Space – sweet open space. It’s becoming more and more rare as land becomes less available. What’s a gardener to do?! Well the sky is the limit really. With vertical gardening you can grow far beyond your standard veggie plot and spread your garden up towards the heavens. So, what is vertical gardening? It’s pretty self explanatory really and frankly a lot of fun.
First thing is first you will still need some land space set aside for the actual garden bed or the containers that will house your plants. Then you need to decide which type of vertical gardening format you intend to foray into.
A few of these options include:
- In containers, with individual trellis or structures
- In a garden bed or in the ground, growing up a trellis, cage, arbor, obelisk or wall
- In containers all in a row, with a single trellis system spanning all of them
- In an upside-down tomato, or similar planters designed for this sort of growing method
- Garden bag planters hanging on a wall
Each of these different types have individual benefits and some will work better for specific types of vegetables.
So what vegetables will do best in your fancy new garden? In the containers and garden bed methods;
- pole beans
- climbing peas
- cucumbers
- winter squash
- pumpkins
- melons
- cantaloupe
- Zucchini
- Vining tomatoes
Or if you have opted to do the hanging garden bag style you can grow, cherry tomatoes, lettuces, basil, or other herbs.
Beyond the obvious benefit of less space and more garden vertical vegetable gardening helps keep your veggies away from meddling pests.
Here are some great sources with neat ideas and step by step instructions:
- http://www.vegetable-gardening-with-lorraine.com/vertical-vegetable-gardening.html
- http://www2.fiskars.com/Gardening-and-Yard-Care/Projects/Prepping-Design-Planting-Harvest/Design/Expert-Tips-for-Vertical-Vegetable-Gardening#.U1Wgk1wrTlJ
Stop in to visit with one of our friendly staff and review the correct materials to get your bountiful tower of veggies underway!