How to Build a Vertical Vegetable Garden

Small plants such as herbs thrive in vertical gardens.

Vegetable gardens are bright, cheerful and productive in home landscapes, but also take a lot of space in the garden. In-ground vegetable gardens may fall prey to weeds, pests and soil-borne diseases, and offer challenges many gardeners don't appreciate. Gardeners with space, soil and pest problems turn to creative alternatives like container and hanging gardens, and may go the extra step with a vertical garden on the wall. Choose the right spot for any vertical garden, prepare nutritious soil and grow your own alternative-style veggie garden.

Things You'll Need

• Rain gutters
• Hammer/screwdriver
• Nails/screws/eyehooks
• Scissors
• Drill
• Organic compost
• Peat moss
• Potting soil
• Fertilizer

Instructions

1. Start any gardening project in spring, when air temperatures rise to 60 degrees F. Vertical garden vegetables don't need warm soil, but do require frost-free nights.

2. Choose your wall for the garden. Put the vertical garden in a spot that gets full sunshine all day, with good air circulation and protection from any drying winds.

3. Use deep, sturdy rain gutters for the vertical garden, to give vegetables room for growth and support. Cut the rain gutters to fit on the wall you choose, and build at least three to four "stories" of gardening space. Drill holes every 10 inches in the bottom of the gutters, to ensure drainage.

4. Secure the gutters to the wall with eye hooks, screws or nails every 6 inches. Leave 2 to 3 feet of space between each layer of gutters to give the plants room to grow.

5. Mix organic compost, peat moss and potting soil in equal parts as your planting mix. This mix gives the vegetables plenty of nutrition and drainage. Fill the gutters full of your mixture, then turn starter fertilizer such as 6-24-24 or 8-32-16 into the top 4 inches of soil to provide more nutrition.

6. Plant small, compact vegetables in a vertical garden to minimize space usage and avoid stressing the structure. Plant lettuce, cabbage, spinach, broccoli, herbs, beets, peas, carrots, garlic, onions and radishes. Choose only small tomato, cucumber, bean and pepper cultivars.

References

• Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet; Growing Cucumbers, Pepeprs, Squash and Tomatoes in Containers; Pamela J. Bennett
• North Carolina State University; Container Vegetable Gardening; Larry Bass