Vertical Gardening
Vertical gardening is becoming the new craze in gardening but we have been doing vertical gardening all along. Last month we talked about climbing roses which is one of the most popular ways we garden vertically. Many plants naturally grow vertically or show their best form vertically like roses, wisteria, honeysuckle and other climbers. They do need some support such as a wall, trellis, fence or some other structure. Vertical gardening is not only beautiful but it is a good way to save space.
Imagine an English manor house covered in green ivy. Do the Hanging Gardens of Babylon sound familiar? Climbing roses were the symbols of secret gardens. The Romans trained grapevines on trellises or walls.
Nowadays fancy gardeners or new gardeners find other ways to manipulate plants to make a vertical garden. Patrick Blanc of France is known as the father of vertical gardening. He is a botanist who has made some spectacular large-scale gardens of greenery on the walls of public buildings unlike anything seen before. These vertical gardens on city buildings help filter pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air. Many gardeners have taken Patrick Blancs’ lead for vertical gardening and taken it to new heights using not only green plants or flowering plants, but incorporating vegetables.
You can make your own green wall system or buy one from any number of stores or on-line businesses. If you want to make an indoor “green wall” you have to make sure it has enough light, potting soil, proper irrigation, drainage and protection for your wall or the surface that is behind the green wall.
(Image bottom left: Tropical Gardens provide vertical effect at Hemingway House in Key West, FL)
By Karen Blackburn