Cucumber arch


I had an idea inspired by last month's copy of Gardeners' World magazine. I don't buy the magazine you understand, just the usual 100 pages of flowers and (if you are lucky) 2 pages of veggies. Last month there was a photo of an ornamental gourd arch. Lots of different shapes, colours and sizes of ornamental gourds hanging inside an arch. Hmmm.. I had planted 5 different varieties of cucumbers this year as I was going to experiment with the 'ridge' type, outdoor cucumbers this year instead of the greenhouse varieties. The varieties planted are; 'StraightEight' (from USA), 'Marketmore', 'Crystal Lemon', 'Long Green Ridge', and 'Odys' (from Poland)

I am always looking for different ways of using what little space I have on the allotment, I am trying companion planting, dwarf varieties, successional planting and now I am growing things up poles and wigwams. Here I have used 8 x 8ft bamboo canes and somehow attached the white plastic arches from my cloches. I have lashed a few cross canes to the bottom for stability and will add more as the cucumbers grow. Can't wait to see the finished product!