Vertical Gardening

Jack was vertical gardening with his magic beans.

He maximized the vegetable plant growing space in his home vegetable garden.

If I were a turnip you would not find me growing in this kind of vegetable garden.

I may be interplanted in the raised bed in front of my pals, pole beans and peas.

These vegetable plants like to reach for the sky.

While creating functional growing space ...

... upright growing gardens increase vegetable plant productivity.

My tall friends will get more sunshine and ...

... better air circulation reducing weeds , garden pests, and disease.

In his new vegetable garden design ....

.... my gardener included vegetable plants that tower over us short guys ....

... growing tomatoes and pole beans  ...

.... against existing garden structures .... a south facing wall and fence.

In hanging gardens the vegetable plants grow down instead of up.

Us turnips would get dizzy in a container garden placed on a elevated platform or off a balcony .

But we do have buddies that like to hang out here.

 Vining vegetable plants like cucumber and squash hang from the pots and grow down.

These guys may need garden structures or vegetable supports.

These prevent their weight from pulling the roots out of the pots.

Whether growing up or down these climbing and vining vegetable plants may need to be trained .

Vegetable supports may be as simple as poles stakes , fencing wire or lattice ladders

that are readily available or existing fences, walls, garden trellis or arbours.

If using an existing deck or railing to place garden containers on ...

...  be sure to protect the structure from the soil and moisture.

My gardener found out the hard way ...

... He had to repair and replace decking and support posts

     that were rotten from the exposure to water.

Upright towering plants are enough to drive a turnip up the wall !

Speaking of walls these are ideal for herb gardens.

A herb garden ...

... can be built by attaching or hanging garden containers from the wall ...

... with a variety of herbs growing from them ...

... Even though they are not growing up .....

... a perpendicular garden is what they form.

Close to the kitchen is a great location for this herb garden.

Guerilla gardening in you own back yard , what a great idea .

You may have a tough time planting us turnips in a corner of an urban garden.

 There may be a pole, dead tree,  fence post or other upright thing

   that beans or peas would grow up ....

.... or an old trellis with nothing growing up it.

How about planting some broad beans to climb up it.

If my gardener plants them this fall they will be climbing up the trellis in the spring ...

... before his wife can plant a rose bush or clematis.

Raised garden beds ...

  ...  if high enough will make it easier to harvest us turnips but vertical gardening is just that.

Growing vegetables that produce their fruit where you do not have to bend over to pick us ...

... How easy is that ?

Train the growing vines and vegetable plants to grow up garden structures for easy picking.

 Turnips might not be the brightest root in the vegetable garden,

but we know the advantages of vertical growth when backyard gardening.

Speaking of being bright I do not think my gardener has ever planted a turnip ...

... in a raised bed garden

... or while vertical gardening .

He had better smarten UP.

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