grow our own. A lot of beans for drying are of the bush variety, but we don’t lose much in selection when we’re growing beans for fresh eating and freezing. I think a lot of the bush bean varieties were developed for mechanical harvesting.
The advantages of pole over bush beans in my home garden are several. Bush beans sprawl over the ground, they do not stand upright as is sometimes claimed. The beans get dirty and are difficult to weed. They are also more prone to vole damage and other pest problems. Harvesting pole beans is easier than harvesting bush beans, and I’m pretty sure the yield from the pole beans is greater for the amount of space used to grow them.
So it’s now all pole beans and bush beans are relegated to garden history.
I switched a couple of decades ago. Bush beans gibe you a crop all at once, pole beans over a greater time. Once I discovered Fortex pole beans, I wasn’t interested in fussing with bush beans. Have added asian long beams because they are so prolific.
I do agree with your “All Pole Beans, All of the Time!”
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I have not had much luck with bush beans the last couple of years and have small spaces so I may use you idea and try pole beans next year. I’m not sure what type of pole I should use and the amount of height necessary. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Enjoyed your article. I am moving to where I can again have a garden. We love pole beans and can rarely find them in the store. I look forward to growing them next season
I grow both pole and bush too. The bush because I really like haricot vert and the pole (mountain half runner and rattlesnake) because the rabbits don’t eat them. Until I fenced the garden, every haricot vert was chomped on promptly while the adjacent mountain half runners were completely ignored.
Fortex are great. Totally reliable and forgiving if left too long on the vine.
Hey I agree that Pole Beans rule especially for the small amount of space that some city dwellers are dealt with. After playing around with bush beans and pole beans for several years I ditched the bush after numerous failures. But all the pole beans succeed beyond expectations! Make sure you plant them places where they don’t block other plants sunshine and stagger them at planting time a couple of weeks apart. I planted them at base of wooden stakes and use twine for the vines to crawl across for super easy picking! Enjoy
Squatting down to pick bush beans has become way too difficult for me and I like how the pole beans produce until frost.
Kathy, many vertical trellises and poles can be used for pole bean vines to climb. I use tripods five and six feet tall, but fencing and many other materials can work. The height should be at least five feet, and taller is usually better. I guide the vine tendrils around the poles when the beans are younger. Otherwise, they may not find their way up the pole.
Love all the comments, enough to never ever grow bush beans again!! My spouse grew up on a north Louisiana cotton plantation, where his dad managed the cotton gin for about 1500 acres of cotton. His parents kept a garden. He’s a bush bean guy. For marital harmony, I agreed to grow bush beans, but I’m switching back to the pole variety.
I also grow both. I have discovered a bush bean from Pinetree garden seeds ( Superseeds.com) who I’ve ordered from for 33 years. (Smaller packages.) It is called Macai. Very heavy bearer of slender beans on upright plants. Also great for containers. It just now quit bearing. I also mulch my beans so they’re weed less and just get a little dirty after a rain. Try em! You’ll love em!