Does anyone here grow melons or other vines along garden fences? I want to make use of some extra space along a fence I just put up around our garden. Just wondering how well muskmelon would do tied up along this fencing. There will also be wires higher up. I might try a high apple espalier. I’m curious to hear any ideas. The trellis is already planted with hardy kiwi.
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I grow cantaloupe and honeydew type melons on a trellis (actually they are 4’ high cattle panels) every year. They do really well. I don’t need to tie them, the stems are strong enough to support the weight of the melons. They will drop when completely ripe though and that can cause splitting depending on how high up on the panel they were growing. I have grown big watermelons on the cattle panels as well and tied supports/slings for them. That didn’t work well for me so I don’t try trellis big watermelons any longer.
Cucumbers are nice to trellis too, as well peas and pole beans.
That’s good to know, thank you. I would have assumed the melons needed support. That’ll save some time just letting them be.
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Hops are a wonderful addition that you can make tea (or beer) with. They grow up to 20 ft/yr and can be cut back to ground level and re- grown from the roots each year. They are also easy to take cuttings and propagate new plants from, to my knowledge. I purchased rooted plugs, Nugget, Mt. Hood and I think Cascade from fruitwood nursery this year.