How to Make a Tranquility Spot in Your Garden with Sunflowers and Beans

When my garden is growing well and starting to produce hardy green peppers and bright red tomatoes, I will drag out a lawn chair and a pitcher of lemonade, and just sit, relaxing near it and marveling at the wonders of Mother Nature. The only problem is that there is not much shade near my garden and when the sun becomes too hot, I am forced to retreat from my tranquility and move indoors. However, this year not having enough shade will not be a problem as I plan to make a sunflower and bean hut. A sunflower and bean hut will help screen the sun and provide me a peaceful place to commune with nature.

Items needed to make the hut

-Garden space (five foot square)

-Package of sunflower seeds (tall variety)

-Package of pole beans

-Garden hoe

-Bale of straw or bag of mulch (optional)

-Garden stakes (optional)

-Twine (optional)

-Tape measure (optional)

Creating your tranquility space

Mark off the five-foot square garden space in the soil using the garden hoe. You do not have to be precise, but you want a relatively square section. To accomplish this, try using a long tape measure, twine and short sticks to measure and mark the area. Be sure to leave an opening. This can be an entire side or a two to three foot section. I prefer an entire side as this will allow a better breeze to come through.

Plant the sunflower seeds according to the planting guide on the seed packet along the marked lines in the soil. If you used sticks and twine to help mark the area, leave them in place until the sunflower seeds begin to sprout, so you do not plant over this area.

Wait until the sunflower plants are about a six inches high, and then sow pole bean seeds in the soil next to them. As the sunflower plants grow, so will the pole beans, at which time you can start training them to climb around the sunflowers. The pole beans will help fill in any gaps between the sunflower plants. At this time, you can also cover the ground inside with straw or mulch. This will help keep weeds down and help retain the moisture in the soil.

Alternative: If you do not want to plant pole beans, try a climbing plant such as morning glories.

If your sunflowers start to fall or bend over when they reach a certain height, use garden stakes to help hold them up. Insert the garden stake in the soil near the bottom of the sunflower and tie twine around the sunflower and garden stake as high as you can to keep it erect.

Your garden tranquility sunflower and bean hut should be ready for use about midsummer. Remember to harvest the pole beans when they are ready.

More articles from this contributor:

How to Grow Purple Podded Pole Beans

User Flowers and Stones to Create Words in Your Garden

Creative Items to Use for a Garden Trellis

Source: Master Gardener Classes