The Vertical Gardening Guidebook

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UIDEBOOK

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ARDENS AND
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Copyright © Authentic Health Coaching, 2012-2013. All Rights Reserved.

This detailed book will teach you everything you need to know about vertical gardening! Whether you want to build your own free-standing vertical garden, a wall garden or a vertical aeroponics garden, this book will teach you everything you need to know!

Here’s a picture of one of my vertical aeroponics gardens at home!

Join us on Facebook to join the Vertical Gardening community online and share your insights, experiences and get your questions about Vertical Gardening answered. Join us at:
http://on.fb.me/HmllNU

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ABLE OF
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ONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1. What is Vertical Gardening?

Chapter 2. Why Plant a Vertical Garden?

Chapter 3. How do You Plan a Vertical Garden and Prepare the Soil?

Chapter 4. How to Build a Free-Standing Vertical Garden

Chapter 5. Maintaining Your Vertical Garden

Chapter 6. How do You Grow Year-Round with a Vertical Garden?

Chapter 7. Composting for Your Vertical Garden

Chapter 8. How do You Start Seeds for a Vertical Garden?

Chapter 9. How do You Control Common Pests

Chapter 10. How do you Water a Vertical Garden?

Chapter 11. How Do You Grow An Aeroponic Vertical Garden?

Chapter 12. The Joys of Vertical Gardening

Excerpt From The Urban Gardening Book

Special Facebook Group

About The Author

Other Books By Tom Corson-Knowles

Introduction

Gardening is a topic that is very popular these days, especially with the down economy and skyrocketing food prices. For many people, gardening is a way to save money and eat healthy. Unfortunately, not a lot of people have acres of land or even a yard to introduce a garden. Over the years, there’s been talk about converting to sustainable lifestyles, even in urban areas. This concept has grown into something that many urbanites thought unthinkable – urban gardening.

Vertical gardening isn’t a brand new concept, but it is one that is being reintroduced to the modern world. For most, it is an opportunity to grow organic food and live a healthier lifestyle, even with limited space.

The purpose of this eBook is to enlighten individuals who are new to the concept of vertical gardening. It is a style of gardening that can be done on acres of land or a few square feet of space. Hopefully, you will find this book to be educational enough to help you start your own vertical garden.

Let’s start gardening!

Tom Corson-Knowles

A beautiful salad prepared from my vertical garden at home on my balcony.

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HAPTER 1.
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ARDENING?

If you’re new to the world of gardening, or just recently found out about this unique way of gardening, you may be curious to learn more about how it all works. First, to clear things up for those who don’t know, vertical gardening is just as it sounds – growing plants upwards. But don’t all plants grow upward?

Yes, but in a vertical garden, the vegetation isn’t planted horizontally like with most gardens. Instead, the plants are grow up the side of an upright structure, such as a PVC board, trellis, wire fence or other supporting material.

Some people even use walls, which work by having a sideways garden. This consists of a tray with soil that is attached to a wall vertically. You can transport plants into its soil once they have sprouted.

Other common names for vertical gardens are green walls, live walls and sky farms. Just as you would think, these are walls that were filled with all sorts of growing life. Some people intentionally plant vines around their walls, so that they can sprout and grow along the walls, giving their property a nice design.

Above is a picture of a small green wall on the side of a house.

However, green walls aren’t the only form of vertical gardening. There are many different types of ways to grow a vertical garden. Sky farms are usually found as part of a building and are located in urban areas. Some sky farms are edible, while others are only for decoration. Either way, they make for spectacular views.

Vertical gardening is a simple way to create space in your garden, whether it’s in your backyard or on your rooftop. It’s a great form of gardening for older people with back problems, since they don’t have to bend over to tend to their garden. It also keeps your plants away from most pests, digging pets, weeds and rot.

Who doesn’t love the idea of having a beautiful garden without having to till and do other back-breaking garden work? In fact, this is one of the main reasons homeowners all across the world are turning to vertical gardening for a new way to enjoy gardening with a lot less work (but more on that later).

Some people may think that vertical gardens can only be used for vine plants, but this isn’t true. You can grow everything from tomatoes and onions to spinach and mustard greens. Perennial and annual flowers can also be planted in this style.

You can get creative with your vertical garden, making it out of just about any materials you can find around your property at local home improvement store. You can even buy some pre-made structures for vertical gardening at specialty stores and web sites include modular trays, mobile living walls, frames, wire cages, gazebos, arches, tripods, netting, poles, hanging pocket shoe organizers and tube planters, which are all great for décor.

You can even get a vertical gardening aeroponics system for about $500 with only 10 minutes of maintenance a week! More on that in Chapter 11 on aeroponic vertical gardening.

To sum it all up, when it comes to vertical gardening you have the option of either building your own from scratch (for you crafty types!) or buying one that is easy to assemble and use. It’s never been easier to start a vertical garden!

It’s very likely that you’ve seen vertical gardens before. They can be found growing in various establishments, including museums, corporate buildings and other architectures that have gorgeous living architectural designs.

How do Plants Grow Vertically?

Some plants grow vertically naturally, such as with certain vining plants. There are some that need a bit of help to get started. If you’re planning to grow grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans and similar vegetables, then you can easily grow them vertically.

All you need is a trellis or other upright platform that will direct the plants north. Vining plants are commonly found creeping up the side of walls, even without the intervention of humans. Imagine how great your garden could look by directing your vining plants to the areas you want them to grow!

Cucumbers and other vining plants naturally love to “climb” and will happily grow and fill up your vertical garden.

For the non-vining plants, all you need is a simple setup that allows you to grow them vertically. This can be a setup that involves shelves or trays with soil that allows you to insert plants. You can find many different designs for vertical gardens

Remember, you can either build your own or buy some pre-made kits, depending on the scale of your vertical gardening dreams!

Your entire gardening space can have towers, trays or walls filled with vertical gardening specimen. It’s important that you know which types of plants to grow together, because some can be more beneficial than others – especially when it comes to attracting certain bugs (More on that in Chapter 9 on pest management).

Likewise, having the wrong plants near each other can cause enemy bugs to attack your precious plants. Your vertical garden can be used to grow anything you want, including flowers, plants, herbs, vegetables and fruits.

The concept of a vertical garden isn’t hard to comprehend. Once you see how a vertical garden is set up, you’ll see that it’s exactly like a horizontal garden, but a lot easier to start and maintain. Plus vertical gardens take up a lot less space!

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There are many reasons why people choose to grow a vertical garden. Whether they’re intrigued by the style or require additional space for growing, vertical gardens are definitely an answer.

One big reason why folks choose to plant a vertical garden is because they lack sufficient space. If you live in an urban or suburban area that has a very small yard or no yard at all, you can use vertical gardening to produce a massive amount of food and beautiful plants where conventional gardening may be impossible