How to Grow Vegetables on a Picket Fence

In a smaller garden, climbing vegetables can be great space-savers that allow you to grow more plants in a smaller area. Climbing vegetables on your garden fence can also be aesthetically pleasing, and make your garden feel so full of life that the plants are growing out over the border. Some popular climbing vegetables include vine tomatoes, beans, peas, squash, melons and cucumbers. Most of these plants can be found at any local garden shop.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Garden glove
• Hammer
• U-shaped nails
• Chicken wire
• Hand spade
• Fertilizer
• Climbing vegetable plant
• Mulch
• String

1. Put on garden gloves and pull up any unwanted plants from the area near the fence where your plant will be.

2. Use a hammer and U-shaped nails to attach a foot-wide piece of chicken wire the same height as the picket fence at the spot on the fence where you want your plant to grow. This will create a base location for the plant to cling to as it grows up the fence.

3. Use a hand spade to dig a hole the size of your potted plant as close to the fence as possible.

4. Mix some fertilizer in the dirt surrounding the hole, and put your plant in the hole.

5. Replace the soil around the plant, and top off the area with some more fertilizer.

6. Spread some mulch around the base of the plant to help trap moisture and ward off weeds, and water the new plant immediately.

7. Use a cotton string to loosely tie a couple of branches of your plant to the chicken wire when the plant gets big enough to reach.

Tips & Warnings

• As the plant gets large and heavy, you may have to tie several branches or the stem of the plant to the wire to keep the plant from toppling over.

References

• Gardeners Net
• Growing Climbing Tomatoes