This Kids Garden Teepee Trellis is one of the best ways to get your kiddos involved in the love of gardening. Your kids will love playing in this Sweet Pea Teepee.
This DIY garden teepee is an easy way to support climbing sweet peas while adding height and beauty to your garden.
Plus it is a great way to encourage a love of growing food in your little ones.
What Is a Sweet Pea Teepee?
A sweet pea teepee is a simple garden structure made with poles or stakes that are tied together at the top to form a teepee shape. Climbing sweet pea plants grow up the poles as they mature, creating a beautiful tower of flowers in the garden.
Sweet pea teepees are popular because they provide support for climbing plants while also adding a decorative element to the garden.
I fell in love with the idea of a Sweetpea Teepee many years ago when I was looking for fun kids gardening ideas.
If you’re planning to grow pole beans or any kind of peas in your yard this year, you’ll need to have some sort of garden trellis for them to grow on.
You can create a fun backyard fort for your kids at the same time!
Why Grow Sweet Peas on a Teepee?
Sweet peas are natural climbing plants and need support as they grow. A teepee structure allows the vines to climb upward while keeping the plants organized and easy to harvest.
Growing sweet peas on a teepee also:
• saves garden space
• improves air circulation
• creates a beautiful focal point in the garden
• makes harvesting flowers easier
How To Make A Sweet Pea TeePee
Find all the instructions for making one of these of your own here!
A few tips and tricks for a successful teepee:
- Take the time to turn compost into the soil; don’t just push beans into your grass and expect them to do well.
- Use mostly Scarlet Runner beans (you can mix in a few other types if you want, but the Scarlet Runners are the champions)
- Make sure it’s in full sun.
- Put it somewhere that deer won’t come and eat all the leaves and beans off your vines.
- If you’re doing this project with toddlers, plant pretty flowers around the base along with your beans. That way they have time to learn about not pulling up the plants before the beanstalk shoots come up.
And most importantly, make sure to keep it fun!
When to Plant Sweet Peas
Sweet peas prefer cool weather and are usually planted in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked. In some climates they can also be planted in the fall for early spring blooms.
Plant seeds near the base of the teepee so the vines can easily climb the poles as they grow.
Photo Credit: Joyful Toddlers
Tips for Growing Sweet Peas on a Teepee
• Plant seeds close to the poles so vines can easily grab the support
• Water regularly, especially during dry weather
• Pinch the tips of young plants to encourage bushier growth
• Harvest flowers often to encourage more blooms
Sweet peas will continue producing flowers as long as they are picked regularly.
FAQs
Most sweet pea teepees are between 5 and 7 feet tall so the vines have plenty of room to climb.
Bamboo stakes, wooden poles, or sturdy branches all work well for building a teepee structure.
Yes, other climbing plants like beans, cucumbers, and morning glories can also grow on a teepee structure.
More Gardening Activities for Kids
- How to make a butterfly garden. – Because everyone loves butterflies right!
- LOTS more great Gardening ideas for Kids.
Have you ever made a Sweetpea Teepee? I’d love to hear how it turned out for you.
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