Regardless of the variety you choose, all beans require warm weather to grow and produce. Plant your bean garden once the soil temperature in your garden reaches 65 °F and frost danger passes. 

• Remove all weeds and debris from a full-sun garden bed. Add compost and turn it into the soil. Rake the surface to smooth the soil.

• If you are growing pole beans push a six-foot tall stake into each end of the planting row. Stretch bean netting between the stakes. You can substitute any type of trellis or support if it’s five or six feet tall.

• Sow the bean seeds in rows one inch deep. Space pole beans four to six-inches apart with rows three feet apart. Space bush beans three to four inches apart in two-foot-wide rows.

• Water the soil thoroughly after planting so it feels moist to a six-inch depth. Once beans germinate, they require approximately one inch of moisture per week.

Beans come in countless varieties. Pole beans climb up supports, often producing more pods than the shorter, space-saving bush varieties. Snap, or green, beans provide tender fresh pods, while dry beans are perfect for storing.