Not much room? Not a problem! Watch your vertical vegetable plant grow up, up, and away as you give your food some help.
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 lawn space. It’s simple, and many of your favorite vegetables can do it, like cabbage, green beans, and peppers.
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 rooftop, patio, front porch, or even along a fence. In this way, you can grow more vegetables per square foot than in a most yard.
Plus it’s easy to gather when the food you’ve grown is right there in front of you. Put down your stoop!
People who live close to each other can also get some privacy with vertical choices. Putting up a wall covered in edible plants is a great way to keep nosy neighbors away. The same goes for things that are ugly, like air conditioners and garbage bins. Use a screen of green beans or a tower of tomatoes to hide them.
Also See: Cool Weather Vegetables to Grow in Fall
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 rooftop, 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 fixed in the ground dry out faster. During the warmer months, make sure you check your raised beds and containers’ dirt 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 stairs and lattice panels can be reused or changed into something else to get lots of new benefits. The author of Vertical Vegetable Gardening, Chris McLaughlin, says, “There are no limits to vertical garden containers.” “Use anything that can hold soil and let water drain away.” Weaved fences, 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 pots, from ones full of potatoes to ones full of parsley. Keep in mind that a little elbow room is very important for getting enough air flow.
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.
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 architecture elements that make a statement, like arbors, trellises, and fencing.
One of Chris’s best vertical designs is a “arch” made of cattle panels that links 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 empty room between beds while still leaving a path for people to use. Hanging fruits and vegetables look nice and are easy to pick.