6 Eye-Catching Vertical Gardens Designed to Grow Up in Small Spaces
Updated: Apr. 11, 2023Vertical gardens aren't just for urban spaces anymore. With so many options for creating green walls, flower towers and food gardens in small spaces, everyone should be looking into growing up.
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Love the look of lush indoor plants, but lack the room for a multitude of planters? Do you dream of growing your own fruits and vegetables—or perhaps a bountiful herb garden—but don’t have an inch of outdoor space? Maybe you’d love an abundant amount of indoor greenery, but have pets or small children that like knocking things to the ground? A vertical garden solves all these problems.
The following vertical garden choices include options at a number of price points, sizes and materials. Once you find the one that works best for your space, be sure to check out container garden ideas, houseplants anyone can grow and gardening tips for beginners to make sure your vertical garden thrives. Oh, and don’t forget to buy plants online!
Hamana Grow Shelf
This super simple wall-mounted indoor vertical garden planter has a tiny footprint, but plenty of growing space, accommodating six tiers of seed trays and pots—a bonus if you’re into container gardening. Made of solid, sustainable bamboo, it’s naturally water-resistant with a minimalist look that’s ideal for showing off your indoor garden.
Lettuce Grow Farmstand
Zooey Deschanel co-founded this company to make sustainable, pesticide-free produce more accessible to people with limited space and gardening know-how. Suitable for indoor or outdoor use, the Lettuce Grow Farmstand’s freestanding, curvy white plastic planters come in five sizes and take up fewer than 4 square feet, but can grow dozens of plants using hydroponic technology. No soil means no mess! The company offers more than 200 different varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs as seedlings, which are ready to harvest as soon as three weeks after planting.
Greenstalk Five-Tier Original Vertical Planter
The Greenstalk Vertical Planter is proudly made in the USA of food-grade, BPA-free plastic, and is available in three color options: evergreen, terra cotta and white. These lightweight, stackable tiers grow flowers, vegetables and herbs in actual soil, and can even be used to grow plants from seed.
Unlike many other stackable planters, the Greenstalk’s patented multi-tiered design waters all your plants simultaneously, and the ample drainage holes ensure there’s no oversaturation. This vertical garden can be used inside or outside, and an optional roller base makes moving it easy.
Meiwo Hanging Vertical Garden Wall Planter
If you’re looking for a simple, inexpensive way to install a living wall in your home, this hanging vertical planter is the way to go. Made from water-resistant felt fabric that’s lightweight, breathable and extremely durable, it can hold soil and plants in each of its seven pockets. The design keeps the soil well-aerated so plants don’t sit in water. It’s also the right choice if you prefer to keep the focus on your plants, since they will ultimately grow to cover the entire planter and you’ll be left with just a green living wall.
Gro Products Vertical Garden System
If you don’t have walls suitable for planting a gardening wall, no worries! This freestanding vertical garden is made of untreated cedar wood with a trio of modular planting boxes. Adjust the boxes on the frame as needed to accommodate your plants as they grow. Each planter box includes its own plastic liner for drainage and to protect the wood. This is definitely one of the best looking vertical gardens on the market, and it’s easy to assemble. Suitable for indoor and outdoor use, the Gro Garden is a mobile green wall that can add privacy to a small patio or deck.
Lecroy Mobile Double Frame Plastic Vertical Garden
Plants come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, so vertical planters shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all either. This freestanding metal planter offers BPA-free plastic pots of different depths for versatility, and positions them in both directions so there’s never a side of this mobile green wall that isn’t lovely to look at. The frame’s built-in irrigation system makes it easy to water. You can attach grow lamps to use this planter in low-lit indoor areas, but its larger footprint makes it a favorable option for outside as well.
What to consider when creating a vertical garden
While vining plants will climb right up walls, a true vertical garden uses a structure to house your plants. If you’re considering starting a vertical garden, think about whether you prefer a freestanding structure or a hanging or wall-mounted one. For anything load-bearing, you’ll also need to consider how much the vertical garden will weigh when filled with soil and plants.
FAQ
What is vertical gardening?
Vertical gardening, sometimes referred to as green or living walls, initially became prevalent as people started moving into cities, says David Brenner, founding principal and lead designer of San Francisco’s Habitat Horticulture. “The idea was to bring green living spaces into an urban environment without taking up a lot of square footage,” he says.
These lush living walls can thrive indoors as well as out, and provide the added benefit of cleaner air and natural greenery to interior spaces, says Brenner. And pretty much anything you can grow on the ground can thrive in a vertical garden: houseplants, flowering annuals and perennials, succulents, fruits, vegetables and herbs.
Sources:
- David Brenner, founder and lead designer of Habitat Horticulture
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