I think pole beans are worth the extra trellising space. I heard that the bush beans are really hybrids of pole beans developed to make it easier on farmers and the original almost always taste better than hybrids.

I've done pole (Kentucky Wonder) and bush (yellow) beans in my tiny beds. Even though my trellis space is precious, I feel it's definitely worth it for the pole beans. The extended harvest period, great taste, and productiveness of the pole beans are worth it, I think. Now, if only I could find a "pole" soybean!

I can think of one advantage of bush beans, though: they would be easier for a child to pick.

--Riff.

I have two varieties of pole beans planted on both sides of a trellis set in the middle of the bed, with 2 rows of bush beans in front of them. This seems to be working well, because the bush beans are already flowering, while the pole beans are just starting to run up the trellis. I'll tear out the bush beans once the pole beans start producing.

Howdy, Lantanascape.

Good plan.

Remembering that bush beans usually produce one large and one small picking, I'm thinking you can time your "renovation" for maximum yield, and have some nice, nitrogen-rich squares ready for the next crop.

What will you be putting in those squares for the summer/fall grow times, Lantanascape?

ps--I like lantanas--especially the purple ones. There's a purple variety called Popcorn that makes bright purple berries, which I found a couple of years ago.

Jaque, I haven't decided what to put in there yet. I left my seed collection out after last time I planted and my dog ate a bunch of it, so I need to sift through and see what I have left. Maybe some chile plants suitable for a late-harvest for ristras.

I'll have to look out for that type of lantana. Mine are all either red or yellow, plus one light pink.

I do bush because I can beans. the bush gives you a good crop all at once as well as some continued picking. Also, bush has a quicker maturity date so you can rotate your bed to something else. Personally, I don't think all the trellising is worth the trouble. Makes it harder to rotate crops. The pole beaans aren't going to do that great in the real heat of the summer. You can follow an early crop of bush with okra which likes that heat, and still do another bush crop in the fall.

I grow both. The bush beans are a great all-at- once crop which is handy for canning. The pole beans I grow for their production over the entire season.

I am scratching my head over those who say that pole beans take up precious trellis space. A trellis of pole beans takes up less than a foot of ground space when grown the square foot way. I grow 4 squares of pole beans across one trellis, anchored in the center of the squares, planting on both sides. That's 8' of pole beans ; a lot of beans for a very little space!

Beans are a light weight crop ( compared to say, melons).
A simple PVC/rebar trellis can be made for less than $5.
With a little extra effort You can even support heavier crops on a frame like this. I wouldn't grow vining crops any other way!

Tikanas

When you have a limited amount of space like I do trellising space is crucial.I have two 4x8 beds which face north to south direction so putting a trellis at south end of the garden would shade out everything else. I put the trellis on the north end which gives me 4 squares per bed(8 squares in all).I plant 4 squares in tomatoes and 4 in green beans. I added some extra trellising space up the sides of both beds which I used for cuks and more tomatoes. I would like to plant other vining type plants like butter beans or summer squash but trellis space is unavailable and none can be added because it would shade out other plants. Planting the bush beans is a really good idea for canning, but how many squares does it take to make a large enough crop for canning, and do you have any problems with them getting into other squares?

I'm sorry, Stonegrowngarden! I wasn't even thinking of the shade issue! I grow in So. Calif. and don't have a problem with that.

The number of squares you'd need for bush beans really depends on how jars you want to preserve and what kind of beans you plant. Some are more prolific than others.

The plants sprawl just a little bit but not enough to be worrisome or encroach on my other crops.

Tikanas