How do You Plan a Vertical Garden and Prepare the Soil?

Planning out your vertical garden can be a very fun endeavor that you should be a good bit of thought into. If you’re a beginner at gardening, then you will find this information to be very beneficial.

Otherwise, planning a vertical garden is very similar to planning a traditional garden except that you may need to use some different supplies and landscape design to help your garden grow vertically.

You can use the tips below to help plan your vertical garden project.

Choosing a Site for Your Vertical Garden

The first thing you’ll need to do is find an area that can be used for your vertical garden. The location of your vertical garden is very crucial. Having sufficient sunlight for your garden is a given, so make sure to time how much sunlight your plants would get per day.

If there isn’t enough sunlight throughout the day for the types of plants you want to grow, then you should try to find a different location or consider using artificial lighting if there are no other options. Most balconies and patios receive lots of sunlight throughout the day, unless there is a tall adjacent building or structure that blocks morning and afternoon sunlight.

Keep in mind that some plants can grow to be large (especially plants that live all year round), casting shadows over the other plants below them. Try to make a pyramid from biggest to smallest, so that all of your plants are able to receive equal sunlight. Of course, there are some plants that love shadows, so use this knowledge to plan out which plants will be where in your vertical garden.

Make sure to plan space in your gardening location and design for foot paths so that you can walk around your garden and tend to it once it’s up and producing. If you’re planning to grow in a tight area, such as a balcony, rooftop or small space in your yard, then you will need to design your vertical garden in a way that will allow you easy access.

Sounds obvious, I know, but I’ve seen people “wall off” parts of their yard with huge tomato plants or cucumber vines and then have to rip them out and start over with a better design. Just a little bit of thought ahead of time can save you a lot of money, time and effort once your garden is growing!

Vertical Gardening Tip: You might want to draw a simple picture of your vertical garden design. It doesn’t need to be fancy at all, but just get the dimensions of your space and choose which plants you want to plant where. Drawing it out can help make the planning process a whole lot easier!

Inside Your Home

Indoor plants have always been popular with nature lovers. Why not try vertical gardening inside of your home?

It’s already a growing trend throughout the world, simply because it gives more room for plants and you can keep animals and bugs away from your vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers. The only thing you need to do to ensure their survival is to choose a location in your home that receives lots of sunlight.

A vertical gardening panel like the one pictured above can be kept indoors and moved outdoors when the weather changes.

If the vertical garden is mobile, you can move the garden outdoors on your patio or balcony to get extra sun for a few hours and then bring them back inside (although that can be a lot of work depending on how big your garden is). Grow lights can be used indoors as well.

Indoor vertical gardening isn’t for everyone, but if you’ve got the space you can make it happen! Aeroponics vertical gardening kits like the Tower Garden can also make indoor vertical gardening a whole lot easier (See Chapter 11 on aeroponics for more info).

Patio Vertical Gardens

If you don’t have yard space to grow a vertical garden, you can plan on using an available patio, deck or balcony instead. Patios can be just as effective for growing a vertical garden. As long as it gets enough sunlight throughout the day, you should have no problem getting things set up. Just research the types of plants you want to grow to see how you should design your garden for maximum plant production.

Since you are limited in the amount of space that you’re able to use, you’re going to have to get creative with the type of structures that you use. Some ideas include trellises, arbors, pyramid-shaped assemblies, fencing, tripods and containers. If you are going to be planting vining plants and others that spread rapidly, you will find vertical gardening on your patio to be quite successful.

To maximize the usage of space, you can use hanging containers, upside down planters and baskets that can be hung on railings, canopies or arbors. Having a row of plants on shelves can also produce more space for other structures you may want to use.

You can also use vertical planters like the one pictured below to grow more in a small patio space.

Want more information on starting an amazing Vertical Garden? Grab your copy of The Vertical Gardening Guidebook Available on Amazon.com today!