From The Old Farmer's Almanac.
Ever since coming across Patrick Blanc's vertical garden I've been interested to observe how this technology might transform the home gardening scene. I mean, it's only a matter of time before we begin running out room for gardens to grow on a horizontal plane. Yet vertical - that's another dimension altogether.
For most home gardeners the concept isn't a new one. We've been staking tomato plants, espaliering fruit trees and training creepers to grow over undesirable fences for aeons. Yet the thinking behind vertical gardens still seems radically new.
The reason: Whereas all our other vertical gardening exploits centred around plants being grounded in the soil, the vertical garden has absolutely no dependency on the ground. In fact, vertical gardens exist quite separately from soil and do so with inanimate ease.
But for most home gardeners, Patrick Blanc and his artworks are far beyond the comprehension and resources available to them. It's quite facile to understand that many would file it in the "too-hard-box" and continue growing plants using traditional methods.
However, as we have already experienced with increasing gas prices our conservative views of the world may need to change. Traditional methods of horticulture may become as extinct as dinosaurs and our interaction with plants and growing mediums will have to change.
So, here's a challenge for us all - myself included. Maybe we need to diversify a little and learn some new ways of doing things. Which is the reason for producing this post - a DIY guide to creating a vertical garden.
A few helpful links to get your started
The basics of a DIY Vertical Garden
The frame is basically the support for the vertical garden. On it, the backboard is adhered, fastened or riveted and then the holding sheet is stapled on top of that. For indoor applications, you can make a well at the bottom with a continuous feed pump moving the water back up and then filtering down through the plants via gravity. The water is usually filled, and refilled with nutrient, that sustains the plants.
If you decide to hang this outdoors then you can do away with the bottom well and just hand water the plants with a watering can.
Basically, the principles of hydroponics are used in this technology so no soil is used for plant growth. Plants are neatly embedded and suspended into the felt which becomes its growing medium.
Conclusion
Vertical gardens can be as simple or as complex as you choose. They can offer you another dimension to growing your plants or they could become living works of art that transform your backyard, balcony or patio. Regardless of how you start one, a vertical garden is a real possibility for any home gardener.
First published June 26, 2008
Recently, thanks to the good folks at CBC Radio in Edmonton, I was given away, ostensibly, as a door prize in a gardening contest. The contest was open to anyone who was in dire need of a garden makeover and could express that need over the airwaves by way of creative prose or song. The first-place winner received an hour of free garden consultation time with me. Yes…I know…a “friend” of mine has already pointed out that second prize must have been spending two hours with me. Just the same, I did spend an hour in the yard of contest winner Carol, and her husband, Jim, and here’s how it went.
Based on Carol’s entry, a grim, poetic account of her yard, I was expecting to see a moonscape. What I saw, however, was anything but lunar—instead the problem was really one of too much vegetation in certain spots and not enough in others. More precisely, the issues could be categorized under three headings: feral plants, shade and lack of focus.
The peril feral
Feral gardens are those that begin with pretty and often benign-looking domesticated plants that turn into greedy monsters that attempt to conquer every bit of yard space. In Carol’s yard, some of the worst feral plants were trees. I’m sure the blue spruce in the northwest corner of her yard looked innocent enough twenty years ago when her son brought it home in Grade 1, but the spruce has since lost its innocence is now threatening to consume the entire flowerbed. Besides that, it has lost its nice conical shape because the neighbour’s tree is blocking much of the western sun. That’s the other important point to realize with feral plants: they have no respect for property lines. Want more proof? Across the yard yet another neighbour’s feral willow was blocking the sunlight desperately needed by a couple of Carol’s energy-deprived and sparsely foliated ornamental crabapple trees.
If Carol and Jim want to get to the point where they can begin to create the yard of their dreams, they’ll need their neighbours’ cooperation. Sometimes a simple chat over coffee is all that is needed to get the pruning started and to keep people happy. However, because the trees are so large, this is one situation where I’d strongly recommend hiring a certified arborist to get the job done safely and properly. One last important point to remember when it comes to plants is that although feral does mean wild, it doesn’t always mean bad. In the right spot, an enormous spruce, elm or maple can be a very beautiful and prized addition to the landscape. The challenge, however, is having the foresight to imagine these plants at maturity.
Hire a certified arborist to assure large pruning jobs are done safely and properly.
Shady business
With all the feral trees at work, it’s not surprising that deep shade was also a problem in this yard. Even with judicious pruning, chances are sections of Carol’s yard will still be too dark to support much plant growth. One area of particular concern was a spot in the southwest corner. The combination of the neighbour’s trees with their overhanging branches and two crabapples planted in close proximity to each other made not only for deep shade but also for soil that was quite dry. The best solution here might be to mulch the spot and put up a hammock.
Out of focus
Finally, Carol’s deck needed a bit of a makeover. The deck itself was well constructed and spacious, but small pots of plants were strung out in a linear pattern that looked rather blasé. This is one trap that many of us have fallen into. While it’s tempting to string out a lot of small pots in a row to decorate a deck, for visual impact, you just can’t beat fewer but larger pots crammed with flowers. The big, full pots create a focal point and yet you don’t have to buy more plants—just consolidate them. It’s as easy as that.
Whenever I hear people like Carol put out desperate calls for help with their “horrible” gardens, I am often surprised by just how good these “bad” gardens actually look. As a matter of fact, I could go on for hours about the yards I’ve seen that are wonderful and just a little rough around the edges. Hmm…perhaps I’ll save those stories for the third-place winner.
The Summer issue of Jim Hole’s new magazine, Enjoy Gardening, is now available on newsstands.
Soon the world will set their eyes on the Summer Olympics in China. All over China thousands prepare for not only athletes but spectators alike. Asia carries on their long tradition for unique tranquil gardens along with a special approach bringing a “nature Zen modeled” beauty to potted plants like bonsai.
In North America we often associate topiary plant sculptures in the landscape with theme parks like Disney and Busch Gardens.
Enjoy the images below as the Chinese prove they can create some extremely beautiful topiary with amazing detail. I truly hope the world gets the opportunity to enjoy this spectacular “landscape sport” of plant topiary!
