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Publishers Note

Introduction

What Is Vertical Gardening?

Benefits of a Vertical Gardening

Where Can You Grow Vertical Gardens?

What Are The Various Designs?

What Can You Grow In a Vertical Garden?

Planting Up Your Garden

Pest Control

Plant Diseases and Prevention

About The Authors

Publishers Notes
Disclaimer

The information presented in this ebook represents the views of the publisher as of
the date of publication. The publisher reserves the rights to alter and update their
opinions based on information received. This ebook is for informational purposes only.
The author and the publisher do not accept any responsibilities for any liabilities
resulting from the use of this information. While every attempt has been made to verify
the information provided here, the author and the publisher cannot assume any
responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions.
Every effort has been made to accurately represent the information in this
ebook and its potential. Each individual's success depends on his or her background,
dedication, desire, and motivation. As with any gardening endeavor, there is an
inherent risk of loss and there is no guarantee that you will have the best of results. As
written in this ebook by the author, it can be trial and error for your growing conditions
and local area that needs to be undertaken in order to get the best from your efforts.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
or by any means, including scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written
permission of the copyright holder.

Copyright © 2014 Kaye Dennan

Kindle Edition
Manufactured in the United States of America
I
Vertical gardening is becoming more and more popular as our living space is
becoming smaller with more and more people living in units, apartments or different
types of compounds with only a very small courtyard in which to carry out their hobby
of gardening.
With vertical gardening it is possible to grow more plants in much less space
while enhancing your environment.
Another feature about this type of gardening is the fact that there is a wide
range of systems that are being used by growers. There is anything from the DIY
style framework to the commercially produced kit that comes with frame, bags,
watering systems and more. This being so there is no reason why anyone who wants
to have a vertical garden cannot take on this new hobby.
The gardens can be planted up to be purely a work of art by designing the
garden with color and shapes, or it can be a functional garden growing vegetables
and fruits for the family.
4 Basic Steps to Vertical Gardening

1. Deciding what grow

2. What system to grow it in
3. Where to grow it
4. How to plant it

Once you have those questions answered then you are in the zone and you
should be able to set up your vertical garden and have a lot of fun expanding your
knowledge and skills.
It is also a great hobby for the family. Kids can have a lot of fun being involved
with a family project or even have a project of their own.

Read On To Find Out More About Creating

Your Own Vertical Garden.
What Is Vertical Gardening?
I found this a very interesting title to write to because the more and more that I
researched people’s ideas on vertical gardening the more designs and ideas I had
presented to me. From all those ideas I felt that there seems to be some confusion as
to what a vertical garden really is.
Simply put, plants growing up vertically, as on a trellis, does not a vertical
garden make. That purely and simply means that the plant is growing vertically and is
supported by a frame or stake of some sort.
A true vertical garden is a garden where the roots of the plant are growing in
some way vertically above the ground, not horizontally in the flat garden bed.
Once that has been cleared up I cannot even say that the question of “What is
a Vertical Garden?” has been properly answered.
I have read articles by garden experts who have been happy to lump the
vertically supported plant into vertical gardening.
You will come across the term ‘Wall Garden’ and that too is a vertical garden.
Usually that term is used when the garden is of a very large size and in fact covers a
whole wall such as the side of a building or a whole wall area in a large garden or
some other setting.
In this book I am going to refer to vertical gardening as plants that are grown in
some sort of system where the planting area is rising above the ground.
Mmm… sound clear to you? I hope so, but if not let’s get into this book and go
over what Jason and I believe are true VERTICAL GARDENS.
B V G
I felt I had to talk about the benefits now so that you realize why vertical gardens are
popular.
But as is true to form with most ‘how to’ books, until you have read right
through the content all the pieces of the puzzle may not fall into place.
Surely the most common benefit is that when you grow your plants, whether
they are vegetables or flowers, in a vertical garden you take up very little room on
the ground. In fact, you may not even take up any room on the ground at all. This is a
wonderful benefit for those living in such accommodations as units, retirement
buildings, or even in other environments such as offices or anywhere else that ground
space is very limited, or even nonexistent.
One other very good point for growing a vertical garden is that it can be grown
at body height meaning that stooping and bending is not necessary to tend and
harvest from the garden as it is from a ground grown plot.
Apart from that, most of the other benefits are more a cosmetic benefit such as
adding a ‘green environment’ to a static wall or room space, adding color to a very
boring area, covering up a wall or blocking out an area that you do not wish to view,
such as the neighbors untidy backyard.

Where Can You Grow Vertical Gardens?

Interestingly enough you can grow vertical gardens almost anywhere, but of course
the location is going to depend on what you want to grow.
When you have the idea of having a vertical garden one of the most important
decisions is going to be what you are actually going to grow. At this point you will
need to consider whether it is the plant type that is more important or the location of
the garden itself that is more important to you.
For example, if the garden itself is more important then, you can plant into the
vertical frame any type of plant that will survive in that location, whether it could be
lettuces and herbs, or whether it would need to be succulents because of its particular
location out of the sun.

Vegetables and Flowers

On the other hand if you have decided that you want to grow lettuces, herbs,
strawberries, tomatoes and the like in the garden then the placement of the garden is
very important. The placement will need to be in a situation which suits the type of
plant you intend to grow because most fruits and vegetables require a reasonable
amount of sunlight and warmth.
If you are going to grow flowers in your garden you will again need to make
sure that they get enough sun for the particular type you choose. In saying that, you
may choose varieties that do not require much sun and therefore you can have the
garden in another location.
At this point I want you start getting your head around the fact that how and
where you are going to have a vertical garden has to be tied back to what you are
going to grow.
W A T V D ?
The matter of design is another very interesting one because there are many different
styles. You can go to the extent of buying commercial modular systems and building
them to the size and shape you want or you could build one of your own from items
such as a wooden pallet.
There really is no hard and fast rule for design as long as the location and the
planting are taken into consideration.

In Pinterest I have saved a lot of pins so that you can get an idea of the
different types of garden that you can choose from. Even if you don’t particularly like
any of those they may inspire you to design one to suit your situation.
The link is:
http://www.pinterest.com/KayeDennan/vertical-gardening/

Considerations
As mentioned earlier you need to know what you want to grow, as part of
coming up with the final design. Up until now you have probably decided what you
want to grow and where you want to place the frame.
The next question to answer to ensure that the project will work for you is to
know how much soil the plants that you are going to plant need for future growth.
Compare succulents, for example, which need very little soil and very little
water, with a herb wall where you need to have deeper nutrient rich soil and need to
make sure that there is going to be sufficient water for the plants.
Given that you have now answered this question you can decide on the frame
and planting system you are going to use with some confidence.
In saying that, there is one more step to check and that is that the frame you
have in mind will hold the weight of the planted garden. You also need to make sure
that where you are going to place the frame, if it is a hanging or wall attached frame, it
is going to hold the weight. Large vertical gardens can end up being quite heavy.
In the following pictures you will see supported frames, stand alone frames,
hanging frames, a small potted vertical garden and a large wall garden that has been
planted to form a design which is often the case with the large wall gardens.

Various shaped vertical

gardens

Vertical herb garden

Pot with several heights of garden

 Hanging potted plants Hanging vegetable and flower
garden in pvc spouting

Design planted wall garden Vertical garden for strawberries or

potatoes
These are just a few of the designs I have collected for you to view so don’t
forget to visit my Pinterest page where I have been collecting various shaped and
styled vertical gardens for some time.
The link is:
http://www.pinterest.com/KayeDennan/vertical-gardening/

Commercial Kits
Following are some pictures I have taken from commercial sites and I have
included the links so that you can go to those sites if you are interested in their
products.
 This particular one is built with modular boxes which then have plastic bags
inserted into them holding the soil and the plant. A very clever idea and easy to
maintain. The picture appears to be a mixture of flowers and lettuces forming a free-
form pattern to the structure.
The beauty of this type of structure is that you can set them up to be long and
thin, square, tall and thin or even cover the whole side of a building.
Here is the link for more information on this style of gardening:
http://www.gro-wall.com.au/features.html
 Another commercial one that I thought would be interesting to show you is this
pouch system. The pouches are bought in panels and are built from 100% recycled
PET plastic felt. The pouches are mounted onto a rigid plastic panel and is then hung
by nylon tabs on the back of the panel.
http://www.fytogreen.com.au/florafelt_DIY_vertical_planters/f4.htm
 The purpose of showing you these two commercial designs is so that you
realize that if you are not a handy person you can still have a vertical garden and have
it up and growing quite quickly. You will note too that both the Grow-Wall system and
the Pouch system have large containers to hold the soil and therefore are able to take
larger plants.

Framed Vertical Garden

In the following pictures you will see that the garden has been set up in a frame
and this works really well with smaller plants like succulents or even herbs like
parsley, thyme, coriander and oregano.
The idea is to have a frame, then on the back of the frame lay a trellis of either
wood or wire. Behind the trellis lay some black garden mesh to hold the soil in place.
Then put a backing on the frame, forming a box. All you have to do then is fill the box
with soil, lay the frame down on the ground and poke your plants through the mesh,
cutting a small X in the mesh if necessary. Let them root horizontally before hanging
the framework.
 I am sure that with all these ideas you can either start creating something or at
least you will have a very good idea about vertical gardening.

Frame and Pots

There are several designs where singular pots are used for each plant and the easiest
way to let you understand this is by viewing the following picture I have found for you.
This one has a large steel frame with a hard wire mesh attached and then pots
are attached via a wire ring for each pot. In this particular case each pot has a plastic
insert.

Alternatively you can use wooden slates at the back, a garden fence or other
backing and use the wire ring and attach your pots to it.
In the next picture you can see that a bamboo trellis has been built and then
the plastic bags containing the lettuce have been slipped into each square. This would
be backing on to a wall of some kind.
W C Y G I A V
G ?
One might think that because this is a bit different than growing in the common garden
there will be some restrictions, but in actual fact the only restriction is the size of the
plant in comparison to the framework. Therefore, because most people keep the
framework for each plant on the smaller side due to the fact that it is vertical, it does
mean that plants grown in a vertical garden are usually of the smaller varieties, in fact,
not even as large as a garden bush.
As you can see even by the few pictures above, gardeners are using these
frames for vegetables, some fruits, herbs and flowers.
Essentially, as long as the system you have can hold enough soil for the plants
that you plan on growing then there is no limitation to what you can grow, given the
right location.
You can even grow plants like beans and peas but you may need to give
support to the plant so the stem does not break. Again it will depend on the vertical
system you have. If you grow vegetables such as squash and melons then you might
need to have a fabric sling to hold the vegetable or fruit so that it does not pull the
plant off the wall.

If you are going to plant up a succulent wall then take some time to select your
plants. You might like to create a pattern using different sizes of succulent and
different varieties and colors. Succulent gardens are excellent for indoors and
outdoors.
The same will apply if you choose to grow a flower vertical garden. Choose and
plant your varieties to form a pattern according to their flowering times and also their
foliage. Plants that have a soft stem, like begonias and hostas (there is a huge range
of hostas giving a wide variety of foliage color) are excellent for these gardens. Ferns
are also popular in these gardens as there is a wide array of foliage color and shape
to choose from.
P U Y G
The planting of a vertical garden is not very much different to planting a container pot.
You need to consider what it is you are planting and how much nutrients these types
of plants are going to take from the soil
Vegetables and fruits obviously need a nutrient filled soil because they are
growing produce, but if you take a plant like a bromeliad, they need very little in the
way of nutrients.

Planting
The best plan is to make sure you are using a quality potting mix. If you are
growing succulents and bromeliads then you could add some fine gravel and/or sand
so that the soil does not get too water logged, whereas with vegetable growing make
sure you have a good organic fertilizer in the mix as this will help hold the moisture
and also break down and add nutrients to the soil over time.
Pack the framework well with a combination of potting mix and organic mulch,
although not so firmly that it is hard, and then plant your selection.

Watering
When planting into a system where the soil is held in a sort of cup or pot, as in
the pouch or in the individual pot set ups, then you don’t have to worry about the soil
draining out, but where you have a frame as mentioned above with a trellis, you need
to make sure the soil is not going to be washed away.
For this reason there are two main watering systems that are used by vertical
garden growers.
Drip system: a drip system can be set up with a timer on the tap and with the
small nozzles set along the hose so that water very slowly wets the soil. This means
that the soil is not being hosed out of the frame with the power of a hose nozzle or
other watering implement. With this system the grower must manually add fertilizer to
the growing system if they are required.
Hydroponic system: again it is usually the drip system used. This works well
when you are growing fruits and vegetables.
In this system, a pump pushes the solution from a reservoir up through a hose
then into smaller tubes that feed the plants.
 If you are going to have the vertical system where each plant has its own pot
then you would have one small tube for every individual plant, and different nozzles
can be placed on these smaller tubes to make them drip either faster or slower,
depending on the type of medium you are using and the needs of your plants.
The drip system may be either recovery or non-recovery. As the name implies,
the recovery drip system uses the excess liquid nutrient solution in a recycling
method. The overflow nutrient solution that runs off the grow tray is collected in the
reservoir chamber, where it is circulated and brought back to the grow tray. This is
both economical and highly effective.
One of the major advantages for using the recovery drip method is that the liquid
solution is used repetitively. This proves to be cost effective. However, it does require
a certain degree of diligence on your part to ensure that the PH balance and nutrient
levels are maintained. The recovery drip system works with a timer and a pump that is
submersed into the solution.
The other alternative is using a non-recovery drip system. With this system
you will not need to maintain the PH balance of the nutrient solution because you will
continually add new formula. However, since you will not be using the runoff, you will
need to manually add more solution as needed, and either make or buy new formula
to add on a much more regular basis.
A major disadvantage with the drip system is that the small tubes that feed the
plants clog frequently, so you need to be very diligent about checking that the system
is working properly and that the plants are receiving the solution.
The drip system is also a very difficult system to build on your own. You are
much more likely to have success with this type of system if you purchase one from a
hydroponic system manufacturer rather than try to make one yourself, although even
professionally made drip systems tend to clog.
Take note that watering is going to add weight to the total set up so allow for
this when hanging the vertical garden.
The beauty of any of the above watering systems is that they can be set up and
left to work, with just a little monitoring to ensure the job is being done.
If your vertical garden is going to be inside then you need to make sure that
you have a good water catching system or only grow plants that will survive with hand
spraying from a spray bottle.

Fertilizing
 When you are using the hydroponic style of watering you can mix the nutrients
in with the water but keep in mind not to use a mix as strong as you would for
hydroponics because these plants are getting their nutrients from the soil as well.
When using other watering systems you can use a liquid fertilizer and water
mix and spray it onto the soil mix behind the plants or you can use a watering can.
If growing fruit producing plants like tomatoes, zucchini or strawberries, for
example, keep in mind which particular fertilizer will suit them best and remember to
fertilize through the fruiting period.
P C
Crawling pests are usually a major problem for a lot of hobby growers but I have
found that my container grown vegetables have very few pests and this is one very
big bonus. This being so I realized that a vertical garden may also have the benefit of
less than the usual amount of crawling pests and I have found this to be the case.
But given that statement, don’t take it for granted that you won’t get crawling
pests, especially snails.
Depending on where you are going to keep your plants and what other plants
you, or even your neighbors will have around, do keep checking the plants for pests
anyway.
Caterpillars, bugs and slugs are the worst. You can use sprays and powders to
control them if you do end up with a huge problem, but as I say, growing off the
ground does reduce this problem immensely. You can usually just pick off the few that
you do get. These pests can quickly chew through a nice bunch of leaves in a very
short time so continually do a good check, looking under the leaves as well and if you
see holes in your leaves keep checking until you find the culprit or culprits!
Often prevention is the better method and if you are not at the picking stage I
would suggest using some form of spray or powder deterrent for your vegetable and
fruiting plants. Look for an organic product as there are plenty about.
Companion planting also helps with a pest problem. I grow miniature
marigolds near my tomatoes as they are known to be a strong pest deterrent. Basil,
borage and garlic are also other plants that deter pests and could be planted in the
frame as long as you don’t over plant and reduce the nutrients that the plants will
receive.
If you carefully plan the layout of your vertical garden then you can use
companion plants in amongst your fruit and vegetables and get the benefit of both
flowers and herbs along with your main produce.
P D P
Unfortunately gardens attract diseases and these need to be controlled as early as
possible so that they do not take over the whole garden.
Different climates seem to have different problems with diseases and this is
often due to the humidity in the air. Humid (wet and moist air) weather is ideal for that
problematic disease, mold. Mold is usually a gray to black color and once on the plant
the only way to get rid of it is breaking off the affected leaf and discarding it in the
rubbish bin.
The best way to keep your plants free of disease is to treat them from the get
go.
Sometimes the placement of the frame will make the difference also. If a
breeze is around the plants during the day then you will most likely find less of a
problem as the leaves will dry, not allowing the spores to land and grow.

When you have decided what you are going to grow get the necessary disease
prevention products from your local nursery and take steps early in the growing
phase.
A T A

Jason Wright is a keen hydroponics gardener and has used many different systems
over the years in his search to find what suits him best or alternatively the types of
plants he is growing at any given time.

Whilst Jason was doing his hydroponic research he also discovered his love of
vertical gardening. He found that his desire to grow hydroponically and vertical
gardening often aligned up. Jason is keen to share his knowledge so that other keen
gardeners can experience and learn the benefits of growing fresh vegetables, fruit,
herbs and flowers in a vertical gardening system.

Kaye Dennan is an author and publisher of gardening and hobby books and sought
Jason’s help for this ebook to make sure that the information she shared was correct.
Kaye, an avid gardener herself, shares Jason’s passion for experimenting in the
garden and growing fresh vegetables and herbs.

OTHER BOOKS IN MY KINDLE

GARDENING SERIES
Tomato Container Gardening Tips

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CWRC6VA/

Complete Hydroponic Gardening Book: 6 DIY garden set ups for growing
vegetables, strawberries, lettuce, herbs and more

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E1YWKRW
Growing Herbs: Indoors, in Pots, in the Garden, Herb Recipes and a Medicinal
List

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GN577RA