Pole beans are aggressive growers, sometimes stretching several inches in a day. If you let them grow rampant, they will crowd out your garden space. Instead, you can train them to grow up a simple trellis, forming an attractive bean tower and leaving the rest of your garden space available for other vegetables and flowers.
Form a hill for the bean trellis to surround. Beans need good drainage for their roots, so raising the soil a good 6 to 8 inches is usually high enough for healthy plants. Mound the soil into a 4-foot-wide circle.
Take three poles and space them evenly around the outside of the mounded circle. They can be bamboo, saplings, wood dowels or metal--whatever you have on hand. Bring the tops together and push the bases about 2 to 6 inches into the soil. Tie them together loosely at the top with twine to keep them stable.
Place another pole in between each of the 3 spaces left. Do the same thing as the others by pushing them 2 inches into the ground and leaning the tops against each other.
Secure the tops together by crossing them 6 inches from their tops, like a teepee. Twist the twine in and around each pole tightly, making sure their intersection is not leaning to one side but centered over the mound. Knot the ends of the twine.
Plant the beans around the perimeter of the mound and train their tendrils to wind around the poles when they first start growing. They will quickly climb to the top of the poles, forming a green tower with beans hanging down, easy for picking.