Let’s Get Vertical!

So you’re short growing space? Pretty much every city gardener can relate. Once you cram in your tomatoes, peppers, onion, beans, peas and cukes, your small plot can begin to look like a veritable vegetable jungle—not a square inch of soil showing. If not careful, your attempts to grow more actually hinder your abilities for your garden to produce, as maturing plants crowd out light needed for others to grow, you can’t find those hidden cucumbers or squash, and vining plants become a tangled mess.

For many gardeners—especially those for whom limited growing area is a huge concern—the answer is to grow up. These gardeners employ vertical gardening techniques, such as trellises, green walls, and vertical container racks or hydroponic systems, to grow more with less. Vertical gardening has other benefits, too:

• It allows plants to breath.
• It makes your harvest more accessible.
• It can make your garden more attractive or help create an outdoor room.
• It can limit the spread of disease.
• It helps create a place for plants where they wouldn’t typically grow.

Our Facebook family showed how they’re using vertical gardening techniques in their own gardens. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to try something new in your garden this year!

Photo Credit: Amy Loretta Brunner-Neiter

Photo Credit: Wendy Hughes-Jelen

Photo Credit: Peggy Tripp Bosley

Photo Credit: Paul Furie

Photo Credit: Michael Floyd

Photo Credit: Meredith Smith

Photo Credit: LouAnn Bringard

Photo Credit: Lorna Christensen

Photo Credit: Balan Wolfy

Photo Credit: Betteanne-Carl Camagna

Photo Credit: Debra Campbell

Photo Credit: Hidden Roots Farm

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