Up Up away -- vertical veggy gardening

Are you running out of room to garden? Make the most of you space by growing up up up along a trellis.

If you live in a condo, townhome, apartment or small home with limited space-- you can appreciate that space is at a premium so vertical makes sense.

Vegetables that vine or have a rambling stem require massive amounts of garden space if left to grow on the ground, yet the simple solution is to grow up and over a trellis, a pole, or a fence.

The benefits will surprise you.
- You can double your yield by using vertical structures.
- Soil borne and fungal disease have less chance of becoming a concern when your
plants are vertical because the air circulation is much better than a plant that
is lying along the soil.
- Easier to prune, maintain and harvest, --and fruits are easier to see hanging on a trellis compared to rambling plants.
- Requires less bending so anyone with back problems will appreciate that.

A key to success with vertical gardening is having a good support system. Its need to support the weight of your crops while making it easy to harvest. Consider shade when you design your vertical garden space. The shade it casts on surrounding plants can affect what you plant nearby. When possible design you tallest structures on the northern side of your garden or place them against a wall.

You don’t need to buy expensive complicated structures, unless you want to. The expensive systems can be beautiful involving wonderful wooden trellises, arbors and arches. If you are the creative and let your inner child out—you could create something from anything. A friend of mine uses a few bamboo poles tied together, a few iron piping and similar materials and does fine… A super way to recycle is lean an old wooden ladder up against your shed or home or fence. …use your imagination.

Beans, Cucumbers, Melons, Peas, Pumpkins, Squash, Sweet Potatoes Tomatoes…are among some great choices for vegetable gardening. You can train just about any vegetable to grow vertically …

Please keep in mind our south florida seasons.

October - March ( dry season ) is the best season to grow many crops.
March - October ( rainy / Hurricane season ) you can grow crops, but not as well.
... if you are growing in the summer time, consider what you will do to protect your vertical garden if a tropical storm or hurricane is destined to come your way.

Everyone can judge their situation for themselves. I usually start preparing my beds in summer for Oct-March gardening.

please share your garden stories…
- Nana
August 31, 2010