I think what you are referring to is a bean tepee...there are numerous companies that sell them. You can google the words and find them ...Most of us though, probably....make our own...I had a surplus of rebar left on the property when the house was built and I build trellis contraptions out of them...but there are also directions on the web for building bean tepees...I don't want to take the time to type out the instructions because they are already out there on the web...they are easy to make and not costly...but buying them is costly.

Go to Home Depot, Lowes or your local building supply store. Ask for wood furring strips. These are inexpensive wood strips about 3/4" x 2" x 8'-0". If your ground isn't too hard or rocky, these can just be driven into the ground vertically. Or three or four can be lashed together at the tops to form a tripod or teepee. Be sure to secure them to the ground so they don't blow over.

An alternative is to use EMT (thin wall electrical conduit) which is available at the same stores and is not very expensive.

If you have a place where you can cut saplings or long tree branches, those will work well.

Jim

and remember if you have a fence of just about any kind, it can be used/converted to a trellis...even a wooden fence can be used...I used tacks and strings to make a great trellis on a wood fence.

After losing my pole beans to strong winds for a few years (using wooden supports) I went to using metal fence posts, with a trellis tied between them. They are easy to insert & remove using T-bar tools. You can tie either string or fencing to the posts, and if you start with 7 & 1/2 foot posts, the trellis will be over 6 feet tall - more than high enough for even the more rampant varieties.

Recently, I began using rebar rods across the top & bottom, for added support. The top bars are threaded through 1 & 1/4 inch PVC "T's", which fit tightly over the T-bar posts. If I am running string (as I do for most of my beans) they tie firmly between the upper & lower rebar rods, and will not slip. I have never lost any of these trellises, or suffered more than minor wind damage to the vines.

The materials for this trellis (especially the steel, and the pole tools) will set you back some... but with the exception of the baling twine for string, they are re-usable, and are a one-time expenditure.

Oops... meant to post a photo of the trellis in use. The beans in this photo are yardlongs, with shell beans just peeking in from the left.

{{gwi:34517}}

I use a lot of rebar too...It is so easy to drive into the dirt and so sturdy...and I just happen to have it in a bunch of different lengths......I use short ones for green/english peas and long ones for the taller pole beans.

I think I will use furring strips as suggested above by jimster, because I priced them at my local hardware store(Menards) and they have 1" by 2" by 8' for under a dollar.

I think I will use directions from here:
http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/gr_fruits_vegetables/article/0,2029,DIY_13846_3051038,00.html

I will make a small modification to their instructions by adding additional twine connected to the top and staked to the ground, which should give more support and maybe stop the tee-pees from tipping over in high winds.

Costs:
======
$2.83 - 3 furring strips
$.28 - 50 foot twine
$1.07 - 3 stakes
-------------------------
$4.18 per Tee-Pee

thanks again everyone.

Dean

How many beans seed would you plant at each pole and at each twine string anchor?

thanks,

Dean

Try this one and you'll never regret it. I use a 5' x 16' cattle panel, insert two t posts connect them with wire, bend over and drive two more posts and fasten. Plant one seed per runner. EASY picking and your rows can be kept very, very clean....

Hi,

I've never grown beans on a teepee before, but here's what I'm planning to try this year.

Materials are: 1 - 40" (1/3' of a standard 10' length) length of 3/4" diameter EMT, 1 - 10' (may be cut down to 8' ) 1/2" diameter EMT, 1 eyebolt, 1 - 2' diameter hula hoop, 6-8 pieces of twine about 15' long each, 4 garden staples. Optional - a one hole rubber lab stopper to fit end of 1/2" conduit.

Affix eyebolt to one end of the 1/2" conduit. I plan to use an inexpensive lab stopper purchased on ebay with the eyebolt attached to that, but one could just drill a hole in the conduit and attach the eyebolt through that.

Tie one end of each length of twine to the eyebolt.

Pound about half the length of the 3/4" conduit into the ground until it is secure. Set the hula hoop on the ground surrounding the 3/4" conduit and set the 1/2" conduit into the 3/4" conduit sleeve.

Thread each end of twine under the hula hoop at the desired location and then secure the hula hoop in place using garden staples.

Pull each twine tight around the hula hoop and tie off.

And - voila - a bean teepee! I haven't actually tried this, but it should work. You could also use a larger diameter hula hoop. I've found both 2' and 3' diameter hoops online for about $35/dozen.

(Instead of using the 3/4" conduit, one could pound a length of rebar into the ground and set the 1/2" conduit over that).

What I like about this system is that it's relatively inexpensive, easy to construct, easy to take down at the end of the season, and BEST OF ALL, you don't have to climb any ladders to set it up!

What do you all think?

Anne

I guess I'm cheap (but don't let my husband know!) We had a huge pine tree that came down in a storm a couple years ago. My husband cut off the branches and sectioned the tree to make it easier to dispose of. I grabbed the larger branches (~8 ft long or so) and made tepees with those. I tied them together with some twine that came with a volley ball set that we've never used. There you go, nothing fancy, but it works.

We use 10-foot lodgepole pine posts, driven about 1.5 feet into the ground and braced with diagonal pieces at the ends of the row. I space these poles about 6 feet apart and wire tie to the posts what I call rabbit or horse fencing. This fencing is 6 feet tall and has very close mesh at the bottom, At a foot or so above the fence bottom wire the spacing opens to 4"X 7". The fence is set on the poles about 9-12" above the soil, giving us about a 7-foot high trellis.

I like this system because it is readily re-usable and holds up to the weight of vines and all but the strongest winds.