If you love gardening but are limited by a lack of space, why not turn your eyes to the sky? Vertical gardening offers the perfect way to grow your favorite plants while only using a fraction of the floor space. Here’s just about everything you need to get started.
Table of Contents
Introduction to Vertical Gardening
Vertical gardening is the process of growing plants upward instead of outward. This gardening method can be incredibly versatile, fit for both the indoors and outdoors, and can be applied just about anywhere – walls, fences, balconies, patios, you name it!
From colorful flowers, succulents to edible herbs and vegetables, vertical gardening truly opens up a world of possibilities. Whether you’re a seasoned horticulturist or a novice green thumb, you’ll find the fun and abundance that comes with these skyscraping green spaces simply irresistible.
Key Benefits of Vertical Gardening
Wondering why vertical is gaining popularity nowadays? Let’s list down the benefits:
Space-Saving: Perfect for apartment dwellers or urban homes with limited outdoor space. Vertical gardens require less square footage and make the most of your vertical space.
Improved Accessibility: No more bending or kneeling on the ground. Plant care becomes more comfortable and accessible.
Dynamic Decor: With strategic plant choice and arrangement, vertical gardens double as a living piece of art. A surefire eye-catcher!
Increased Yield for Edibles: Yes, you read that right! Vertical gardens can increase the production of your edible plants, making it a benefit for those interested in urban farming.
Better Pest and Disease Management: Pests have a harder time accessing the plants when they are off the ground, and improved air circulation can limit disease spread.
Basic Techniques
The first step to starting vertical is understanding the basic techniques. Armed with these, you will find it easy to choose the right approach for your space and the plants you want to grow.
Trellises and Arbors: Climbing plants love to grow upwards. Trellises, arbors, or pergolas are perfect for this. Beans, peas, climbing plants, roses, and morning glory vines would feel at home here.
Hanging Planters: This is where your gorgeous trailing flowers and foliage plants can showcase their beauty while saving floor space.
Living Green Walls: From herbs, succulents, to tropical foliage, a variety of plants can be grown in specially designed vertical containers to create a living wall. It’s like creating a vertical garden design masterpiece!
Click here for our guide to choosing the best seeds for the green walls.
Up next, we’ll delve deeper into planning your vertical garden, choosing the right plants and structures, and maintaining your green landscape.
Planning Your Vertical Garden
Before you dive in, crafting a good plan is pivotal. Here are the key steps:
Identify the Location: Consider the amount of direct sunlight, wind, and accessibility. A north-facing wall garden, for example, will provide different light levels compared to a south-facing one.
Choose the Right Structure: Your choice of a vertical planting structure depends on the location, your budget, and the types of plants you want to grow. It could be as simple as a trellis for vining plants or a high-end self-irrigating living wall system.
Select Appropriate Plants: Your plant choice should consider the location’s light levels and the type of vertical structure. For example, vines for trellises, trailing plants for hanging baskets, and resilient yet attractive plants for green walls.
Prepare for Planting: This involves sourcing good-quality compost and potting mix, choosing the right pot size, potting soil, and picking the right time to plant.
To help in planning, The Vertical Garden: From Nature to the City by Patrick Blanc, is a popular read packed with information and inspiration.
Choosing the Right Plants
The fun of vertical gardening is choosing from a wide array of plants. Here you can mix a variety of flower colors, leaf textures, and even include some edible herbs annual flowers and vegetables.
For full sun, go for petunias, marigolds, climbing roses, or vining tomatoes. For shade or indoors, ferns, ivy, begonias, or philodendron would be great choices.
A popular option for vertical gardens are succulents due to their resilience and range of shapes and sizes. Check out this mixed variety pack of succulents perfect for starting a vertical succulent garden.
Choosing Vertical Structures
The garden structure that you choose for your up-right garden primarily depends on your space and the type of plants you wish to grow. Some common structures include:
Trellis: Ideal for climbing and vining plants. Trellises can easily lean against a wall or be freestanding.
Hanging Baskets or Pots: Perfect for trailing plants and flowers. They can be easily hung on walls, balconies, or patios.
Vertical Garden Panels: These are designed for creating living walls. Some come equipped with a self-irrigating system, like this self-watering vertical wall hangers.
DIY Structures: You can upcycle wooden pallets, shoe organizers, ladders, or even old pipes into creative vertical structures. A great way to reduce cost and recycle!
In the next sections, we will delve deeper into designing epic towering gardens and how to maintain them.
Vertical Garden Design Ideas: Creating a Visual Masterpiece
A little creativity can transform your garden into a stunning vertical display. Here are some vertical design ideas to inspire you:
Monochromatic: Choose plants with flowers and/or leaves in a similar color family to create a soothing, cohesive look. For a classic look, you can’t go wrong with differing shades of green.
Rainbow: For a more bold, bright pop and vibrant style, go for a variety of colors. Just envision a living mural right on your wall or fence!
Texture Play: Mix plants with different leaf shapes and sizes. Grasses, broad-leafed plants, and succulents can make an attractive combo.
Living Art: Arrange your plants to create a specific shape, symbol, or even a number! This requires regular pruning and maintenance, but the results can be astounding.
Edible and Beautiful: Who said vegetable gardens can’t be beautiful? Arrange your tomatoes, peppers, strawberry plants, and herbs in an appealing way. This way, you’ll have both a bountiful harvest and a feast for the eyes!
Living with Plants: A Guide to Indoor Gardening is a useful book filled with creative styling ideas that apply well to vertical planting.
DIY Vertical Gardens
Exploring DIY vertical gardening allows you to curate your own creative garden designs. Here are a few DIY vertical garden ideas, to get your gardening gloves itching to start:
Pallet Planters: They are easy to install, affordable and give a rustic look to your space.
Mason Jars Wall: Attach mason jars to a wall-mounted wooden board and voila! Your mini wall-mounted vertical herb garden, is ready.
Hanging Shoe Organizer: Convert a shoe organizer into a neat, even hanging garden plot for herb or succulent plants.
Old Ladders: These can make a great vertical spot to display potted plants.
Watering Your Vertical Garden
Watering is a critical aspect of maintaining a thriving vertical planted garden. Here are some tips to guide you:
Top to Bottom: Water from the top and let it trickle down. This helps mimic natural rainfall and ensures all plants receive water.
Avoid Overwatering: Make sure your vertical structure has proper drainage. You want your plants to live in moist but not waterlogged soil.
Water Source: Consider a source of water for nearby plants. A self-watering system or a drip irrigation set-up can work wonders for larger vertical gardens.
Check out our guide on the best drip irrigation systems for more in-depth knowledge.
Examples of Vertical Garden Designs
To inspire you on your journey, let’s check out some breathtaking vertical garden designs:
Edible Living Wall: Imagine an entire wall of your courtyard laden with fresh herbs, vegetables, and strawberries.
Succulent Garden Frame: Create a living work of art with a variety of succulents arranged in old picture frames.
Balcony Beauty: Transform a dull balcony with a graceful mix of trellised climbers and tiered pot stands.
Maintaining a Vertical Garden
While Upstanding gardens can be a visually pleasing addition and space-efficient method, it’s essential to remember they need a regular maintenance routine to thrive.
Watering: Since these have less soil, they tend to dry out faster. Regular watering is crucial. A drip irrigation system can be a water-efficient way to make sure your plants stay hydrated.
Feeding: Using a slow-release organic fertilizer will keep your plants nourished without frequent feeding.
Pruning: Regular trimming helps control growth and maintain the shape of your garden. This is especially important if you’re using your vertical garden as a design element.
Pest Control: Regularly check for pests. Due to the close-knit growth, an infestation can spread quickly in a vertical garden, but catching and treating it early can prevent a major outbreak.
Closing Thoughts
Vertical gardening is indeed a revelation within the realm of urban gardening. It offers an effective way to tickle your green thumb while living in the city. With a minimum of floor space, you can grow anything from flowers to edible plants, both indoors and outdoors.
From the basics of vertical gardening to plant selection, and design inspirations, we hope this guide has been helpful. Whether you are an experienced gardener or a beginner, vertical gardening has something to offer everyone.
Given time, care, and creativity, your vertical garden will become a testament to nature’s robust adaptability and undeniable beauty, even in the heart of concrete urban areas. Here’s to an upwardly gorgeous green future!
However, starting a vertical garden is just the beginning. In our following guides, we detailed explain how to maintain your vertical flora, choose the right plants for each season, creatively design gardens, and much more.
So why wait? Roll up your sleeves and let the vertical gardening revolution begin!
