Vertical Vegetable Gardening

Vertical gardening in its simplest form is the idea of taking vegetables that in their natural state may tend to sprawl over the ground, and providing a support structure to allow them to grow vertically. Critical to this is often the support of the ripening fruit or vegetable.

Not to be overlooked are ornamental vining plants like clematis, honeysuckle, Virginia creeper, or ivies.

Advantages of vertical gardens:

You can make use of some otherwise unusable space for your garden. Areas like rooftops or patios can add to your garden with this approach. You can also use a vertically trained plant to improve the esthetics of your yard, hiding things like utility transformers or boxes with a trellis or small fence, or simply to dress up a boring wall.

Vegetables choices for vertical gardens:

Vegetables that can do well in a vertical setting include climbing plants like Sugar Snap peas, pole beans like Blue Lake, summer beans like black eyed Peas and horticultural beans. Tomatoes are often staked to do well, with indeterminate varieties like cherry tomatoes often a favorite.

Non traditional choices for vertical gardening are vining plants, such as melons, squash, cucumbers and pumpkins. These are a lot like grape vines, as their vines produce tendrils that wrap around structures so they will climb as they grow with the right support.

Support Structures for Vertical Gardens:

Simple stakes or poles: Often used for peas and beans.

Simple trellis: A common choice for cucumbers

Fence: If you get enough sunlight (perhaps a southern exposure) you can use nails to string fishing line or weatherproof twine or other support netting on a wooden fence, or a fence built of chicken wire or some similar structure will provide its own support. Grape vines are often grown along a fence as they grow for years and will spread not only vertically but horizontally.

Support cage made from wood or PVC pipe: Combined with netting to support larger fruits like melons, this is a good choice for some of the curcubits like melons or pumpkins.

When placing a trellis or stake, be aware of your seasonal wind patterns, and be sure that the mature plant will be adequately supported even with the eventual wind loading.