Climbing CropsVertical Garden Planner
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Climbing CropsFree Vertical Garden Planner

Plan plant spacing, trellis height and support strength for climbing vegetables and edible vines — then read the growing guide for each crop before you sow.

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Browse the Climbing Crop Library

What the free vertical garden planner works out

Tell the planner your crop, growing setup and how much run of trellis, fence or wall you have. It returns practical numbers you can build to.

How many plants fit your space
Plant spacing and trellis height
Support strength for the crop load
Container size & climate suitability
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Explore climbing crop guides

Each guide covers spacing, support type and height, training and pruning, container growing and climate notes for one climbing or vertically trained edible.

  • Horizontal botanical illustration of American groundnut (hopniss) climbing a rustic support, showing twining vines, compound leaves, and clusters of reddish-brown flowers.

    American Groundnut / Hopniss

    Apios americana

    Apios americana grown for cooked tubers and as a perennial edible climber. Plants spread underground and need containment where vigorous.

  • Botanical illustration of Armenian cucumber or snake melon growing on a rustic trellis, with trailing vines, lobed green leaves, yellow flowers, curling tendrils, and long pale green striped fruits hanging vertically.

    Armenian Cucumber / Snake Melon

    Cucumis melo var. flexuosus

    Armenian cucumber and snake-melon cultivars grown vertically and harvested while immature as crisp, mild cucumber-like fruit.

  • Black pepper vine climbing a rough wooden post, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and hanging spikes of green peppercorns.

    Black Pepper / Peppercorn Vine

    Piper nigrum

    True black pepper grown for green, black or white peppercorns. It is unrelated to chilli and capsicum peppers.

  • Botanical illustration of climbing shelling and dry beans growing over two wooden teepee trellises, with green pods, drying pods, white flowers and mature beans visible.

    Pole Shelling / Dry Bean

    Phaseolus vulgaris

    Climbing cultivars of Phaseolus vulgaris grown primarily for fresh shell beans or fully mature dry beans.

  • Horizontal botanical illustration of climbing nasturtium scrambling over a trellis, with round leaves and bright edible flowers in shades of orange, red, and yellow.

    Climbing Nasturtium

    Tropaeolum majus

    Climbing and trailing forms of common garden nasturtium trained vertically. Dwarf bush forms are outside this profile.

  • Dragon fruit cactus trained over a reinforced post-and-crown trellis, with long cascading stems and several ripe pink pitaya fruits.

    Dragon Fruit / Pitaya

    Selenicereus spp. and hybrids (syn. Hylocereus spp.)

    Common red-, pink-, white- and yellow-skinned dragon fruit grown on individual post-and-crown supports or very heavy arbors.

  • Mature grapevine trained along a wire trellis, with broad green leaves, curling tendrils and clusters of ripening green and purple grapes.

    Grapevine

    Vitis spp.

    Table, juice and wine grapes grown on a trellis, fence, arbor or pergola.

  • Greater Yam / Ube

    Greater Yam / Ube

    Dioscorea alata

    Dioscorea alata including purple-fleshed ube cultivars and other greater/water yams.

Browse all crop guides

Perennial edible vines

Long-lived climbers that stay in place for years, so the trellis or pergola has to be built for their mature weight.

  • Rows of hop plants climbing tall vertical strings between wooden posts, with lobed green leaves and clusters of pale green hop cones.

    Hops

    Humulus lupulus

    Female hop plants grown vertically for cones, home brewing, herbal use or seasonal shade.

  • Hardy kiwiberry vine trained across a wooden wire trellis, with heart-shaped green leaves and clusters of small, smooth-skinned green fruit, including cut berries showing bright green flesh and black seeds.

    Kiwiberry / Hardy Kiwi

    Actinidia arguta and Actinidia kolomikta

    Hardy kiwiberries, mainly Actinidia arguta and A. kolomikta.

  • Vigorous kiwifruit vine trained across a sturdy wooden pergola, with dense green foliage and clusters of brown fuzzy fruit hanging beneath the canopy.

    Kiwifruit

    Actinidia chinensis var. deliciosa

    Fuzzy green and gold kiwifruit grown on a permanent T-bar, pergola or arbor.

  • Botanical illustration of a passionfruit vine growing across a rustic trellis, with glossy lobed leaves, curling tendrils, purple-and-white passionflowers, and hanging green and ripe purple fruit.

    Passionfruit (Trellised)

    Passiflora edulis

    Edible passionfruit cultivars and forms of Passiflora edulis grown on a permanent trellis…

Choose a crop

Cucumbers, beans, peas, tomatoes and more — trained vertically.

Get real spacing

Owner-reviewed spacing and support recommendations, in metric or imperial.

Climate-aware

Planting seasons for your broad climate zone, north or south.