STEP BY STEP
How to make a wigwam for your climbing crops
1 Choose a sunny site for your climbers, add compost to the soil, and push canes into the ground.
2 Add more canes, spacing them about 20cm apart and pushing them into the soil until they feel sturdy.
3 Finish inserting canes (seven is more than enough) to complete the wigwam. Add a cane support ring.
4 Place the ring close to the top of the canes and clip them into the ring (these ones can hold up to 10 canes).
Dos and don’ts
✔DO choose a sheltered site for your climbers if possible. Protection from strong winds will result in the plants cropping quicker and producing a harvest for longer.
✔DO tie gangly young stems of climbing French beans to their canes with soft string in the early stages. Once mature they will wind themselves around their support.
✔DO prepare the soil for planting by mixing three spades full of compost or well-rotted manure into the soil before planting.
DON’T use wigwams for vigorous, long-term climbing fruits such as blackberries or kiwi fruit. They need a wall or wooden structure.
Key points
Climbing vegetables all need lots of sun to produce a heavy crop. Avoid shady spots.
Twist the new growth of runner bean plants around their canes as they grow. Turn them in an anti-clockwise direction and they will cling to their canes
Plant climbing beans when frost has passed.