Growing hops that cant get too tall?
 

So I am wanting to start growing hops next spring, but I am not wanting to have some towering high setup in my back yard. Is there any other way of doing it? Can you grow them horizontal, or up and down in a zig/zag pattern?

Are you planning on growing hops on a trestle or a rope?. There are some dwarf varieties like Summit out there that don't grow as tall as other varieties. Maybe dwarf varieties could be your answer.

I have a related issue. I planted a fuggle rhizome and I didn't realize it would get as tall as it did. Anyway it grew fine but didn't produce Any hops. Is this normal?

First year you may or may not get any hops but they'll all get pretty tall, that's what they do. Some are suited to be grown on a low trellis but that doesn't mean they are 'short' growers, although there are some that are considered 'dwarf' varieties that I've never grown that don't get as tall as the traditional varieties. They want to grow straight up but you can try to train them horizontally (to a degree) with success. If they can't grow upward to their maximum height on some sort of support, they'll continue to grow upwards until they can't support themselves and fall back downward. At this point, the growing tip will begin to grow upwards again, clinging onto whatever it can get a hold of and this process will repeat itself until the vine has reached it's maximum length. Usually what you end up with is a tangled up mess of vegetation and hops at the height where they were limited.

I'd say to just get them going and see what happens and make adjustments from your experience. I like to allow plants to do what makes them happy so I've never grown them with the intent to restrict their ability to climb on purpose. Lots of others on this forum have done some creative things so let's hope they chime in to help you out.

Good to see you're doing some homework before jumping into the fray. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

I agree with everything B-hoppy said.

Some additional information, there are "dwarf" varieties out there but I believe they are all proprietary, which means you will never get them.

You can grow hops, somewhat successfully, to a short height but you will stunt their production and never get them to full productivity. So if you are OK with a cascade that gives 1/4 pound instead of 1 to 2 pounds, then stop your trellis at whatever height you are comfortable.