Vertical gardening is a great way to maximize your living space and enhance the beauty and enjoyment of your home. Easy to create, customize and care for, a vertical garden can be made of anything from hanging flower pots and plastic soda bottles to old mailboxes, wheelbarrows and crates. And the many options allow you the flexibility to get creative and capture your unique sense of style. Here’s what you need to know to create a stunning, low-maintenance vertical garden of your own.
KNOW WHERE TO START
Knowing how much space and sunlight you have to work with is essential to getting your vertical garden off on the right foot. Whether you’ve chosen a window in the kitchen, a wall in your sunroom or the railing along your patio, it’s important to evaluate its size and surroundings, as well as the amount of natural light it gets, before moving forward with your project.
Once you have a better picture of the space you’ll be using, you can determine what you want to grow in your vertical garden and how.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT TYPE
There’s no shortage of options when it comes to choosing the container and method for your vertical garden. There’s something for every taste and budget. Some popular low-cost choices include:
Hanging pots: Hang flower pots one above another, resting each on support strings secured to well-mounted vertical rods.
Crates: Arranging plastic and wooden crates into various patterns provides you a number of options for growing, expanding and making changes to your garden.
Pockets: Attach a pocketed canvas to a wall, using each individual pocket to grow a small plant.
Plastic bottles: Cut and fill old plastic soda bottles with soil. This makes a portable growing container that can you can either hang or place on a shelf.
KNOW WHAT TO PLANT
Vertical gardening is largely based on your personal preferences, though it helps to consider a few key factors when narrowing down what you want to grow:
LIGHT
When it comes to choosing plants for your vertical garden, the sky’s the limit. Literally. Whether it’s herbs, flowers, succulents or something more exotic, your garden will need a source of light. And this makes it important to consider each plant’s light requirements, and your garden’s location, when deciding exactly which flowers, herbs and vegetables to grow. (Small greenhouse lights are advisable for indoor gardens.)
SPACE
Striking a balance between what you want to grow and the plants that will best fit your unique space and garden type is key to a successful vertical garden. Be sure to consult with your local nursery or master gardener to find the plants that have the best chance to grow and flourish in the space available.
PRIORITIES
Ultimately, it all comes down to priorities. If space is limited and you don’t want to move things around, your choices may be few. But if you really want to get creative and make the most of the area you’re working with, the possibilities are limited only by your budget and your imagination.
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