I am thinking about the same thing. I have come to the conclusion that all peas do better if staked somehow, even the short ones. They are just so much easier to pick that way.

I saw an idea recently that I intend to try this year. They put a stake at either end of the row. (Presumably, you could add more stakes throughout for an extremely long row.) Then, they stretched twine from stake to stake at about 6 to 12 inch intervals, and as high as the peas. These horizontal strings give the vines something to wrap on to. When the peas are done, you just cut the twine off the stakes and throw the twine and tangled vines onto the compost pile at once.

I just put the sticks close together in a row, and let the peas do their thing. However, I must say, I use the prunings from my hedgerow of bamboo and from my elms, and they are very "twiggy" with all kinds of lateral branches for the peas to grip to.

If they were just straight, pole-like sticks, they would need some twine or mesh stretched between them, IMO.

I think you can kind of see the bamboo in this photo, with peas growing up it -- it is the light straw colored stuff on the right edge of the photo:

{{gwi:8743}}

I use metal stakes on the ends of the row, and then twine every 6 inches. Just like DonnaBaskets does, although I use a plastic twine, so I can't compost it. After harvest, I cut the vines, untangle them, and try for a second crop.

Since I'm el cheapo, I use dead bamboo plants that still have the branches on them, which works like a charm. If you have a source of bamboo, just make sure you put them as far in the ground as you can....the wind can topple them and the peas over quite easily if they're not firmly staked (or even if they seemingly are). :)

I'm el cheapo too. :D Some of these branches are twiggy. I think I'll need to do some digging to get them deep enough in the ground, I haven't even dug under my mulch in the pea area.

Guess I know where I'll get my workout in the next couple days, huh?

For 'English' peas twiggy sticks are great as denninmi says - because they have tendrils rather than twining. Hazel is the traditional one for pea sticks. For broad beans (favas) the stake at each end with the strings run up one side and down the other as described by donnabaskets is perfect. For runner beans hazel poles are the traditional solution here, now sadly usually superceded by bamboo. Personally, I don't like any of the plastic nettings for aesthetic and environmental reasons. Pea sticks can just go on the compost with the pea haulm.

One warning, unless you want a hedge across the veg patch don't use forsythia or black currant prunings for your peas. They will root by the time you harvest the peas.

Yup, bamboo is wonderful stuff for making all kinds of garden structures. For those with the space and climate to grow it, I highly recommend planting some. Here in Michigan, the tops of most of the hardy species of Phyllostachys are killed to the ground about one winter out of two, so they are an abundant source of poles and brush when that happens. The plants regrow so quickly in the spring it doesn't really make any difference -- clip dead canes to the ground in early April, and you have a fresh new bamboo hedge by late May.

RE -- prunings rooting in. Yes, they can do that. I've even had my elm prunings try to grow, sprouting leaves, but they don't seem to root in. A solution for the rooting problem -- soak the bottom 10-12 inches of the prunings in water for a while, and then throw them into a burning wood fire for just a couple of minutes, pulling them out after they bark steams and pops, but before they burn. This kills the ends so they won't root. Some of the top buds will still try to grow for a while, but generally run out of steam and die after a couple of months. When doing this, be sure NOT to bury past the dead zone burnt in the fire, or your work will be for naught.

The north side of my garden is against the shed, and I've attached concrete reinforcing wire (with a nice big 4" grid) to the side of the shed.

I screwed short lengths of 2x3" boards (left over from building my seed-starting shelf) to the shed, and then attached the concrete reinforcing wire with a staple gun. It works nicely.

My peas do nicely on the wire fences and nylon trellises that will later be inhabited by cucumbers and pole beans.

I also find that brush works great if it is twiggy enough. Not always easy to find. Of course if it is sufficiently twiggy it will throw some shade so it's ideal if the pea-row is east-west with the brush on the north side of the plants so as not to shade the young plants at all while they are finding the support.

I grow Oregon II Sweet peas. They don't need any support of grown in beds about 3 x 3 feet. The are good eaten in the pod or if taken out of the pod.

I"ve found a 3 x 3 foot bed gives plenty of food for 2 people. As soon as one bed sprouts, I put in another one. When a bed starts to produce, I plant something else in the oldest bed.

I use the same method for bush beans. Early and late in the season, I grow Blue Lake. The rest of the season, I grow Black Valentine.

Peas are the first thing I plant in the garden. I plant them in whatever part of the garden gets sun first in the morning as that's where the soil heats up first.

I grew a midget variety (don't remember its name) this year without supports, and got plenty of peas. To an extent, the short vines supported each other. But it was more of a floppy, matted mess than peas grown with supports, and made poor use of vertical space.

In another garden, I used lengths of 6' tall welded-wire fence held in place with T-posts. These make fine trellises, but can only support plants seeded within 6" or so on either side.

Well, I have grown tall peas up on twine like Donnabaskets and Camp10, and my parents re-use chicken wire and T-posts every year. Both of those work fine. This year I'm going to plant around tomato cages made of re-enforcing wire since a bunch of them came with the new house and it seems like less work. Though I think I might need to be sure to get the cages in good so I don't have any troubles in the wind we tend to get in spring.

For short peas I've tried not staking (floppy mess and a lot of the pea pods get ruined), brushy twigs, a bush bean support (a sort of grow-through gridabout 8 inches high), and short stakes and twine. All of those methods except the first worked fine but I ended up coming to the conclusion that I prefer working with tall peas more when it comes to harvest time.

Cheers!

I agree, sunnibel. Not being so very young anymore, my back and knees appreciate taller peas when it comes time to harvest.

This has become my new routine, planted in Dec behind the brassicas and alliums, supported by wire, then torn down when I'm ready to put cherry tomatoes there for the summer.

{{gwi:21048}}

I do things a bit different, I plant sugar snap peas thick 3 feet across the bed and either use tall tomato cages or stack inverted the smaller cages tied together with twine. For me this produces the most in a small area and the plants end up supporting each other until they get 7 feet or taller. The June storms start knocking them down and it's almost time to pull then to put in the fall crop.

BTW, an easy tomato or pea or bean tower is a piece of the 5x10 concrete mesh wire that they sell at lumber yards. Just roll it up and hook the ends together to make a tube five feet high and about 3 feet in diameter, which is broad enough that it simply stands up without any extra support. The wire is heavy enough that they last for many years outside.

:) I'm glad to see other people's experiences with the concrete wire, since that's going to be my new "try" this year!

I have used tomato cages. I set the cage and then plant the peas in a circle on the inside and outside. I has worked well after fencing out the bunnies. They found a way in and ate my first couple crops.

How soon after the peas do you plant the cucumbers, iam3killerbs? That sounds like a great plan!

We had the concrete mesh leftover from a construction project. It is supported in place by steel stakes. The mesh is then secured to the stakes with plastic zip ties. The five foot height worked really well when the sugar snap peas grew over 6' tall. But the peas didn't seem to want to anchor tendrils on the mesh so I had to tie twine back and forth to they wouldn't collapse away from the mesh.

Phoebes and other birds enjoyed sitting on the fences as they watched for insects. They made the garden more interesting.