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Home » Blog » 8 Reasons to Try Vertical Gardening

8 Reasons to Try Vertical Gardening

By PreparednessMama on July 1, 2018 * 1 Comment

What kind of vegetable gardener are you? Sow It Up! Try Vertical Gardening

8 reasons to Try Vertical Gardening | Preparednessmama
Vertical gardening adds variety to your garden and is a great space saver

If you are on Pinterest and you like gardening, you are aware of the newest craze – vertical gardening. It’s everywhere. Of course, old time gardeners have been doing it for years. They call it trellis gardening or growing up a tepee. No matter what you call it, vertical gardening is fun and makes great use of your available space.

Even if you have a traditional garden, there is a reason to go vertical. Our Pinterest board, Sow It Up! has tons of inspirational ideas you can bring into your garden. Get out your old ladders, bamboo poles and netting, then get ready for some new inspiration.

The Top Eight Reasons to Sow It Up!

  1. Vertical gardening adds depth and interest to your garden.
  2. It is a fantastic small space saver, allowing you to grow more in a small space.
  3. You can use it with container gardening, giving you even more growing room.
  4. Like a master gardener, you can be a master frugaler- finding creative ways to recycle and re-purpose what you already have.
  5. You can increase your crop yield by growing vegetables up, not out (think melon or even pumpkin).
  6. You can keep a keen eye on pests if you grow at eye level.
  7. Vertical gardening helps you shade tender plants that are next to or below your crop.
  8. You can create privacy where you need it- no more nosy neighbors.

Things to consider while making your vertical gardening plans

Vegetable garden styles | PreprednessMama
Maximize your space..find your vegetable garden style
  • Know how tall your plant will get at maturity, then match the support system. If you are growing 6 ft pole beans, plan accordingly.
  • Are you creating any special watering conditions? Pallet and wall vegetable gardens may need extra help getting sufficient water down to the bottom.
  • Is the area you’ve chosen to place your vertical garden able to handle the load? A pallet garden, fully watered, can be very heavy on your second floor balcony.
  • Be sure the trellis system you’ve chosen sturdy enough to handle the load. I like to grow my tomatoes inside cages to keep them off the ground. I’ve learned the hard way that a cheap cage can buckle under the weight of a mature Mortgage Lifter tomato plant.
  • Put your stakes, trellises and supports in at the same time you are planting. That way, you’ve reserved the space and mature plants will have the room they need.
  • Make sure you will have access to the fruit or vegetable once the plant is mature. One year (when I was first learning, of course, because you only do it once…) I planted a bean tepee and didn’t leave a way inside to harvest the beans.
  • Do you need a way to tie the plant to your support system? Not all vegetables that can be grown up have a built in “clinger” like peas do.  Use something that will let the plant continue to grow without digging into the stalk. Chenille pipe cleaners are my favorite choice and can be found at any craft store. You can also use a ball of twine or those “soft ties” from the gardening section of your store.
  • Be aware of the direction of the sun – so you are not shading other plants unless you want to.

Vertical gardening books we like:

Garden Up! found on Amazon     The Edible Front Yard, found on Amazon     Vertical Gardening, found on Amazon

Vertical vegetable gardening ideas around the web:

Learn about Pallet Vertical Gardening from these excellent sites:
Life on the Balcony – How to Turn a Pallet into a Garden
Design Sponge – A smaller recycled pallet vertical garden project
Building a Vertical Pallet Garden with Chef Jamie – YouTube Video

Pocket Vertical Gardening | Wall Gardens
WoollyPocket | Living Walls
How to Install a Vertical Wall Garden w/ Shovel Art – YouTube Video

Recycled Pop Bottle Tower YouTube Video shows how to grow a wall of herbs and vegetables with recycled pop bottles and minimal water use. It’s pretty cool!

Other posts in the Vegetable Gardening Styles Series:

Vegetable Gardening Styles, Container Vegetable Gardening, Raised Bed Gardening, Square Foot Gardening, The Mittleider Method

Don’t miss our Gardening Boards on Pinterest!: Gardening: Sow What! – Gardening: Permaculture & Perennial Crops – Gardening: Growing & Using Herbs

PreparednessMama
Preparedness Mama and its collaborators have created a one-stop shop of critical resources for families looking to prepare for disaster. We know firsthand that getting ready for the worst with a big family poses some particular challenges.
 
We’ve learned from the past so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes again. Fear of the unknown is one of the scariest things in life, but we hope that Preparedness Mama’s treasure trove of practical advice will make that unknown less daunting and ultimately help take the scared out of being prepared for every single one of our readers.

Comments

  1. breanascott says

    May 2, 2015 at 2:55 am

    thank you for the information in this post, I’ll do some to revamp my little garden~:)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Garden Primer: What's Your Vegetable Garden Style? - 72 Hour Kits - Emergency Preparedness says:
    April 1, 2013 at 10:22 am

    […] Vertical Gardening: My new obsession! I think the only thing you can’t grow up is maybe corn – There are many ways to use the small spaces of my yard to vertically garden. This might be the foundation of my vegetable garden style. Have you seen pallet gardening yet? […]

    Reply
  2. 8 Reasons to try Container Vegetable Gardening - A Garden Primer says:
    April 1, 2013 at 10:23 am

    […] « Garden Primer: What’s Your Vegetable Garden Style? Garden Primer – Sow it Up, Vertical Gardening » […]

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  3. What Can You Grow in a 6" Pot? - Planting Depth Revealed says:
    April 18, 2013 at 6:28 am

    […] will get late afternoon shade.  Create the shade by placing your containers under or next to your vertical gardening. Darker colored containers will absorb more heat, which can get seeds and transplants off to a […]

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  4. Raised Bed Gardening | A Garden Primer - Emergency Presparedness says:
    April 20, 2013 at 12:43 pm

    […] « Garden Primer – Sow it Up, Vertical Gardening The Finished Recipe: Creating a Budget » […]

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  5. Garden Primer: 8 Reasons to Try the Mittleider Gardening Method says:
    April 22, 2013 at 2:25 pm

    […] tips about raised bed gardening in general and the video’s about building the greenhouses and trellises are fantastic. Give it a look and decide for […]

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  6. Preserve Your Harvest - Freezing Berries - Short Term Food Storage says:
    November 14, 2014 at 9:43 am

    […] strawberry and raspberry plants is on a hillside in my less than ideal yard. It has worked well to grow them vertically because, as previously mentioned, I’ve promised not to whine, and instead make the best of […]

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  7. Square Foot Gardening | A Garden Primer - Emergency Preparedness says:
    November 14, 2014 at 9:46 am

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  8. 15 Books to Up Your Gardening Game in 2015 | PreparednessMama says:
    December 29, 2014 at 11:05 am

    […] quickly realizing their large plot requires too much weeding, watering, and backbreaking labor. Vertical gardening guarantees a better outcome from the day the trowel hits the soil—by shrinking the amount of […]

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  9. 15 Books to Up Your Gardening Game in 2015 says:
    July 20, 2016 at 5:10 pm

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  10. Grow These 12 Fruits for a Year Round Supply | PreparednessMama says:
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