It is personal preference. I place my trellis in the middle of the square, others on the end. Up to you.

So, you didn't ask, but are you growing your tomatoes the way Mel describes, with only one verticle vine? If so, please take pics and let us know how it turns out. Please.

You're right about the peas planting on both sides. Note though, your peas are going to die back before your tomatoes get going.

Good luck and enjoy your garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sinfonian's garden adventure

I want to plant peas and some other vining crops besides toms. I understand with peas that you trench in front of and behind the trellis. Shouldn't the trellis then be located so it spans the middle of each square? If I do that, then what about the toms? They'll be in the middle of each square.

EG had a good point on another thread - his trellis is 12" in from the north side, so plants can go on both sides of trellis.

I have a raised bed against the house. My trellisi are about 8" out from the wall. The peas go behind the string, the toms in front. Peas are done by the time the toms are about 1/4-1/3 of the way up their string. I then cut off stems and leave roots in ground.

Dan

Sinfonian and Dan: You're right--actually I had planned that the peas would be about finished when I planted the toms in their place (front side only). And I was planning on doing the Mel tom thing--one vertical vine per square.

RE: To EG's point, what else would you grow with toms on one side? Seems to me that cukes or melons on the same trellis with the toms would be a crowded disaster.

I think you'll find you'll have all you can handle on the trellis with just toms by the beginning of late summer, unless you think you can control beans at one end.

I personally find my toms occupying more than just 12" across as the season progresses, but I like air flow and don't like to crowd them so I can see fruit and critters. So were I to have a box like that, I personally would call 3 toms good. YMMV.

Dan

I've never used the square foot technique before so I'm no expert but thinking it through this winter, I've set my new beds up this way. I put the trellis one foot in from the north side and planted peas in the northern squares to climb the trellis. The ones on the far edge of the squares may need a bit of help at first to reach the trellis but should climb it ok. The next set of squares will have tomatoes and cucumbers in them to use the other side of the trellis after the peas are finished. When the peas come out, their squares will be filled with basil and parsley which will tolerate the light shade from the toms and cukes. Make sense to you experts?

Sandy

Sandy - I think that will work just fine.

EG (who isn't an expert, but does have an enormous trellis fetish) Heh.

Thanks, EG. I have this "mantra" that I open my gardening classes with... "The only hard and fast rule of gardening is you can't grow tomatoes outside in wintertime snow. Everything else is an experiment." It gets a laugh every time even though I wouldn't be surprised to hear that somebody has figured out a way to do it! One of the main things I like about gardening is the experimenting. It keeps the brain as active as the body, sometimes more so.

(Love your trellises. I'm glad you have such an interesting fetish!)

Sandy

Sandy - Thanks! Yeah....i've got one alright! Ha!

EG