Has anyone tried vertical gardening?

[gwydion]

I have a paved back area that is nice and sunny and I would like to make it into a more inviting space by covering the walls with plants. But I have never tried vertical gardening before.

Has anyone done this, and do you know which are the best plats and how to stratify them. Do you use a trickle water system to keep them moist. I'm hoping I can mix some fruit shrubs and fruiting plants with ferns and flowers to make the wall productive whilst giving colour and shade.

 

[claudine]

I haven't tried it yet but I'm thinking about it so I could use some tips too. Vertical gardens look very interesting, almost surreal:

 

[Victor Leigh]

That looks like a very successful vertical garden. Myself, I am just starting one. There is a little space at the side of my apartment in the drying area where the sun comes in for a few hours a day. So far I have only got a few bottles of water growing water morning glory. I am still figuring out the simplest way to add nutrients to the water. And keep the mosquitoes from breeding there.

 

[maddie]

That looks like a very successful vertical garden. Myself, I am just starting one. There is a little space at the side of my apartment in the drying area where the sun comes in for a few hours a day. So far I have only got a few bottles of water growing water morning glory. I am still figuring out the simplest way to add nutrients to the water. And keep the mosquitoes from breeding there.

You could grow plants in bottles with a little soil but with drain holes for the excess water to drain off into other bottles. I am all set to try this..

You could also have vertical gardens in normal containers. Just a vertical grill/trellis with pot holders to keep your in plants in a vertical position.

The ones Claudine has posted above need some specially designed living walls/ boxes to grow these plants.

 

[claudine]

Maddie, these bottles look very interesting. I must say I find them even prettier than regular vertical garden
I agree that vertical gardens like this probably require a special kind of walls:

 

[Victor Leigh]

Yes, I like the way those bottles are used, too. Doing it like that serves two purposes at the same time. It's one way to recycle the plastic bottles. If I understand the setup correctly, the water drips from the top bottle down to the next and the next, right? Of course, having a vertical garden is really making very good use of space.

 

[dhrynio]

I have seen a lot of these on Pinterest and find them beautiful and amazing!! We are planning to build a pergola type structure on our terrace and I was looking for a way to have walls but not real walls. I was first thinking of growing boxed with trellises above so vines could grow up and over to allow in air but block the sun. But something like this could be really fun and interesting!

 

[Gardenpather]

I have a paved back area that is nice and sunny and I would like to make it into a more inviting space by covering the walls with plants. But I have never tried vertical gardening before.

Has anyone done this, and do you know which are the best plats and how to stratify them. Do you use a trickle water system to keep them moist. I'm hoping I can mix some fruit shrubs and fruiting plants with ferns and flowers to make the wall productive whilst giving colour and shade.

 

[Gardenpather]

For an easy to assemble and relatively inexpensive way to create a living wall, have a look at a product called WallGarden. It's a kit that comes with 10 growing modules. It has an 8 inch depth of soil so there are a wide variety of plants, veggies and herbs that can be grown in it. It's easy to water and also fertilize. The modules are angled down a little so the sun can reach the plants but yet still hold the soil in. There are drainage holes at the bottom of each module so gravity can aid in the irrigation process. You can find it with this link: http://verticalgardeningsystems.com/wallgarden-p-125.html

 

[maddie]

View attachment 321 For an easy to assemble and relatively inexpensive way to create a living wall, have a look at a product called WallGarden. It's a kit that comes with 10 growing modules. It has an 8 inch depth of soil so there are a wide variety of plants, veggies and herbs that can be grown in it. It's easy to water and also fertilize. The modules are angled down a little so the sun can reach the plants but yet still hold the soil in. There are drainage holes at the bottom of each module so gravity can aid in the irrigation process. You can find it with this link: http://verticalgardeningsystems.com/wallgarden-p-125.html

That looks like a good idea.. But I am not so keen on buying boxes.. maybe I should recycle some crates or furniture for this... It could be painted a nice bright color making the garden really beautiful.

 

[Lanie]

So many ideas in this forum and so little time...I have never heard of a vertical garden before and it looks like a good space saver. It's a neat idea to grow veggies and herbs in there, thus saving room for flowers and other pretty ornamental plants that don't serve any other purpose than looking good. I've been struggling with how to parcel out the space in my yard and this looks like it could save me from having to pick and choose.

 

[Victor Leigh]

I am not in favor when I can recycle. There are plenty of things which we throw away which can be re-purposed. I think old shoe racks can be used to make vertical gardens, too.

 

[ChanellG]

I have not tried vertical gardening, but I have a tall fence area at the beginning of the driveway that I would like to use for it. I'm looking for one of those hanging canvas shoe bags to put up. I'm actually thinking of using two, one on either side.

 

[dhrynio]

I think look so fun! I have seen them before but I wonder how they would hold up? And how would they look at the end of the year?

 

[ChanellG]

Danni, I think they would hold up great. Like paper, fabric takes a while to decompose. These are made from canvas, though I saw one recently that had mesh shoe pockets instead of the canvas.

I think I could make that work if I lined the mesh with coffee filters, newspaper seed cups, pr even brown paper bags. So many possibilities, lol.