I imagine that eventually, the vines will develop weak points. And with the twine being...well, twine..precipitation will have an effect on its strength as well. I would have used heavier material and found a way to secure it on the way up to the roof so it could withstand winds.

It's so funny you posted this, I just walked by this today on my way to the train and was trying to figure out what they were doing. I wasn't sure if they were growing ivy to eventually cover the front of the brownstone, I didn't realize it was vertical gardening. interesting.

I started doing this at my house years ago, but with morning glories! they came out beautifully and were super thick. never tried with beans, but i think that it would be fine! also i doubt that the twine will fail, i had 20+ pounds of vines on each strand and it was fine. i did, however, cut mine down each fall and started new in the spring

@ChrisLandis93 - With your morning glories, how do you keep them trimmed? I want to start them on a trellis but I'm wary of them growing over the trellis (I have a vertical one and a horizontal one). Do you just cut them as they get too high or let it overgrow, then cut batches?

There's a guy in my neighborhood who's been doing this for years. The place looks amazing in the height of summer.

They sure have high hopes! I doubt they'll reach all the way up but it's sure to be beautiful at any rate. We've done this before plenty of times, it's always fun to see them curl around the twine. I, too, suggest a stronger string material.

I'm *rooting* for them to go all the way to the top! I figure it's quite possible, as they'll naturally seek more light and thus climb as far as they can go. Will await the updates!

Pretty sure it's nothing to do with "high hopes" - that's the logical place to attach the line without defacing the front of the building. Also, we've been doing this for years, and typically it makes it to the second story window. We also use fishing line and cut it down and start again each summer.

Fantastic.

I see this every year. They go all the way, baby! So so so nice at the peak of summer. A++

Are you sure they are bean plants? Depending on the variety beans will grow pretty high, but I doubt they would make it all the way to the top of that twine. Hop vines might though.

Please send us an update during the summer to see how they've grown lol ! I'm curious to see !

Good for them.
Please post another picture 3 months from now! I am curious.

oooooh, chrislandis93, morning glories sound wonderful!!! i might try this in the backyard of my brownstone in jersey city (in case it's a failed attempt) and put them in the front next year if the adventure is a success!!

@pi
i dont actually trim them, just let them go crazy. each year they get further up, i assume due to an expanding root system. i just run more lines and when they run out of room i connect them to other parts of the house. last year they went up two stories, twenty feet horizontally and onto my telephone wire. probably not the safest, but i get compliments all the time. they are so thick now. one concern is that it is difficult to contain the spread of seeds. because they grow so high, i now have smaller plans in dozens of locations around my yard--which i like but some people may not

A family here in Greensboro grew some kind of gourd up a telephone poll. It grew great -- although I am not sure how the phone company would have felt about it.

Based on the height of the strings and what I can see of the plants from your picture, they are hops, not beans. Hops grow at an astounding rate (sometimes a foot per day). They will also look beautiful and grow back every year.

That seems like a great idea to shade the sunny side of my house during the summer....and then just cut it down......hmmmmmm

My husband does this with hops plants in our garden on the back of our garage (though we live in a commuter suburb of Chicago, not the city). Great idea for all of you city beer brewers, with the right containers, of course!

I'm surprised that you're surprised by this! This trick has always been standard for us NYC gardeners. I've never had my beans/flowers/etc grow to the top of the building, but they have more space than they would with just a standing trellis.

Years ago I planted green beans in our garden and they grew out of control into the tomato cages. To discourage them from invading their neighbors, I re-routed them via steel rebar into a overhanging dead tree branch. That year I had green beams growing from tree. It was quite weird.

Those look like hops, which can grow extremely fast and extremely tall. They'll grow, all right. My brother started to grow hops last year, and you could practically see them growing while you watched.