3 Awesome Ways to Grow Vertically in Your Garden

10 February 2021, written by Benedict Vanheems

Want to grow even more but lack that all-important ingredient – space? Then you need to grow up my friend…and in this video we’ve got three easy-to-follow projects to help you do just that!

Make a Living Wall

First up is a beautiful project that will transform any drab and dowdy wall into a vertical space bursting with life and color. It’s simple but effective: a trellis panel secured onto the wall to support a range of pots planted with herbs, vegetables and flowers.

Choose an appropriate-sized panel then give it a coat of wood stain or paint to protect it and help it stand out. Drill holes into the wall with a masonry drill bit, line them with wall anchors or rawlplugs, then screw in a suitable strong L-shaped hook. This panel uses three. Check that the hooks are level and evenly spaced then hang up your panel.

Plant up or sow your pots with low-growing crops like lettuce, pea shoots, dwarf beans, radishes, herbs or – for a pop of color – a few flowers like violets and marigolds. Space out the pots evenly and secure them to the trellis with sturdy garden twine, wrapped two to three times around the pot to spread its weight.

Don’t forget to keep plants watered so they don’t dry out. Harvest regularly and resow, replant or reconfigure your display as needed.

Build a Bean Teepee

Next is a simple bean teepee. Simple, but timeless in its appeal! You can grow any type of climbing bean up the teepee, and its naturally sturdy shape should reduce any wind damage.

You can use bamboo canes, hazel poles or any other long, straight prunings. Push the canes into the ground, using a large trash can lid as a guide. Six to eight canes is best, but you could use four, or even seven as shown at the top of the page – the eighth cane missing to leave an entranceway into a living hideout for kids to play in.

Now pull the canes together at the top and tie them securely together using garden twine or string. Plant one bean seed or plant per cane. If necessary, gently tie the beans to their canes to help them find their way. Add a further leg up by tying string in two or more horizontal bands, which will also make the whole structure more rigid.

Water your beans regularly and – most crucially – pick them often to keep more pods coming. The more you pick, the more you’ll get!

Grow a Vegetable Arch

You can make a productive walk-through vegetable arch using galvanized metal uprights and cattle panels. Clad with climbing crops like beans, cucumbers and squash, the archway makes for easy picking – and a simply stunning way to turn utilitarian veggies into something really beautiful!

Locate your vegetable archway somewhere sunny and sheltered. Start by digging out planting trenches either side of the arch. Next, drive home the uprights. Space the uprights to correspond with the width of the cattle panels. The trenches can then be backfilled, starting with a thick layer of nutrient-rich organic matter such as compost or well-rotted manure, followed by the excavated soil.

“Mulching — Keep your climbing vegetables well mulched

Cut the stock fencing to size with wire cutters. Measure out enough of the fencing to give an arch that’s high enough to walk beneath without having to stoop. Use zip ties to secure the fencing to the posts at regular intervals, then trim off the excess to give a neat finish. If you’re using more than one section of cattle panel, slightly overlap the edge of the second section with the first then secure it in the same way.

Plant your archway trenches with your climbing vegetables. Add a mulch of organic matter once the plants are established to lock in soil moisture and gently feed them. Most plants should find their own way up, but weave them into place if needed to help them along. All that’s left to do is pick and cut your produce as it’s ready – a delicious display of abundance all around you!