Ideas for Hop Growth in a very small yard

[swmalone]

Okay so you all might think I've lost my marbles but I would like to grow some hops in our small yard. We live in Northern Utah on a 1/5 acres lot in a small rural town. Our back yard currently houses bees, chickens, several dwarf fruit trees, one shade tree, and a couple of large areas for vegetable gardening.

One thought I had was to attach eye hooks to the eaves of the house on the South side and plant a rhizome in a whiskey barrel and let the bines grow up a line and along the line through the eye hooks.

Another simple option, but not sure of the viability is to plant the rhizome along the 6' vinyl fence and set up a twin along the top of the fence that the plant can grow on.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. I have also though of using a hop pole but I am not sure of the best place to put it without overly shading my other garden areas. I have 2 rhizomes on order so would love to hear what people think.

Thanks.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I planted 4 rhizomes last spring. I have a brick patio with a second story porch at one end of it. I planted the hops at the opposite patio edge, used a tree and a 2x4 attached to my fence to run a guy-wire over my rhiozomes. Then I ran twine from the ground, over this wire, and horizontally over to this porch. This gives them about 30' of growing room and the will eventually shade my patio.

 

[WayFrae]

I made a trellis for my hops. It is about 8 feet tall with the lines running back and forth diagonally. Even though the diagonal lines are at an upward slant the hops just want to climb straight up. It takes almost daily training to have them climb diagonally so I don't know how well they would climb horizontally.

 

[TheCADJockey]

They seem to be fairly resilient, as long as you have something for them to grow on they probably will. So either option, the only thing I think you would have to worry about is making sure they go where you want them to go. If you attach them to your house as mentioned, which could make for nice ornamental growth by the way, just make sure to lead them away from any gutters or other objects as they may decide they want to take those over as well. You could choose to go horizontally along a fence; this option also makes it a little easier when it comes to harvest but as previously mentioned, you'll have to make sure you have somewhere for them to go or they may take over your yard.

I harvested my first crop of Nugget hops which was planted two years ago. The first year it sprouted and didn't grow much at all. The second year it produced nicely and grew over 25 feet tall. Even though I had room, I used a combination of both ideas. I strung bailing twine between too posts 10-12 feet apart, with two heights of twine at about 2 and 4 feet (your fence). I then put a 25 foot post in the middle of the makeshift fence and strung more twine from the two smaller posts to the top, once the plant had taken over the fence. In the end, it ended up growing roughly 5-6 feet horizontally and then 22-23 feet up the post.

I'm designing an outdoor kitchen / gardening storage structure to plant more crops. It is 10 feet tall with a trellis-like roof for it to grow up and over to provide shade in the summer while still being at a manageable height when it comes time to harvest.

Just give it somewhere to go :cross:

 

[solbes]

Up north I have 3 hop plants that climb a 1/8" nylon rope up to an eye hook about 25 feet up a sparsely leaved White Oak tree. The plants are about 6 feet from the trunk; the rope is at about a 25 degree angle. Works really well. The hops climb up the rope all on their own. I just train them once to get them around it 3 or 4 times. The rope is long enough that I can release and lower it and pick hops from the ground.

At our house in the Twin Cities, I did what you suggested and have them follow a piece of twine along our 6' wooden fence. I have an eye hook on top of every post (spaced 6'). I got tons of hops out of the Chinook (for a first year plant). Centennial gave up some in its first year, but not as prolific. The issue here is that I do have to go out every 3 or 4 days and make sure they are training to the twine. A lot of times they take a wrong turn and I gently correct it back to the twine. But it works, just a tidge of extra labor.

 

[swmalone]

Thanks for all the feedback. Sometimes I just think I should build a hop yard in the front yard, but I have a feeling that the code enforcement officers wouldn't like me having 20 foot tall poles in my front yard.

The addition of hops into the yard is two-fold. One too supplement the pelletized hops I currently use, and second to add some visual appeal. I think I have talked my wife into the idea of attaching lines to eye bolts in the eves and training the hops up along our roof line. The location of the other rhizome is still being discussed.

Thanks again, if you have any other ideas of photos of designs that might work in a small yard I would love to see them.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

Here is a photo of the setup I described earlier taken just before my oktoberfest party this fall. I'm standing on the second-story porch looking down on the patio. The guy-wire is what the Bavarian banners are running on as well.

I did have to train the hops a bit every few days to run horizontally, but it did work.

 

[swmalone]

Here is a photo of the setup I described earlier taken just before my oktoberfest party this fall. I'm standing on the second-story porch looking down on the patio. The guy-wire is what the Bavarian banners are running on as well.

I did have to train the hops a bit every few days to run horizontally, but it did work.

Beautiful. I get more pictures like this and I should have no problem convincing my wife. This does give me an idea. We have a large concrete patio in the back. I could sink posts in the yard just off the patio and attach the line similar to yours then run lines up to our eaves. We only have a single level house but I still think it would work, and if it grows well enough it might provide some shade to our sliding glass door in the back yard on the West side of the house.

 

[DNKDUKE]

You have a lot going on in your yard - but I don't know how much room you actually have so.....

Here's an idea that any small grower of hops for personal use could use. I made (4) of these. The footprint is about 4' square give or take. the height (with a flag) is real close to 15'. I've spaced them so that each variety is 3'-4' apart....I have (4) varieties.
They're made of 2X6 - the center top is a 4X4 and the cross pieces that hold the legs near the bottom and the middle are 1X6. (hard to see in the pic)
Just something to think about.

EDIT#1
These are anchored to the ground with "U" bolts and 4' long metal fence posts......they have blown over.

EDIT#2
I attached (2) screw eyes at top and (2) at the bottom. I run bailing twine(cheap) through the first bottom eye - up to the first top eye - through the second top eye- and then down to the second bottom eye. The top eyes are about 6" apart and the bottom eyes are about 30"-36" apart. I only have done this on (2) of the (4) openings (between the legs) but will snip some shoots from the established plants and do all (4) sides this year. Please excuse the weeds.............................

 

[swmalone]

You have a lot going on in your yard - but I don't know how much room you actually have so.....

Here's an idea that any small grower of hops for personal use could use. I made (4) of these. The footprint is about 4' square give or take. the height (with a flag) is real close to 15'. I've spaced them so that each variety is 3'-4' apart....I have (4) varieties.
They're made of 2X6 - the center top is a 4X4 and the cross pieces that hold the legs near the bottom and the middle are 1X6. (hard to see in the pic)
Just something to think about.

EDIT#1
These are anchored to the ground with "U" bolts and 4' long metal fence posts......they have blown over.

EDIT#2
I attached (2) screw eyes at top and (2) at the bottom. I run bailing twine(cheap) through the first bottom eye - up to the first top eye - through the second top eye- and then down to the second bottom eye. The top eyes are about 6" apart and the bottom eyes are about 30"-36" apart. I only have done this on (2) of the (4) openings (between the legs) but will snip some shoots from the established plants and do all (4) sides this year. Please excuse the weeds.............................

It's so green!!! I just mean everything is so green. The part of Utah I live in is pretty dry and usually by early July everything is dead and brown.

 

[thaymond]

Okay so you all might think I've lost my marbles but I would like to grow some hops in our small yard. We live in Northern Utah on a 1/5 acres lot in a small rural town. Our back yard currently houses bees, chickens, several dwarf fruit trees, one shade tree, and a couple of large areas for vegetable gardening.

One thought I had was to attach eye hooks to the eaves of the house on the South side and plant a rhizome in a whiskey barrel and let the bines grow up a line and along the line through the eye hooks.

Another simple option, but not sure of the viability is to plant the rhizome along the 6' vinyl fence and set up a twin along the top of the fence that the plant can grow on.

These are just thoughts off the top of my head. I have also though of using a hop pole but I am not sure of the best place to put it without overly shading my other garden areas. I have 2 rhizomes on order so would love to hear what people think.

Thanks.

I have a similar issue and have an HOA that enforces a "No higher than a fence" rule. I had great success with it this year and I'm really looking forward to harvesting this year off of my four plants. I have three 2nd year plants (Zeus, Cascade, Chinook) and a fourth year plant (Nugget). I'm shooting for over 5 pounds dry at harvest this year. We'll see. Total footprint is 64 square feet, and occupies about 384 cubic feet. It allowed for Nugget to hit the 30+ foot mark. It incorporates the idea of helix and hedgerow dwarf hops using regular hop variety. I had to train daily, as they would grow nearly a foot per day when it was hot. Good luck!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=474201

New Hop Garden 2014 (pic heavy)

 

[rekoob]

Take a little time and look through all the hop garden stuff.

I can't look anymore, I get pissed that everyone has a great set up and they are getting lots more hop cones than I do... guess I need to get my hops out of the pots and into the ground, they grow great, just not a big crop to pick at the end of the year.

or maybe my thumb isn't very green... hmmm...

 

[GVH_Dan]

or maybe my thumb isn't very green... hmmm...

Its not you, dude. Its the pots. POTS...with an "S".

Put them in the ground and they will do much better.

 

[swmalone]

I have a similar issue and have an HOA that enforces a "No higher than a fence" rule. I had great success with it this year and I'm really looking forward to harvesting this year off of my four plants. I have three 2nd year plants (Zeus, Cascade, Chinook) and a fourth year plant (Nugget). I'm shooting for over 5 pounds dry at harvest this year. We'll see. Total footprint is 64 square feet, and occupies about 384 cubic feet. It allowed for Nugget to hit the 30+ foot mark. It incorporates the idea of helix and hedgerow dwarf hops using regular hop variety. I had to train daily, as they would grow nearly a foot per day when it was hot. Good luck!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=474201

New Hop Garden 2014 (pic heavy)

That is very cool. I think my wife would like this. The issue I have as mentioned in my first post is that I have already packed so much into my backyard I might have to rearrange some stuff. In the corner of the fences we put up a blocking fence and have a covert beehive back there, then there are raspberries all along the fence, courtesy of the neighbors, but hey I'll take them. I think I might be able to relocate my pallet compost bins and then build something similar in that area.

I was looking at the pictures and had a couple of questions. So you use the twine anchored near the rhizome, then did you just spiral the twine around the vertical frame and attach it towards the top? I doubt I will be able to get something like this assembled before I put my hops out this year. I have a feeling it is going to be whiskey barrels growing up a twine to the eaves on the South side of the house, at least for this year.

All of these pictures are getting me antsy to get into the garden and then I wake up to it snowing like crazy today.

I am new to these forums but so far all of the assistance I have received has been awesome. Thanks and happy brewing!

 

[TheCADJockey]

I have a similar issue and have an HOA that enforces a "No higher than a fence" rule. I had great success with it this year and I'm really looking forward to harvesting this year off of my four plants. I have three 2nd year plants (Zeus, Cascade, Chinook) and a fourth year plant (Nugget). I'm shooting for over 5 pounds dry at harvest this year. We'll see. Total footprint is 64 square feet, and occupies about 384 cubic feet. It allowed for Nugget to hit the 30+ foot mark. It incorporates the idea of helix and hedgerow dwarf hops using regular hop variety. I had to train daily, as they would grow nearly a foot per day when it was hot. Good luck!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=474201

New Hop Garden 2014 (pic heavy)

Awesome thread man. I'm amazed you got them to stay contained in such a small space. The nugget I grew was a monster and almost took over the entire garden. These are a great option for city living. Love it.

 

[swmalone]

Take a little time and look through all the hop garden stuff.

I can't look anymore, I get pissed that everyone has a great set up and they are getting lots more hop cones than I do... guess I need to get my hops out of the pots and into the ground, they grow great, just not a big crop to pick at the end of the year.

or maybe my thumb isn't very green... hmmm...

Is there a specific hop garden thread, or did you just mean browse the threads in the hops growing forum?

 

[rekoob]

Is there a specific hop garden thread, or did you just mean browse the threads in the hops growing forum?

yeah, just the hop growing forum area, lots of trellis threads and I think a "show me your trellis" or something of the like. Tons of pictures of what people are doing or have done. Will give you lots of ideas to work with.

 

[sumbrewindude]

Take a little time and look through all the hop garden stuff.

I can't look anymore, I get pissed that everyone has a great set up and they are getting lots more hop cones than I do... guess I need to get my hops out of the pots and into the ground, they grow great, just not a big crop to pick at the end of the year.

or maybe my thumb isn't very green... hmmm...

Get bigger pots.

No issues with my cut in half 55gal drums (of course they DID pop through my drain holes and and head down a few feet with the tap root....)

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

There are some great ideas so far my 2c is don't do it along the fence! The reason is it will be a pain in the a.. when it is time to harvest. They will grow through numerous holes in the chain link. The whisky barrels are great, I don't know how they will do over the winter though. Possibly some one here can chime in.

 

[swmalone]

There are some great ideas so far my 2c is don't do it along the fence! The reason is it will be a pain in the a.. when it is time to harvest. They will grow through numerous holes in the chain link. The whisky barrels are great, I don't know how they will do over the winter though. Possibly some one here can chime in.

The winter was one of the concerns I had as well. I was thinking of perhaps planting it in a lightweight plastic pot that trees come in and then put that in the whiskey barrel. That would allow me to easily move the plant into a shed for the winter.

I am getting tons of great ideas and I need to make sure that I don't blow my entire brewing budget on building a hop yard.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

I wonder if you can just bury the container in a hole to winter over? I know when I harvest rhizomes some are almost at the surface. I would think a hard freeze would kill them.

 

[thaymond]

Take a little time and look through all the hop garden stuff.

I can't look anymore, I get pissed that everyone has a great set up and they are getting lots more hop cones than I do... guess I need to get my hops out of the pots and into the ground, they grow great, just not a big crop to pick at the end of the year.

or maybe my thumb isn't very green... hmmm...

Gvh is right. Once they hit the ground, they take off and grow like Monsters. If you take the pots away and give them a nice ground home with fertile soil and water, they'll give you an abundance of cones.

I will say I do spend a good 10 minutes per day trading and watering in the summer. I also have a pretty solid fertilizer regiment down after a few years at it. This year I'll have to trim back rhizomes this year so that they stay contained.

 

[thaymond]

That is very cool. I think my wife would like this. The issue I have as mentioned in my first post is that I have already packed so much into my backyard I might have to rearrange some stuff. In the corner of the fences we put up a blocking fence and have a covert beehive back there, then there are raspberries all along the fence, courtesy of the neighbors, but hey I'll take them. I think I might be able to relocate my pallet compost bins and then build something similar in that area.

I was looking at the pictures and had a couple of questions. So you use the twine anchored near the rhizome, then did you just spiral the twine around the vertical frame and attach it towards the top? I doubt I will be able to get something like this assembled before I put my hops out this year.

I did just that. I anchored near the middle and spiraled all the way up. I used tomato jute last year which was a big mistake. It was too biodegradable, and by August I was trying to play catch up with my lines in fixing them. The sheer weight of all the foliage collapsed them. I almost lost all of my Chinook plant, (and somehow managed over a pound in hops.) a windy day broke off the tips at 16 feet on 2 of three bines and the third went to about 20 before it collapsed. Zeus was a wreck at the end, and I ended up slashing the whole thing down at once to harvest.

If you want some ideas, this forum will provided all of the advice you could need. It's fun to see the ideas of others and Bounce ideas.

 

[swmalone]

I think for this year I'm going to go with whiskey barrels and the side of the house. When I get it set up and get the hops planted I will update with pictures. Eventually I hope to find a spot that will work that will allow me to plant them in the ground.

 

[B-Hoppy]

One last option is to drive a length of pipe into the ground next to the crown and lash a pole to it. The hops climb up the training string onto the pole and when you want to harvest (or check for maturity), just untie the pole and lay it down to observe. Once you're done picking, just tie it back up. Easy as pie!

 

[pelop777]

If verticle space isn't a problem you may try something like this... I started with a single pole (like a teepee) right about where the nearest pole is now but couldn't spread the different varieties out far enough so I set this up last spring. 2 16ft pressure treated 4x4s buried about 2.5ft down with cement and some weather resistant rope between. To get the extra length I cam back with the twine for each bine to the house with eye hooks like you're talking about. Sorry I don't have any later in the year pics but almost all of them went across to the house and back to the main rope which is when I stopped training them and let them find their own way. I just went out there the other day and saw some sprouts whuch got me all excited so I came to check out the hop growing threads! 😆

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