Verticality in gardens is becoming more popular, especially in urban areas where space is often limited. Having a vertical garden has various benefits and is relatively easy to maintain.
But how exactly do you embrace verticality in your outdoor space?
Read on to find out.
Why you should embrace verticality
By embracing verticality in your garden, you will maximise the available growing space. This is especially beneficial for smaller gardens, which more of us tend to have these days with increased urbanisation.
Vertical gardens are aesthetically attractive, adding height and texture to your outdoor space and can help to provide more privacy. Again, in urban areas where housing is often close together, this is of great benefit.
Some plants thrive better when growing in a vertical environment and are often easier to care for. This is ideal for busy working people who perhaps don’t have as much time as they’d like to spend on their garden. Furthermore, the range of plants you can grow in a vertical garden is vast. Almost all climbing or trailing plants can be grown in a vertical manner, given the correct support and growing conditions. Consider adding ferns, annual or perennial vines, flowering rose climbers, ornamental grasses.
A vertical garden environment is ideal if you intend to grow edible plants. Edibles, such as cucumbers, strawberries, and vining tomatoes, thrive in vertical walls or hanging baskets.
Which aesthetic?
What kind of aesthetic should you go for when embracing verticality in your outdoor space? When it comes to vertical gardens, the possibilities are huge. A trellis or pergola can be used to train perennial climbing roses, such as honeysuckle, clematis, or wisteria to grow vertically. Stockists, such as MacBlair for example, have a wide range or trellises that can be used to add height and character to your vertical garden.
A wall or fence is a simple feature that adheres to the vertical garden aesthetic. Shelves or pouches containing small perennial flowers or edibles can be attached to your boundaries – or any vertical surface – to create more depth and interest. You can also use your walls or fencing to grow plants on. Remember that some plants will need a trellis for support, while others, such as ivy, are able to attach themselves.
Living walls are becoming more popular in public city spaces and will add a modern twist to your own vertical garden. A living wall is a vertical panel of plants and can be natural or artificial, depending on your preference. If going for a natural living wall, most cascading or climbing plants can be trained to grow up a vertical surface. Living walls are striking additions to any garden and can be used to break up the space into zones or add a degree of privacy or create a shaded area.
Hanging baskets or planters can also be used to embrace verticality in your outdoor space and will add a bit of variation to your garden.
Considerations
Like any outdoor space, vertical gardens need a degree of maintenance to thrive. When selecting your plants, make sure you know their growing requirements. What soil and nutrients will they require and what are their watering and fertilising needs?
Remember that many climbing plants, such as trumpet vine and wisteria, will need regular pruning to keep them under control. Make sure hanging baskets or pouches have adequate draining holes to prevent root rot, but remember that these can leak out essential nutrients. It’s therefore advisable to add in a slow-release fertiliser when you first plant them.
Don’t forget that different plants will have different watering and irrigation requirements, so you should always consider this when selecting your plants for your vertical garden.
Afterthought
Vertical gardens offer a lot of benefits, so it’s unsurprising that they are becoming more popular. Regardless of the size of your outdoor area, embracing verticality will give you more growing space and add character.