Not heard of a vertical garden? You’re in for a treat.

Vertical gardening is a concept that defies the convention of planting in horizontal beds. It’s a new dynamic approach to growing fruits and vegetable and means you can have plants on walls, ladders and even in repurposed plastic bottles.

It offers various benefits, transforming urban and suburban landscapes into green paradises while making the most of limited space. And you don’t need a big budget, a lot of DIY experience or even a garden to get going: a sunny balcony, a bare fence or a patch of south-facing wall is plenty.

Below, you can find out more about the wonders of vertical gardening, its myriad benefits, and creative ways to get started. I’ll also walk you through planning your space, choosing the right structure and plants and keeping everything healthy through all the seasons. By the end, you’ll have everything you need to build your own vertical garden at home.

 

Contents

1. What is vertical gardening?
2. What are the benefits of vertical gardening?
3. How to plan your vertical garden
4. How to choose and create its structure
5. Common fruits and vegetables for vertical gardens
6. A year in your vertical garden
7. FAQs

What is vertical gardening?

Vertical gardening simply means growing plants upwards, be it on a wall, fence, frame or other structure. Some plants, such as climbing beans, do this naturally but others, such as herbs, salad leaves and strawberries, are grown in pockets, pots or planters that are fixed or hung at different heights.

The idea isn’t new, but it has become hugely popular as gardens shrink and more of us live in flats, terraces and new builds with little outdoor space. It’s also a very flexible approach. A vertical garden can be a single ladder of herbs by the back door or a floor-to-ceiling living wall, and everything in between.

 

What are the benefits of vertical gardening?

Vertical gardening is a perfect solution for those with limited outdoor space or looking to add a touch of greenery to their homes. It allows garden enthusiasts to utilise vertical surfaces such as walls, fences, ladders, and even plastic bottles to create lush gardens. This innovative approach not only maximises space but also provides several advantages:

1. They’re efficient and make the most of limited space, turning turning balconies, patios, and small spaces into productive green zones.
2. They are aesthetically appealing, and add an extra dimension to a living or garden space.
3. They can improve the indoor air quality, as plants naturally absorb carbon dioxide.
4. They’re accessible, as every plant is at eye level or above, making it easier on your back and knees.
5. They are less likely to be attacked by pests as the plants are off ground level.

Mark Ridsdill Smith, the founder of Vertical Veg and author of The Vertical Veg Guide to Container Gardening, is a big believer in the approach. As he told the press around the book’s launch: “Using containers is a brilliant way of growing food in a small space.”

 

How to plan your vertical garden

The most successful vertical gardens are the ones that are well planned and well thought out. Spend a little time answering the five questions below, and you shouldn’t run into any issues:

1. How much sun does the spot get?

It’s really important to understand the approximate number of hours a day your vertical garden will get. As a rule of thumb, fruiting crops such as tomatoes, peppers and strawberries want at least six hours of direct sun, so a south or west-facing wall is ideal. Salad leaves, spinach, kale, mint, parsley and chives are far more forgiving and will happily crop in partial shade. If your spot is shady, build your vertical garden around these, or around shade-lovers such as ferns, hostas and heucheras if you’re after something more ornamental.

2. Is your structure strong enough?

Your structure needs to be absolutely solid to hold the weight of compost, plants and water. Before fixing anything to a wall or fence, check that it can take the load. Use fixings suited to the surface (masonry plugs for brick, for example), attach frames to the posts rather than the flimsy panels of a fence, and keep the heaviest containers low down.

3. How will you water it?

Vertical containers are small and exposed, so they dry out far faster than a bed in the ground. You can water it with a tap or a watering can, or you might consider an irrigation kit that has a timer so you don’t need to worry about watering it all yourself. However you water it, you’ll need to make sure the water can drain properly, with holes in the bottom of each container and a way for excess water to drain away.

4. What do you want to grow?

What you want to grow will determine the structure used for your vertical garden. Herbs and salad leaves are happy in shallow pockets, while tomatoes and peppers need deeper containers and a lot more root room. If you want to eat what you grow, start with the plants you’ll use most in the kitchen.

5. What’s your budget and skill level?

A vertical garden can cost almost nothing (a few reused bottles and some string) or a fair bit (a modular living wall with its own irrigation system). If you’re new to this, I’d recommend that you start small.

 

How to choose and create its structure

There are a number of ways you can build your vertical garden and a huge number of containers you can use. I’ve given you just a few ideas below:

Repurpose plastic bottles

I love this one because you can take something that might otherwise be thrown away and reuse it instead.

By slicing the bottles horizontally and inserting soil and vegetable seeds, you create mini pots that can be hung on walls or fences. To make your own:

1. Collect clean 2-litre bottles, and remove the labels.
2. Cut a rectangular opening along one side, leaving the neck end intact, or cut the bottle in half horizontally if you prefer a wider planting area.
3. Make four or five drainage holes in the base with a hot skewer or a small drill bit.
4. Make two small holes near the top so you can thread through strong string, wire or cable ties for hanging.
5. Fill with peat-free compost, plant up, and hang from a fence, a wall batten or a horizontal pole.

Hers, lettuce, rocket and alpine strawberries will all grow well in plastic bottles, as they’re shallow-rooted plants.

Use wooden pallets

Wooden pallets provide an excellent framework for vertical gardens. You can transform them into vertical planters by attaching small pots or containers to the slats, creating a gorgeous flowing effect, particularly when you use trailing plants.

When using pallets, you should always check for the HT stamp, which means the wood has been heat treated and will last longer outdoors. Avoid any that are marked MB, as these have been treated with methyl bromide.

I’d also recommend that you clean them up a bit. Sand off any splinters and rough edges and then treat the wood with a plant-safe wood preservative if it will live outdoors.

If you’re filling the actual gaps in the pallet with compost, rather than hanging pots off it, it’s a good idea to plant everything while the pallet is on its back and wait a couple of weeks for the plants to root and THEN stand it up. Garden designer Mark Gregory, who has created living walls for Chelsea, also advises planting the wall in its final position from the bottom up if it’s too awkward to move once it’s full.

Find a wooden stepladder

Old wooden stepladders are the perfect thing for using as a tiered garden stand. You can hang pots directly on the ladder steps or use wire to secure containers in place. Whatever you do with it, the ladder helps you to opimise space.

Because water runs downwards, put your thirstiest plants (lettuce, mint, strawberries) on the lower steps, and drought-tolerant Mediterranean herbs such as rosemary, thyme and oregano nearer the top. If you’re using a leaning ladder, secure it to the wall or fence at the top, and check the steps can bear the weight of wet pots.

Mark Ridsdill Smith suggests going even further with tiered shelving, where the easiest crops to grow are microgreens, pea shoots and rocket. (Shropshire Magazine, 2022)

Use wall pockets and planters

Felt or fabric wall pockets are one of the simplest ways to cover a whole wall in plants. They’re light, cheap and come in ready-made panels you can screw to a wall or fence. The catch is that each pocket holds very little compost (often only one or two litres), so they can dry out quickly and suit herbs, salad leaves, strawberries and small flowers rather than hungry crops.

Install trellis, netting and wigwams

Sometimes the simplest vertical garden is a plant that already wants to climb. Fix a trellis, wire or garden netting to a wall or fence, or push a wigwam of three or four canes tied at the top into a large pot, and then grow peas, climbing French beans, runner beans, cucumbers and sweet peas up it. This is the cheapest way to produce a big harvest from a small footprint.

 

Common fruits and vegetables for vertical gardens

Vertical gardens are remarkably versatile and can accommodate a variety of fruits and vegetables. Some popular choices include:

1. Tomatoes: Compact tomato varieties are excellent for vertical gardening and they thrive when grown in hanging containers or wall planters. Look for trailing or “tumbling” varieties such as ‘Tumbling Tom’, which are bred for baskets, and give each plant a container of at least 10 litres, or a large 30cm basket.

2. Strawberries: Hanging baskets or wall pockets are perfect for growing strawbs. Everbearing and alpine types give you fruit over a long season, and growing them off the ground keeps the fruit clean and away from slugs.

3. Herbs: Basil, mint, rosemary, and other herbs can flourish in vertical gardens, providing fresh flavours for your cooking needs. Remember to always keep mint in its own pot, as it spreads aggressively.

4. Salad greens: Lettuce, spinach, and kale can be grown vertically, offering a constant supply of fresh, crisp greens. Cut-and-come-again varieties are especially good, where you harvest the outer leaves and the plant keeps producing.

5. Peppers: Bell and chilli peppers can be cultivated successfully in vertical gardens. They love heat, so give them the sunniest, most sheltered spot you have, and bring them under cover if the weather turns cold in spring or autumn.

 

A year in your vertical garden

Spring: Sow salad leaves, herbs and peas, and plant strawberries. Start tomatoes and peppers indoors, and wait until the risk of frost has passed (usually mid to late May in most of the UK) before moving tender crops outside.

Summer: This is peak growing and harvesting season. Water regularly, feed weekly, tie in climbers and pick often. Pinch out the side shoots on cordon tomatoes, and keep an eye out for pests.

Autumn: Clear spent summer crops and replant gaps with hardy salad leaves such as mizuna, winter purslane and lamb’s lettuce. Sow garlic in a deeper container if you have space.

Winter: Hardy herbs, such as thyme, sage and rosemary, will keep going, and winter salads can crop under a sheltered spot or fleece. Protect pots from hard frosts, as small containers freeze through quickly, and reduce watering to avoid waterlogged roots.

 

FAQs