After reading about morning glory towers on
The Coconut Palm as well as looking at photos of them on flick
like this one I decided to try one. Basically you sink a big pole into the ground, plant morning glories under it and watch them grow. I made my pole fifteen feet out of two six foot and one three foot bamboo canes. Here are some photos of its placement in the garden and how I linked the canes together:
I placed it in the front garden and it is just above the potato bin. I sunk it two feet into the ground so the vines have about thirteen feet to climb.
The six foot bamboo canes were fastened together by creating a flat surface with a chisel were the two canes meet. I then drilled corresponding holes into the canes and bolted them together.
Then with the pole at a length of twelve feet long, I drilled a hole in the top of the cane and drove a three foot cane into the top with wood glue. This formed the full fifteen foot pole for the vines to climb on.
To end things off this is the variety I am growing. It should be fun to watch them grow and blog about its progress. The growth habit also creates great lighting to photograph the blooms.
I placed it in the front garden and it is just above the potato bin. I sunk it two feet into the ground so the vines have about thirteen feet to climb.
The six foot bamboo canes were fastened together by creating a flat surface with a chisel were the two canes meet. I then drilled corresponding holes into the canes and bolted them together.
Then with the pole at a length of twelve feet long, I drilled a hole in the top of the cane and drove a three foot cane into the top with wood glue. This formed the full fifteen foot pole for the vines to climb on.
To end things off this is the variety I am growing. It should be fun to watch them grow and blog about its progress. The growth habit also creates great lighting to photograph the blooms.
We have morning glory running rampant all over our backyard. It refuses to just climb the fence and instead strangles all our bushes... and we didn't even plant it, we have no idea where it came from. Hopefully your tower works out better than our morning glory mess. haha.
ReplyDeleteJenni - I'm wondering if you have bindweed which is a weedy relative of morning glories. It has a smaller white flower.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pretty morning glory. Speaking of bindweed, I had it once, what a pain! Took about 3 years to finally kill it. And of all places it was in my veggie garden.
ReplyDeleteI'm jealous, my morning glories haven't opened yet! The buds for flowers are all over the plant but they're taking their time with it.
ReplyDeleteI've never grown morning glories, but I do love their pretty flowers. I hope yours grows well.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely do some great projects in your garden Dan. This looks like it will be a fun one to keep tabs on in the coming months.
ReplyDeletecurious, you might be right. Ours does have white flowers. And I just googled it... you are correct that is exactly what it is... maybe now we can find out how to get rid of the bugger.
ReplyDeleteAnd I took your advice and staked my peppers, they look happier already.
Tina - We have bindweed out back. I am glade it has stayed out of my gardens. I fire up my blow torch and burn the stuff off at the ground.
ReplyDeleteWaters_deep - The morning glory photo is a stock photo, I just planted the seed this weekend. So I should be jealous of your plants :-)
Daphne - This will be the first time I have grown them. I am sure I will curse them next spring when they are coming up all over the garden.
KitsapFG - Glade you like my projects. I am just about out of space so the projects are going to have to start diminishing, thankfully.
Jenni - Bindweed can be a big pain to get ride of. Your black mulch paper will help a lot as will routinely digging them out as they spring up.
That's going to be pretty with all the blooms. When I was younger we had some that covered the fence ever year by reseeding themselves. We used to pinch the flowers and make them pop. Our fence was only four feet tall. I can't wait to see your pole when it's fully covered.
ReplyDeleteI planted seeds collected from my dads morning glories! They are now starting to bloom! I planted some below a tree in hopes they will climb up the trunk. Your bamboo pole is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI will look forward to seeing a picture of the morning glory once it has climbed the pole. I'm sure it will look spectacular in your garden.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic post- I want one of those towers! This is one post my hubby has to read! Thanks...
ReplyDeleteCool potato post. I love the multiple ways you're growing them, very cool!
ReplyDeleteBut I had to post. MORNING GLORIES! KILL THEM BEFORE THEY MULTIPLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They are the scourge of my garden. They cannot be contained and cannnot be erradicated. Nothing dents them. I sure hope you planted them in a container and don't let them go to seed.
I planted MG seeds so that they grow up the stalks of the sunflowers I planted along the edge of my vegetable garden.
ReplyDelete