Vertical Garden

Gardening is fun but when living in a city, space is an issue. This instructable will show one way to make best use of the space you do have in a city: vertical space. And by using vertical space I don't mean using climbing plants, I mean building an actual vertical garden in wich you can grow plants.

Step 1 What do you need?

Ingredients:
- Some sort of iron frame or garden rack, size depending on the space available
- Wood:
* 4 - 6 pieces of approximately 10 x 5 x 5 cm to hold the garden rack from the wall
* Planks of slats to line the frame
- A sheet of plastic
- Jute cloth to hold the earth. This should be the size of the garden rack, plus an extra 20 cm on the long sides
- Paint, or something else to protect the wood against the weather
- Screws, dowels and some cramp-irons and small connection strips or corners

Tools:
- Drill
- Hammer
- Screwdriver
- Saw

Comments

[TechDante]

could this be done with a smaller mesh. had this idea about making a small one of these for a indoor herb garden

[wapatterson]

I thing you would get a better spread of water inside if you used a "soaker hose" they are pretty cheap and work really well with gardens.

[EvoOrganic]

Great idea for a vertical garden. It's great that you can have a green wall in such a small space. There's also a vertical garden system called Aria. It's really nice for growing herbs. It has irrigation and everything built into it and it's really easy to put together.

[g10smile]

you can use TerraCottem, proven and leading soil conditioning technology that increases the water and nutrient holding capacity of soils and growing media and improves their structure and performance, increases the plant's root development and plant growth and reduces the need for watering up to 50%.

[Maralyn45]

Nice idea......nice blog too

[1-2BGardening]

Nice idea! I wonder how long something like this will last? Any concerns about termites? I've heard it isn't good to have moisture close to a house's foundation.

[Kaspr007]

Hi Swomp, Very nice instructable! I was wondering if you have some more pictures of the finished wall near the end of the season...when everything is mature and filled out? Cheers, Kaspr

[Alexdlp]

 Hey, this is a great idea for city gardening! Nice instructable, love it ;)

Check out Compact Rotational Gardening with Raised Beds also designed for planting fruit & veg in small spaces. Although I have to admit that it's not quite as compact and convenient as your design! Well done :)

[-chase-]

Hi - Nice instructable!

I picked up a couple of the Felknor Ventures Topsy Turvy Planters.

Though i have yet to use them yours looks great and can obviously grow a lot more strawberries or what have you.

In thinking over the issue of evaperation - the Topsy Turvy  Planters are made with a tarp type material - perhaps this would help keep the water in as opposed to the jute material?? Just a thought you may want to try on your next one or an additional one - to see what works best.

As well your ideas on soil additives sound like they are on the right track to help with this issue as well.

[tdhess]

FYI...My topsy turvy didn't do well and I was wondering if it was from using non-breathable fabric. In hotter climates I think the non breathable fabric traps heat and moisture and caused high temps and mildew.  Just thought I'd share that.

[-chase-]

Thanks! for the info on the Topsy Turvy ( as mentioned i haven't tried mine yet - ( i have two different kinds - 1-4-strawberry and 1-4-tomatoes)

Well perhaps partial shade for the Topsy's will help them... i'm in a tropical area with lots and lots of sun currently. So thanks again for your experience with them.

Well then i don't have another suggestion for the water evaperation issue you're having with your Garden wall.

I'll have to think on it a bit - see what i can come up with - perhaps a thought or two after visiting the local growers center. If i come up with anything that may help or you might want to give a try - i'll post it.

ahh - wait - maybe a simple poly styrene sheet will help and insulate - between the dirt and the cloth - they come in 2 ft x 4 ft x 3/4 inch at Home Depo and Lowes...

just a thought... maybe worthless - but - a thought none the less.

;0)

[Applebohn]

Love the idea! Great ible :)

[jdomingo]

I love it!

I'll try! promise to upload a picture!

[SinAmos]

Funny enough, my tomatoe plants believe they are perennials.

[Floddertje]

apparently, some are. This is what wikipedia says about tomato plants:

'Indeterminate types are "tender" perennials, dying annually in temperate climates (they are originally native to tropical highlands), although they can live up to three years in a greenhouse in some cases. Determinate types are annual in all climates.'

I'm from a temperate climate, so they die when it gets colder...

[mikchil]

Might use landscaping fabric instead of jute.  Probably would last longer and maybe cheaper.

[Learndy]

Great instructable! Remembers me of Patrick Blanc's talk at Campus Party Europe. He tolds us how to create them in the large and showed lots of pictures of his vertical gardens. I've seen one at Madris - impressive! Kicked me to think about building a fence as a vertical garden. As a vertical herb garden.

[ChrysN]

Nice! Great for small spaces.

[thepelton]

I recall hearing about someone who set up a pumpkin vine in a narrow area, and supported the growing pumpkins on slings hung from the side of the house.  It got local attention, and was even featured in Mother Earth News.

[FazJaxton]

Great idea!  Well executed and well written!

[bruc33ef]

 Very good!  

Covering walls with vines is a great way to increase insulation, too. Supposedly it reflects up to 70% of the sun's rays in summer and prevents up to 30% of heat loss in winter.  It also prevents structural materials from UV damage.  There are buildings in Europe that have been preserved for many hundreds of years by being covered with vines.  I'd be careful with vines right up against wooden walls, but you could certainly back them off a few inches and still get the insulative benefits.