Growing french beans | 4Food

Growing Guides How to grow french beans

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Date Published:: 15/10/2007

Whether you know them as French, waxpod, string, snap, haricot, flageolet or green beans, a summer vegetable garden is seldom complete without them.

They are simple to grow, tasty and highly nutritious - so what better reasons could there be for you to make room for a few on your veg patch?

You'll find the taste of home-grown beans far superior to those you can buy in shops and you can grow a wide range of different varieties not suitable for commercial production.

There are two main forms of French bean - dwarf and climbing.

The former grow into small, bushy plants, while the latter, like runner beans, will wind themselves around the nearest support and can reach up to 2.5m (8ft) in height.

Dwarf beans are a safer bet for beginners, as they are easier to care for, but climbers have the potential to produce a much higher yield.

The trick to getting a successful crop lies in good soil preparation, as well as regular feeding and watering during the long summer months.

What you will need

A packet of French bean seed
Seed trays or small pots (if sowing indoors)
Seed and cutting compost (if sowing indoors)
Pegs and string to mark out sowing and planting rows
A hand trowel
Tomato fertiliser
Bamboo canes (for climbing varieties) or small twiggy sticks (for dwarf varieties)
Garden twine