By Steven Biggs
Vertical Gardens Maximize Space
Vertical vegetable gardening squeezes more plants into a limited space by making use of space above the ground.
By growing sprawling plants upwards, there’s space on the ground to grow more plants.
Other Vertical Garden Benefits
Along with making it possible to grow more plants in the same space, a vertical vegetable garden has a couple of other benefits:
Vertical vegetable gardens for easy harvests. Less bending, because crops are raised
Vertical Gardens Help Provide Shade. Some crops do better in partial shade during the summer. Leafy vegetables grown on the ground space in the shade of a vertical vegetable garden are sheltered from the midday sun.
If you’re interested in creating more growing space to grow vegetables, keep reading. This article includes vertical garden crops, vertical vegetable garden ideas, and easy-to-work-with materials to make supports and trellises.
How to Add Vertical Crops to a Garden
Vertical Vegetable Garden Ideas
There are many ways to add vertical elements to a vegetable garden.
Look for ready-to-use products if you want to start small. It can be something as simple as a tomato cage to support a vining plant—or a window box for cascading herbs.
There are also lots of creative ways to make your own support structures so that you can grow vertically.
Add Tiers with Containers
Containers are a simple way to fit more plants into a garden. Having different tiers means that the canopies of different crops aren’t competing for space at the same level.
Another advantage of containers is that they make it possible to add a crop to an area where there is root competition from a neighbouring crop.
Fences to Support Vines
Squash growing on a fence as part of a vertical vegetable garden.
Fences can be a great opportunity to grow a vertical garden. If the space next to the fence is paved, consider growing in a container.
Tie tomato plants to a chain-link fence
Run twine along a board fence for cucumbers and other vining plants
Grow strawberries or herbs in planters fastened to the fence
Hanging Baskets and Hanging Planters
Vertical gardening doesn’t always mean training a plant upwards.
It can include plants dangling down. A hanging garden.
There are lots of crop options for hanging baskets. Here are ideas to get started:
Add hanging baskets to vertical vegetable gardens.
Strawberries
Tomato plants
Herbs
Salad greens for hanging baskets in partial shade
Trailing nasturtiums (edible flowers!)
Stakes for a Vertical Vegetable Garden
Staked tomatoes leave space for some parsley plants at the ground level.
When staking a plant and growing it upwards you’re opening up space below for another crop. For many gardeners, the sight of staked tomatoes is familiar. Now picture those tomato plants with lettuce or parley underneath.
Some plants can wrap around or grab onto a stake. Other, such as tomatoes, must be tied to the stake.
Self-Supporting Structures for Vertical Gardens
There are many ways to make self-supporting structures for vertical growing.
Even if a vertical garden structure is self-supporting, it’s a good idea to secure it to the ground with a stake so that it doesn’t topple in strong wind.
Here are a few ideas to create vertical space:
Tee Pees
A-frames
A Row of angled, crossing poles jointed together with a pole laying across the top
Grow food vertically using simple bamboo structures such as teepees and A-frames.
Or make more permanent structures for climbing vegetables using lumber:
Lattice-and-lumber A-frame
Wood frames from which twine can be suspended for vining crops
Wooden A-frames over which vining crops grow; and under which shade-tolerant leafy greens thrive during the summer
Or make ornamental landscape features the double as support for growing crops:
Arbours
Pergolas
Use Plants in the Landscape for Vertical Growing Space
Use plants within the landscape to support vining vertical crops:
Save space by growing squash along a hedge!
Hedge (grow a squash vine along a hedge)
Tree (let runner beans grow into a small tree)
Sunflower or corn as a living trellis
Trellises for a Wall Garden
Trellises are a simple way to add more vertical growing space.
Turn an empty wall into a home for a vining crop
Add height to a fence with a trellis
Cover an unsightly utility pole and make it into a growing space
Vertical Garden Crops Ideas
Here are crops that are suited to growing vertically.
Achocha (a.k.a. Bolivian cucumber)
Achocha is a vining crop that’s easy to grow in a vertical vegetable garden.
If you’ve been frustrated by pests and diseases on more delicate vining crops such as cucumber, try achocha. It’s a survivor.
This vining crop has small pods that are eaten raw when small, and cooked when a bit bigger. (There’s a limit to how big they can get without being too woody, so aim to harvest them while small.)
Beans (pole beans and runner beans)
Both of these vining beans are a great addition to a vertical vegetable garden.
Grow them up trellises, garden structures, and tall fences.
Runner beans do better in cooler, maritime climates—and they tolerate partial shade.
Bitter melon
This vining crop has tendrils. Both fruit and young shoot tips are edible. Tolerates partial shade.
Burr Gherkin
Burr gherkin is a vining crop that’s easy to grow in a vertical vegetable garden.
Spiky little cucumber relatives with a citrusy taste. Tasty fresh, and good for pickles too. Vines grow like cucumbers.
Cucamelon
(a.k.a. Mouse Melon, Mexican Sour Gherkin)
This cucumber relative has smaller leaves and fruit, but is a vigorous grow that easily climbs a trellis.
The small, thumbnail-sized fruit are cucumber-like, with a bit of citrus. Eat fresh, or make into pickles.
Cucumbers
Along with conventional cucumbers, look for Armenian cucumbers (not actually a cucumber…but a relative). Both make excellent vining crops.
Luffa
While many people think of using mature luffa fruit for the sponge-like scrubbies, the young luffa is edible—like a summer squash.
If you’re in a cold zone, know that this is a heat-loving crop that does best with a long growing season.
Malabar Spinach
Malabar spinach.
(a.k.a Indian spinach, Ceylon spinach, vine spinach)
This vining plant is a spinach in name only. The leaves are thicker and waxier than true spinach. But it grows all summer—and grows well in heat of summer. The red-leaved varieties are quite ornamental.
Melons
Worried that you can’t grow melons and watermelons vertically because they’re too heavy? Don’t worry. Just make a sling to support the fruit.
Peas
If you've grown bush-types peas, you might not think of them as a vertical vegetable. For vertical gardening, get vining-type peas, which grow 6-8’ tall. ‘Tall Telephone’ is a well-known variety. (Remember, tendrils and shoot tips are edible too!)
Squash
Be sure to grow a vining squash variety, as many of the summer squash have a bush-like growth habit.
And…remember that you can eat more than just the squash fruit. Shoot tips are edible too.
Find out about eating squash tips and other lesser-known edible plant parts.
If you’re growing large winter squash, give extra support with a sling.
Tomatoes
Grow “indeterminate” tomatoes (a.k.a. vining tomatoes) for training upwards. They get taller and taller all summer long.
Most people think of growing tomatoes upwards…but some gardeners also let them dangle down. How about a curtain of tomato vines coming off a low-roofed shed or outbuilding?
Find out how to set up for success, pick great crops, and care for them. Container Vegetable Gardening Masterclass gives you the information and ideas you need for high-yield container vegetable crops.
Materials for Making DIY Vertical Support Structures
Bamboo Poles
Bamboo poles are an easy-to-use material that is widely available.
Use bamboo poles to stake individual plants, or to make trellises and A-frames.
When attaching poles together to create a trellis or support structure, use twine or zip ties. (Just don’t use the bright yellow zip ties like the ones in the photo below…clear ones are much less noticeable!)
Branches
For a natural look—and for good economy—nothing beats branches.
Twine
Natural-fibre twines such as jute and sisal readily break down when added to the compost pile or buried. They work well for tying plants and for making structures such as teepees.
If the twine will support a lot of weight (e.g. an 8’ high tomato-laden vine by the end of the season) consider something stronger. Either a thicker natural twine, or a synthetic twine.
Lumber
Like branches, lumber can often be scavenged for free.
The one caveat: Don’t use pressure-treated wood. It contains copper compounds.
Lattice
Looking to combine vertical growing with some privacy shields? Lattice could be a building material to consider.
A sheet of lattice usually bends when stood upright, so plan to frame it with wood so that it doesn’t bend.
Enjoy playing with colour, texture, and shapes?
Don’t want a cookie-cutter veggie garden?
If you've thought of growing more of your own food, but you don’t know what to do next, Edible Garden Makeover gives you the ideas, knowledge, and inspiration to grow food in a way that fits your yard and your style.
Metal Stakes
Metal stakes last a long time!
T-bar stakes. Strong. Plan to use a post driver or a sledge hammer to drive them into the ground
Iron rebar. Thinner than T-bars, meaning that if the soil is moist, it can often be pushed into the ground.
PVC Pipe
Use PVC pipe to create supports for your vertical vegetable garden. It's readily available,
Looking for ways to connect horizontal poles to an upright T-bar? Stick a PVC plumbing tee-join on top of the T-bar – and now there are holes on either side into which to slip a horizontal pole.
Wire Mesh
There are a few types of wire mesh available; not all of them at garden centres. See what you can find at hardware and building-supply stores. And if you’re in a rural area, farm-supply stores often carry a good selection of wire.
To get you started as you think about using wire mesh…
Chicken wire. Easy to cut with tin snips.
Wire mesh to reinforce concrete. (A.k.a. remesh) Not galvanized like some other types of wire mesh, so it quickly takes on the patina of time and blends into the landscape. Tin snips won’t cut through this…plan for bolt cutter or a hack saw.
Hardware cloth. If you want closely spaced mesh that offers a visual shield, this can be an option. Cut with tin snips.
Cattle panels. Often galvanized. The spacing in the lower couple of courses of wire is often less than the other courses. More bendable than the mesh used for concrete—so if you’re looking to make an arch, a better choice.
Rolls of livestock fencing. Various gauges or wire and hole size available.
When buying mesh, think about this:
Do you want a galvanized product or not? Shiny obvious metal, or oxidized and less noticeable?
How will you transport it? Rolls can easily fit into the trunk of a car…but if you’re buying sheets of cattle panel or concrete mesh, you might need to put them on a roof rack (or track down a friend with a pickup truck!)