Gardeners everywhere are growing up! Even urban and suburban gardeners with only a patio, deck or balcony can grow their own veggies, flowers, and herbs with vertical gardening. Vertical gardening means growing plants up and down to save space instead of spreading plants around your deck in containers.
I started vertical gardening growing vining plants such as morning glory vines, scarlet runner beans and snap peas. Now, with innovative containers on the market, I grow all types of, sometimes large, plants in small spaces. Here are some ideas.
Grow Cascading Herbs. Try herbs such as thyme, oregano, prostrate rosemary, mint and even strawberries in a railing planter, window box or wall pouch. The plants will cascade to the space below the container making them easy to harvest.
Grow Your Favorite Veggies. You might think you need a large container to grow veggies like tomatoes, but you don’t. Grow dwarf varieties such as ‘Micro Tom’ and ‘Window Box Roma’ in a 12 inch container. There are dwarf varieties of squash, cucumbers and corn, too! For tall tomatoes and melons, trellis them up a fence or wall, prune off the suckers and support the branches and fruits with VELCRO® Brand plant ties.
Grow Thriller, Filler, and Spiller Flowers. Maximize your container’s vertical space by growing tall, thriller plants such as Dracena in the center, filler plants, such as salvia and zinnias around it, and cascading flowers, such as lobelia and calibrachoa, off the edge. It’s more flowers per square foot.
Have any questions or gardening ideas? Email Charlie and you could see them answered in his next post! For more information, tips and inspirations, visit http://gardeningwithcharlie.com
