Grow a Vertical Vegetable Garden to Save Space: Things are getting better for people who want farm-fresh vegetables but don’t have much or any land. A vertical vegetable garden is the best way to use limited backyard space. It’s simple, and many of your favorite vegetables can do it, like cabbage, green beans, and tomatoes.
Container or vertical gardening is a great way to grow vegetables for people who live in condos or apartments or who have trouble with uneven ground. This is because you can put a vertical garden on a balcony, patio, front porch, or even along a fence. In this way, you can grow more vegetables per square foot than in a most garden.
Plus it’s easy to harvest when the food you’ve grown is right there in front of you. Put down your stoop!
Grow a Vertical Vegetable Garden to Save Space
People who live close to each other can also get some privacy with vertical options. Putting up a wall covered in edible plants is a great way to keep nosy neighbors away. The same goes for ugly things, like air conditioners and compost bins. Use a screen of green beans or a teepee of tomatoes to hide them.
Vertical Vegetable Garden Growing Tips
Remember these tips as you start to make plans for your dream vertical garden.
Find a spot that gets full sun and is out of the way of strong winds for the best yield. If you’re planting on a balcony, you might want to anchor or weigh down your vertical structures so they don’t fall over when it rains.
Put your plants on the north side of your garden bed so they don’t shade other plants. Things that aren’t planted in the ground dry out faster.
During the warmer months, make sure you check your raised beds and containers’ soil often to see how wet it is. Planting near a water source, like a spot where your hose can reach or where you can carry a watering can, will make it easier to water often.
Creative Containers and Structures
Everyday items like ladders and lattice panels can be reused or changed into something else to get lots of new benefits. There are no limits to vertical garden containers.” “Use anything that can hold soil and let water drain away.” Weaved fencing, ladders, gates, chicken wire, netting, or trellises can all be used to support climbing plants.
Shelves are also a great way to hold a variety of containers, from ones full of potatoes to ones full of parsley. Keep in mind that a little elbow room is very important for getting enough airflow.
For renters, something a little less long-term might be more appealing. Hold containers in place on the steps of a ladder, or attach chicken wire or a shutter that has been used for something else to a wall and hang vegetable pots from it. To make a base for a living wall, stack some growing boxes or even cinderblocks.
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Go Vertical in Raised Beds
You might already have a raised bed garden, but you want to move it up. You could use tall, thin structures like bamboo poles, teepees, and tomato cages, or you could use architectural elements that make a statement, like arbors, trellises, and fencing.
One of the favorite vertical designs is an “arch” made of cattle panels that link two raised garden beds. “The panels are held up by T-posts, and climbing plants are trained to grow over each end.” This is a great way to use the space between beds while still leaving a path for people to use. Hanging fruits and vegetables look nice and are easy to pick.
When choosing the right plants for your plot, stick to vines and trailing plants that you can train to climb or grow slowly toward the ground. Ties and clips can be used to attach most of them to supports.
Melons, on the other hand, may need slings to keep them from falling off the vine because they are heavy. That’s when old underwear comes in handy! You can use them or other scraps of fabric to make hammocks that you can attach to the frame.
Fill in With Leafy Greens
At the base of your vertical vegetable garden, you can plant salad greens like lettuce, spinach, and arugula. This is another good way to use space. Leafy greens can usually handle more shade from plants above them, and if it’s cool enough, you may even be able to grow them well into the summer.
