A few years ago, when I took an old friend through my garden and kept complaining about my lack of planting space, he suddenly interrupted me and asked, "Why do people build skyscrapers?" This is crowded with me. What does the garden have to do, I don't know. "So they can pack a lot of people into one place without taking up too much floor space?" I took a risk.

"Exactly. It's kind of like your garden, what do you mean? You have a few acres of unused space—in the air."

My friend is right. The extra space I need is right in front of my eyes. I started to "grow up" and soon discovered that vertical gardening has many benefits. It increases yield: most climbing vegetable varieties are heavier and longer than shrub-type varieties. By providing better ventilation, it can reduce disease. In a study, researchers at North Carolina State University found that cucumbers with shelves (with the bottom leaves trimmed) can produce healthier plants and twice as many fruits than vines without shelves. Vertical planting also creates a cool microclimate for understory crops. It adds visual appeal to the entire garden.

One more thing: most shrub varieties are bred from climbing varieties, and many growers believe that the original climbing varieties have a better old-fashioned flavor. As a seed-saving friend of mine once said, "Why bend down and pick low-quality peas?"

Of course, the short variety does provide some convenience. Because bush beans, dwarf tomatoes and other specific varieties stop growing at a fixed height, they are usually able to stand independently. And they are tolerated once, not for a long time. But in my opinion, the benefits of trellis crops are worth the effort.

To make a plant grow into a lattice or other support, you must first build it. Most have two parts-the main structural framework and some form of intranet.

Some common supports are wooden posts, metal piles, and thick-walled rigid PVC pipes. Rot-resistant acacia, cedar, and redwood can be made into durable wood posts, but almost any sapling trunk (3 to 5 inches in diameter) can be used for several years-longer if it is brought indoors in the winter. Treated columns are also commercially available. For each pillar, dig a two-foot-deep hole (digging a pillar is the best tool for this job), fix the support in place, and then use a thick rod or rod to compact the surrounding soil. Horizontal slats nailed to the underground parts of these pillars will add extra stability in the sandy soil.

Don't forget the bamboo. The strength of this grass is incredible, but its hollow chambers make it highly resistant to corrosion and light weight. If you have a place where you can spread (and will spread), please consider growing your own multifunctional free building material.

The steel column is not as beautiful as the wooden column, but the installation and movement speed is faster. Those with tags or holes in the center make the wire fence easier to fix.

Thick-walled rigid PVC pipes can be made into strong ends or corner posts when buried two feet deep. By adding elbows and tees, it can also provide a basic frame for the cage. Gardeners who use flexible PVC to make bell hoops can add some horizontal tube supports for tomato supports or nylon nets for other vine crops.

Vinyl-coated threads, commonly called clotheslines, can be used for horizontal support. It is very strong, flexible and wear-free.

Many people use ropes to install their lattices inside. If your neighbor feeds hay to his or her livestock, then you have found all the free baling lines you can use. Heavy-duty jute, nylon fences, and cotton cables are commercially available-jute is usually the cheapest. Avoid kites and wraps; they are not strong enough to bear the weight of growing plants. I personally tend to use natural fibers because they can simplify the autumn cleanup. Don't separate the vine from the twine: just compost the entire shebang.

Nylon nets that have been used for five years or more can be purchased at reasonable prices from gardening supply stores and mail order companies. It is usually five feet wide and different lengths.

Several metal fences are also popular lattice materials. Galvanized wire mesh (often called utility fabric, welded fence, or braided wire) should last from 5 to 10 years, depending on your area. Especially people living near the coast have found that even galvanized metal fences will age rapidly in salty air (therefore, they may want to study more expensive plastic-coated fences).

Reinforced concrete is cheaper, but it rusts faster because it is not galvanized. Nevertheless, it will continue for several years in most cases. For all wire fences, make sure the holes are at least four inches square so that you can pass the harvest. And to avoid contact point corrosion, match the staples or nails with the fence: this means that galvanized fences use galvanized staples or nails, and non-galvanized fences use iron nails or nails.

I know that many home gardeners use barbed wire to make lattices, but I don't recommend it. Of course, the price is low, but the barbed wire is too fragile for a circular freestanding cage, the mesh is too small for your hands to pass through, and it is too effective for a grid. Too effective? Yes. I would rather untie a ball of fishing line than spend time and effort removing a fence of used vines from the barbed wire.

There are also a large variety of lattice materials. Snow fences, sunflower stems from last year, bicycle rims, bedposts, aluminum chairs without webbing-everything soon began to look like potential plant supporters.

Mesh or wire scaffolding (suitable for all climbing crops): To make one of them, first sink some wood, metal or PVC pillars as anchor points. If you are using a commercial nylon mesh, separate these 5 feet apart, and if you use barbed wire, space them up to 10 feet apart. The supporting poles at the top are also very helpful. They can be made of saplings, long bamboo slices, 1×2 wooden strips, or some plastic-coated wires. Fix the net in place with a nail gun, wire nails or strong wire.

A six-foot tall grid (which means your pillar must be eight feet long) is a good height for most crops. Unfortunately, most nets and fencing seem to be four to five feet wide. This leaves a foot or more gap between the fence and the ground, and peas, beans, and legumes cannot jump. In order to solve this problem, please attach a slender wire mesh at the bottom.

Net frame (best for beans and peas): Small farms often use net frame because it is cheap (they buy polypropylene wire in large quantities) and does not need to be stored in winter. It is also very popular with home gardeners because it can use baling thread or cheap cotton rope.

To make your own string trellis, place the pillars 8 to 10 feet apart like a wire trellis. Tightly fasten a length of vinyl-coated clothesline along the top and the soil line. Next, tie your ball of thread to one end. Pass it through the wire at the bottom, then through the wire at the top, weaving it until you have something that looks like a zigzag spider web. The distance between the widest part of the rope should be 4 to 6 inches. If the clothesline is a bit slack, there is an extra loop around each wire to prevent the rope from sliding around and gathering.

Tipis (for beans and tomatoes, if wrapped in rope, pumpkin, and melon): To construct Tipis, cut three or more 12-foot long bamboo stems or straight saplings and place them side by side. Tie them together in and out, about a foot from the top-as if you were building a raft. Then pull them into a tight bundle, make a few turns on the outside, and tie them. Stand the beams upright, pull the lower end out of the tripod, and then push them two feet into the ground to stay firm. A crowbar or iron rod can help punch holes in hard soil.

Tipi grid (used for the same crops as ordinary tipis): Stretch your tipis into an A-shaped frame. Set a three-legged pointed top at each end of a row, and connect them across the top with a long support rod. On both sides, lean on the poles (12 inches apart) and tie them to the top posts. There are good pergolas on both sides, and the shaded area below can be an ideal place to extend the salad green season or start autumn crops.

Wire cages (for all climbers except pole beans): Most of us think that round cages are only suitable for tomatoes. But don't forget that if you add some horizontal sticks to provide extra support, pumpkins and melons will also thrive in the cage. Cucumbers and peas like to climb round walls as much as Zhibi.

I know you can buy cages for tomatoes, but let's face it, the cages bought in stores are too small. Before harvesting the first fruit, the plant protrudes from the top and hangs on the sides. (I imagine an uncertain tomato plant in a commercial cage feels like I am trying to fit my ninth grade jeans.) Thankfully, making your own tomato cage is easy. They will be large enough to hold a bumper crop-and last for several years.

A six-foot-long piece of barbed wire constitutes a two-foot-diameter circular cage. Cut the part with a wire cutter and cut after the vertical wire. This makes one edge smooth, while the other edge has a protruding wire that can be bent back to form a connecting hook. You can also clamp the lower horizontal line and let the end of the line plug into the ground. Even so, for the sake of stability, you still need to drive some short piles into the ground to fix the cage. If you want to be absolutely sure that the wire hole is large enough to reach in (and pull out that big tomato), you can cut some oversized "windows" in the wire.

The cage can also be used as a mini greenhouse in spring. The cage is wrapped in transparent plastic and secured with clothespins to help protect the young grafts inside.

Pea: The pea climbs the length of the vine with its elongated tendrils. This means that thin materials such as thin wires, metal wires and even old brushes are the easiest for plants to stick. Be sure to get support as early as possible. Pea seedlings need something low almost as soon as they emerge. If your grid is not in place, they will grab each other.

Beans: Pea vines use tendrils to support their upward growth, while pea vines can almost wrap the entire body on any vertical object. For this reason, tipis and string lattices have long been synonymous with Jidou culture. But mesh and wire mesh also work well. Bean simply ignores things at any level.

Tomatoes: There may be more ways to get tomato vines off the ground than to achieve results. Since they don't actually climb, but must be tied together, almost any support will work. I have used tipis, bamboo scaffolding, hula hoops, and even an old bedpost-nothing can be seen from the patch.

Fixing each vine to a wooden stake sounds like the easiest way, but in fact it requires a lot of strapping and pruning. In addition to being a chore, pruning also reduces yield and promotes sunburn. If you do piling, use rags or pantyhose cut into strips (not ropes). When loosely secured, this elastic tie will not cut the plant stem. In addition, place the stakes in the downwind direction of the prevailing breeze so that the plants are blown toward the support rather than away from it.

If you have racked the peas, why not start your tomatoes in the adjacent rows? Then when the peas come out, you can use a lattice-length string to secure the tomatoes to the same structure.

Cages are a good tomato prop-some studies have shown that the yield of tomatoes in cages is 50% higher than that of staked tomatoes. Plant one plant in each enclosure or three plants outside. Either way, cover the cage to eliminate weeds that pass through the fence.

Cucumber: Cukes is a pretty good climber, and seems to perform best on grid-type supports such as nets, barbed wire, or wooden slats. Nevertheless, if tied together here and there, they can climb almost anything. Their thick hollow stems can be easily removed at the end of the season-which makes them an easy crop to remove barbed wire. And don’t forget the longer snake-shaped Oriental Hockey (non-deflated, crisp and sweet), which straightens a bit when grown vertically, but still looks like a snake enough to shock careless gardeners.

Use your imagination a little bit. As we all know, gardeners will grow their future in tunnels (arching fences on the bell tower frame), camping sites ("puppy tent" scaffolds set side by side) and even caves (abandoned backyard jungle gym covered with chicken) Pickle crop. metallic line).

Melons and pumpkins: If you want to look directly at your cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew, pumpkin or winter melon, then help these absent-minded climbers by tying their stems-again with rags or pantyhose-in one On a sturdy frame. To help your suspension efforts, choose small fruit varieties: under four pounds seems best.

Use small slings, hammocks, or homemade stands to support the weight of the fruit, and install them as early as possible to prevent the stems from breaking. One end of the pantyhose is knotted, and the other end is tied to the support to make an elastic support. Old sheets or other scraps can be cut into square straps. Collect all four ends and tie them to the wire mesh. The used butter bucket can be made into a beautiful hanging basin. Punch four equally spaced holes around the upper rim, and tie a 12-inch thick twine to each hole. Knot the top pieces and connect them to the grid.

Some other unusual crops can also be grown vertically. Dolichos lablab (or hyacinth bean) is an exquisite ornamental legume with purple stems and lilac flowers. It is a mouth-watering vegetable in Indochina and Taiwanese cuisine. Malabar spinach (also called basella or summer spinach) is another oriental ornamental plant. One yard long (or asparagus) beans are delicious and long. There are also tempting but strong Chinese bitter melon, crispy root jicama, and even gourds for ornamental purposes.

The crop selection is as wide as possible. This brings us into the real confession time: What is my favorite grid system? Well, I prefer welding wire on wooden posts. Out of sheer laziness, I left these sturdy structures in place throughout the year-six years later, they are still as strong as ever.

Oh, and speaking of laziness, if you still don’t believe in trying to grow tall plants, think about it: all the growing space in the sky is a space where you never have to weed!

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