Your right, pole beans take up less space because you're going up and they can grow very, very high. My mother always planted the pole bean variety and always got unbelievable amounts of beans. I know, I had to break them up for canning. Plus, the pole beans produce longer. Ours would produce until frost.

Here is a link that might be useful: Growing Pole Beans

Pole beans produce more per plant - sometimes much more - but there is a trade-off. They produce a significant amount of shade as well... so in multiple rows, the space required between rows tends to cancel out part of the gain in productivity. Bush beans, while yielding less per plant, can be spaced much more closely.

The yield advantage of pole beans is most pronounced when using beans as snaps, since the vines will bear almost continuously. When beans are allowed to mature (shellies or dry) this difference is less pronounced... but the yield for some pole shellies can still be very high. "Goose" (or the closely related "Ma Williams", which I grow) is one of the best for seed size, yield, earliness, and ease of shelling.

For a small garden, a single row of pole beans is very cost-effective in terms of yield vs. space. Planted on the North side of the plot (to avoid shading other plants), you can get a high yield from a fairly small area, and plant shorter vegetables very near to the beans on the South side. The trellised beans will shield those vegetables from north winds, so this is a good arrangement.

Thanks for the information. I do have a small plot so your suggestion of planting them on the north side is a good one. It also happens to be the side abutting the public path so maybe a wall of beans will deter the occasional "produce shopper" we've had problems with.

I'll also make note of the varieties you suggested. This winter will tell what our real need for beans is so I'll have a better idea of how much to plant next season.

Thanks again. This forum is a goldmine of information!

"It also happens to be the side abutting the public path so maybe a wall of beans will deter the occasional "produce shopper" we've had problems with."

Sounds like a community garden. Been there, done that... never will again. Sadly, growing pole beans in a community garden probably won't work. It's like advertising to the thieves. I gardened one year in a large urban community garden, and had my bean vines picked clean more than once. All of my corn & pumpkins were stolen too, so it was my last year. Hope you have better luck, but from your comments, you have to deal with thieves there too.