Various structures can support
peas, pole beans, melons,
cucumbers, and tomatoes.

Vertical Crops

You'll find that some vegetables grow better with support. They do well on trellises, fences, and other structures. By growing up instead of out over the ground, your garden will produce more per square foot. Vegetable plants grown up on a support also tend to suffer fewer disease problems.

The list below shows some of the most popular vegetables suited to this technique.

• Tomatoes. Choose indeterminate varieties, which continue to grow and produce over a long period -- often until frost.
  
  Grow tomatoes in wire cages or support them by tying them to 7-foot-tall wood stakes driven 2 feet into the ground. Cage-grown tomatoes require minimal attention, but are more prone to fungal diseases. Tomatoes grown on stakes benefit from being pruned to a single stem; this means constantly pinching out new branches that arise in the crotch between the main stem and a leaf.
• Pole beans. Although they take longer to mature than bush-type beans, pole beans produce over a longer period. Train pole beans up tall wooden poles or a tepee of sturdy bamboo.
• Cucumbers. Vine-type cucumbers (as opposed to the bush varieties) do well on fences and trellises. Vertically grown cucumber fruits also tend to be straighter and more uniform than those grown on the ground.
• Snap Peas. These super-sweet edible pod peas are among the most productive vegetables in the spring garden. By selecting tall vining varieties (such as the original Sugar Snap pea), you can easily grow them on 5- to 6-foot-tall mesh trellises. Pick carefully to avoid damaging the brittle vines.
• Melons and winter squash. These long-season crops require heavy-duty support if you choose to grow them vertically. Larger varieties may even need slings made of cloth to support the fruit. You'll also need to tie the vines to the support using strips of cloth; avoid string or wire, which can cut into the vines.