Tips for Setting up a Vertical Wall Garden
If you have a small back yard, you can be torn about its landscaping. Do you create more outdoor living areas, or do you plant a vegetable and herb garden to make fresh produce for your kitchen? One way to resolve this dilemma is to go upwards and establish a wall garden. That way, you can reserve the horizontal ground for beautiful hardscape features such as a travertine paved patio. Here are some tips on setting up your vertical garden.
What Type of Structure
First, you need to consider what type of wall garden to build and how it will hold the plants. You could mount rows of pots in some way across the wall. By thinking creatively, you might come up with novel container ideas. For example, do you have old guttering or other objects which could be repurposed? Alternatively, you could hang a felt-pocket arrangement in which the plants nestle. A trellis mounted to the wall provides another traditional and attractive possibility, along which you can train climbing fruit and vegetable varieties.
Sunshine
Before selecting your seeds and plants, consider the amount of sunlight the wall receives. Is it bathed in hours of the hot afternoon sun, or does it receive barely any? Additionally, different parts of the wall might experience more and less sunshine. To establish this, you'll probably need to wander outside to check on the sun's path at various times of the day. After working this out, select plants that will thrive in those conditions. Some herbs, for example, can flourish with less sun than many vegetables.
Plant Your Garden
Your plant choices not only depend on sunshine but on the structure you've set up. For a trellis, consider climbing plants such as passionfruit, berries, or grapes. For a pot array, you'll have different suitable plants to consider. You can make your vertical garden simple, with just a few handy herbs, or plant a variety of tasty and always-fresh vegetables and fruits for your table.
Watering
Don't forget about the water needs of your garden as well. If you're not able to reach the top containers, you might need to install an irrigation system consisting of a drip-feed tube, draped along the top. The water will seep downwards through the entire garden. As the top areas will tend to be drier than the bottom areas, select your plants wisely so that they'll enjoy their particular conditions, depending on their vertical position within the structure.
For more information about landscaping and verticle gardens, contact a local professional.