Awesome Reader Idea #2 — Vertical Gardening

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I had a fabulous reader send me pics of her favorite gardening tip… utilizing vertical space.

I’ve never seen anything like the awesomeness in Natasya’s garden pictures… she uses hanging baskets and plastic planting containers to hang vertically… perfect for small spaces and/or those that don’t enjoy bending over to garden. I also imagine this is a great way to reduce and maybe eliminate the need to weed… and also make great use of porch spaces as well. I’ve asked Natasya to tell us more!

 

I was inspired to do the hanging garden because my yard has lots of oak tree shade which makes my tomatoes and squash very susceptible to fusarium wilt — where your plants are doing great and then with in 48 hrs they wilt and die–heartbreaking to see the promise and then total destruction so quickly.
I thought if I could get the plants hanging, not only might they get better light, but they might be less prone to soil disease.

Last year I tried tomatoes this way and it was great–no wilt…this year I am trying the squashy things! The only problem I had with this technique was that my hanging wire, which goes through the plastic pot, ripped the pots due to heavy plant weight–nothing fell, but not the prettiest….I think you can alleviate this problem by using a plastic bucket instead as those are much sturdier.”


“You can reuse your leftover plastic containers for 360 degree container gardening on you porch or patio instead of buying a new terra cotta one—herbs and trailing flowers work GREAT for this.
After you cut the holes into your plastic container, be sure to line the inside of your container with newspaper so the dirt doesn’t seep out.
Use larger starts or direct seed into the pre-watered pot for easiest and best results.
While I have a freestanding rack that my plants are on, I have also had good luck hanging these containers right onto a fence.
A friend coincidentally just sent me this link:
http://youtu.be/MjY3C81zSZM
which is the same idea, but done in trash cans—it is amazing how much can be grown from just one container!
Love the idea of having a tree on top and a spiral of holes on the sides… Next year!”

 

Not only is that an amazing idea, but she also shared this link as well… a vertical pallet garden, featured on Life on the Balcony. You absolutely have to click to it to believe how cute a pallet can be… perfect for small spaces, this pallet garden is organic, rustic, charming, and lush.

Thank you so much for the great pics and awesome ideas, Natasya!

You all, come back on Friday to see some pics of how my garden is faring this year… some great progress, some things ready and near ready for harvest, and some dismal failures too. And I also am going to throw together a little tutorial… so I’ll see you on Friday!!! xoxo