A vertical garden is the best solution for the small size Urban gardens.
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Have you ever wanted to have a garden but thoughts that your apartment/balcony/yard was too small?
Despair no more!
There is a simple solution to your problem: A Vertical Garden
It’s the perfect solution for small space, using the only dimension that there’s plenty off!
Skyward we go!
Since the last few years, vertical gardening has made a come back and it has changed the mind set of many. With an increasing amounts of smaller apartments and condo towers, space is at a premium and many apartment dwellers and condo owners would like to enlighten their space with nice flower and vegetable gardens.
Many contraption have come on the market to help urban gardener get the most of their small space. With those vertical gardening towers, a little imagination and a lot of DIY ingenuity, it is possible to transform a simple house wall into a fresh fruits and vegetables garden that will please the eye and the palate.
Dont’ forget that there is a number of variety of sprawlers and climbers that can be used to get the most out of small footprint garden.
Let them Climb on your Vertical Garden
The first step in going vertical is to select fruits and vegetables that have a tendency to try reaching for the stars or that can be “trained” to do so.
Climbers
Some vegetable and fruit growing plants have a natural tendency of heading upward, let’s call them the Climber.
Some climbers, such as Squashes, uses small tendrils to grip unto surfaces to “pull” themselves upward as it grows.
Others, like beans, snakes there way around poles and other objects used as a supports to reach for the sky.
Sprawlers
The sprawlers, such as most cucurbits, requires to be tied to be “trained” to go up. Otherwise, they will keep on spreading outward.
Fruit Trees and Shrubs
Fruit trees, such as apple and pear trees, can be “trained” into a small footprint shapes: espalier, vertical cordon or any other shape that keeps then going upward more then outward.
Raspberries and their other cane friends can be tied in their naturally upward position between wires or to poles. But beware, they have a tendencies of flailing into the other-side of the fence!
Small Space Vertical Garden Optimization
A frames
These frames can be made from many materials, from metal to wood and even rope. Simply create an A shaped frame, by leaning 2 rectangles frame together and tie/screw them. Then attach a metal, wood or rope trellis to it. Plant some climbers at the bottom of the 2 frames and let them grow on them. The space between them can be used to grow shade loving plants like spinach and lettuce.
A well made frame can last for several growing seasons. Just pull it up from the ground and store it in your shed.
Trellis
A subset of the A Frames, or actually half of an A Frame.
Like the A Frame, they can be made from various materials, from wood to metal. You only need to fabricate a rectangle frame and attach a wood/metal/rope trellis on it. Again, climbers will love growing up the trellis! As an added perk, the maintenance and harvesting will be easier because of the higher vines. To be honest, you can shape your trellis the way you want!
Old wooden ladder
If you have an old ladder laying around, this might be one of the best up-cycling idea! Use it to support vine-growing plants like pumpkins and squash.
The rungs of the ladder can be used to grow the vines while the steps are used to support the heavier vegetables.
Green Wall effect
From hanging wooden baskets or plastic planter to Wall Pockets, different methods can be used to add some garden space to a wall, the proverbial Vertical Garden.
Wooden basket
Mounting some nice wooden baskets on a wall or fence is a nice way of to give a nice rustic feel to any decors. You can use any wooden basket but to keep it for the long term, I suggest that you line it with some sturdy plastic, with drainage holes, before putting soil in it. This will protect it from moisture damage. Another consideration if you are using any wood in a garden.:
Do not use treated wood.
Specially when dealing with herbs, fruits and vegetables. The treating agent will find it’s way into the soil and through it, to the plants. As such, you will be, literally, eating a wood treating agent, and you don’t want that!
Wall Planters
Wall planters are half baskets or sometimes half pots that can be directly hang on the wall.
They do take less ground space and, like their wooden basket counterpart, are a nice way to give a new look to your space.
There are numerous kind of wall planters, I’m sure you will be able to find one that fits into your decor!
Wall pocket
Wall Pockets are increasing in popularity.
It’s a very interesting product as it’s probably the easiest way of creating a green wall effect! These pockets are made from a heavy felt material that will keep your soil moist.
There are some consideration before mounting those pockets on one of your walls, specially if you are doing it inside:
- The felt like material will, most of the time, be wet. You need to make sure that the surface behind the wall pocket is well insulated against water effect.
- The weight of the filled pockets can be substantial in some cases. You need to make sure that the structure that will hold it is strong enough.
There usage is quite easy:
- Fill the pocket with your favorite soil mix;
- Tamp the soil a little; and
- Plant up!
In this case, using an automatic irrigation drip system might be useful.
Pallet wall
One of the simplest and cheapest way of creating a vertical garden is to use one or more pallets.
You can find them for sale at some hardware store. Sometimes, you can get them for free! Just ask around!
The trick is to:
- Use a thick landscaping fabric and staple it to the back of the pallet;
- Fill the pallet with your favorite mix of soil and compost;
- Tamp the soil mixture down until it is firm enough;
- Plant your plants;
- Install on wall; and
- Water from the above opening. (Drip porous hose)
Tips
You want to let the planted pallet flat for a few days. It will help the plants root system grow sufficiently to be stable and to hold the soil.
Again, try to find pallets that have never been treated. A lot of the pallets in circulation have been treated with insect and moisture protection and are not your health best friend.
Planter rack
This is a good family DIY project!
It can be made out of pretty much any a material out of which you could create some kind of shelving or solid trellis on which you could hang or sit the planters.
This is actually a project that as been on the back of my mind for a while. Not only does it take less space on the ground, but it also ease the maintenance and watering of the plants.
Another interesting solution would be to up-cycle some kind of old shelving, or even a ladder, which could be used with small pots.
If you don’t want to walk the DIY road, there are nice rack available for sale.
Some are made to stay inside and will give an extra edge to your home decor.
Other can be used inside or out and are great for displaying pots and planters of all sizes.
On a side note, instead of using store bought planters, you could upcycle some old gutter, or even 6 inches PVC pipes cut in half. Plants with shallow roots system, such as snap peas, lettuce, strawberies and some herbs, will grow well in gutter or pipes.
Towering ideas
Another good idea to go upward is to build some form or tower.
Much like a skyscraper, every level can contain several plants and it’s footprint is much smaller than it would be for the same planted amount in a traditional garden. As such, you get much more per square foot.
Stack-a-Pot
This can be a fun an easy project for the family.
Stackable Pot are an easy, somewhat DIY option.
This can also be done using old (or new) clay pots that you have lying around. It gives a more rustic look than the plastic one and is as easy to assemble. If you need a little tutorial, here’s one
Tipsy Pot Tower
This towering project seems to very popular now-a-days.
It is an easy way to re-use old pots that all gardeners have laying around. The principle is quite simple: Stack some tilted pots on a long bar and fill them with soil. (Tutorial here).
You can put anything from herbs to flower to trailing vegetables. You can also decorate the pots as you wish! Let your imagination run free.
Strawberry fields
Growing a good amount of strawberries is always space consuming.
This is were vertical gardening comes in! Having the strawberry stacked not only helps in harvesting them but it’s also very good looking when the plants matures and covers your tower.
There are at least 2 ways that you can build towers for your strawberries. The first is to use a piece of large PVC tubing. By cutting out holes in it and filling it with soil, you can have a tower ready to plant your strawberries! Ok, the process is a bit more complex and you can find my first prototype project here! It the first prototype of, I hope, a successful tower.
The second is somewhat similar to the Stack-a-Pot one, but uses plastic nursery pots.
By stacking them and cutting holes, you can have a tower with lots of place for your strawberry plants.
You can found a superb and easy tutorial here.
Hang them!
Hanging basket are a simple way to get your plants of the ground. They require only a sturdy nail inserted in a sturdy structure to hang them. They will offer a flowing of colors and flowers all summer long. Hanging basket are quite cheap and easy to plant up.
Tips
- Use a piece of plastic to act as a water reservoir to keep your soil moist. (specially with metal wire basket);
- Use a liner, like moss, to hold the soil (specially with metal wire baskets);
- Use trailing plants on the side of the pot; and
- Use one big plant in the middle of the pot.
Finishing notes
Gardening might seems like a daunting task for Urban denizen. Specially for the small size apartment dwellers and condo owners.
Vertical gardening is here to serve you!
Stop being afraid and just go for it!
Be it a DIY solution or something bought off-the-shelf, you could have a sprawling vertical garden that will make your neighbor jealous. You could have fresh herbs, vegetables and fruits right on your balcony or in your backyard.
For those of you who already have a good size garden, it’s now time to bring it to the next level! Literally!
You could increase your productivity by a significant margin, every square feet working extra for your benefit.
What is your take on Vertical Gardens? Are you using it?
Any other idea for me to try out?
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