General
The runner bean gets its name from the way it runs up its supports, but it's also loved for its striking red flowers that look gorgeous in any vegetable garden. The pods are covered in a soft fuzz that disappears during cooking. 
Peter Turner Photography/Shutterstock.com
It's closely related to climbing beans and dwarf beans. Like climbing beans, it needs a support structure to grow up.
Like other garden beans, it originally comes from South America, so it's sensitive to cold. Don't plant it outside until the last night frosts have passed.
Facts and figures
Times
Direct sowing from Late April to Late May. Transplant to bed from Mid May to Mid June. Pre-grow about 30 days before planting out, approximately between Mid April and Mid May. After a growing period of 90 days, harvest can begin around Late July and continues until Late October.
Sowing and planting
Runner beans need a support structure to climb up. Put this in place before you sow. Various poles work well — bamboo canes (also called Tonkin canes), steel rods or classic bean poles made from spruce, for example, set up in a tepee shape. You can also plant them in rows, with a pole on each side connected at the top by a long horizontal pole. You'll find plenty of great examples online. Once your frame is standing solidly, sow 6 to 8 beans around each pole, about 2 cm deep, and water them thoroughly. The row and plant spacings refer to the approximate distance between the support poles, since you place the seeds around them. If slugs are a big problem, you can start runner beans indoors. Around mid-April, place 6 seeds in a circle in a pot. Plant them out in mid-May. Carefully remove the seedlings and plant them around the poles, wrapping them in the direction the plant twines.
Location and soil
It copes well with most soils. Just make sure the soil is nicely loosened, and during the growing season give it a gentle loosen now and then if the ground starts to harden up. That way water can reach the roots more easily.
Neighbourhood
Runner beans don't like alliums as neighbours — that means onions, garlic, leeks and the like.
Crop rotation
Other legumes, itself, as well as lettuce, potatoes, spinach and carrots are not welcome as predecessors. As successors, legumes, alliums and lamb's lettuce aren't ideal either.
Care and fertilising
As a legume, it can fix atmospheric nitrogen with the help of root nodule bacteria. So you don't need to fertilise runner beans. A light application of compost in spring before planting doesn't hurt though. In dry weather, give them a good watering once or twice a week.
Harvest and processing
Once the first green pods have reached a decent size — the beans inside should only be faintly visible — you can start harvesting on an ongoing basis. From then on, pick the pods every 2 to 3 days. This also boosts your yield. You can keep the beans in the fridge for a good week. If you've harvested more than you can handle and they're piling up in the fridge, you can blanch and freeze them or preserve them with a tasty recipe. You can also wait for the seeds to fully ripen — they're ready when the pods are completely dry. We have such tall bean poles that beans always ripen at the top where we simply can't reach them. Shell the dried beans, let them dry a bit more, and store them somewhere airy, for example in small cloth bags. They'll keep for a good 2 years. Beans must be cooked before eating — they're poisonous when raw.