When you don’t have a lot
of space or open ground around your home, planting a garden might seem
impossible. After all, plants need room to grow and soil to grow in, don’t
they? While this is true, there is more than one way to get a garden growing.
If you have limited outdoor space or don’t have room for a large garden plot,
one option is to set up a vertical garden instead.
While not every garden plant is
feasible for a vertical garden, you might be surprised at all of the things
that you can grow vertically. Of course, you’ll first have to get your vertical
garden set up and ready for spring planting. You have a lot of options with how
you do this, so let’s take a moment to cover the essentials of what your
vertical garden should have.
Choosing a Garden Location
The first thing that
you need to consider is exactly where you’re going to locate your vertical
garden. Your options may be limited depending on where you live, but if you
choose a suboptimal location, then you’re going to have a hard time getting
your garden to grow. At a minimum, you’re likely going to want a location that
gets direct sunlight for at least part of the day, and a full 6 to 8 hours of
sunlight will probably be required for most plants. If you have specific fruits
or vegetables in mind already, do a bit of research into their sun requirements
to help determine exactly what you’ll need. A southern-facing view may help you
to get the sunlight that your plants need.
Access to water is
also important. While you can always water your vertical garden by hand, it can
save you a lot of effort if the garden is located in a spot that will get
watered when it rains. Having access to the ground soil may be beneficial as
well, though it isn’t a hard requirement; if you live in an apartment or
otherwise plan on establishing your garden on a balcony or other location that
doesn’t have open soil, you can always create your own growing environment with
containers.
Establishing a Garden Framework
Once you have a
location, your garden is going to need a growth framework so that it can
actually start growing upward. Trellises, wire cages, tripods, and even fences
can all make solid support structures so long as they are sturdy and able to be
secured. These can be attached to the exterior of your home or other buildings,
connected to balcony railings, or even secured into the ground. The method of
securing your framework isn’t that important. What is important is that it’s
secured well enough to be able to stand the weight of growing plants and
eventual fruits or vegetables.
With the support
structures in place, it’s time to prepare your soil. If planting directly into
the ground, you’ll need to till the soil and add compost or other nutrients. If
setting up containers, choose a soil or potting medium that will encourage root
growth to help ensure that your plants are secure as they start to grow up. The
weight of the soil and the eventual fruits or vegetables will help to keep the
containers in place, so you don’t have to worry as much about securing them as
you do your supports.
Growing Your Vertical Garden
Once you’ve got your vertical garden set up, you
can plant a variety of beans, peas, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and even
melons and pumpkins vertically. You’ll likely need to tie down the vines early
on and provide support for the fruits and vegetables as they grow, but the work
will be worth it.
