Vertical Gardening at Home: What You Need To Know
Last Updated: Mar 28, 2025You don't need a hundred square feet to grow a successful garden. Sometimes, all it takes are some pots, and trellises and you are growing tomato plants as tall as you are. With vertical gardening, you can produce towering food crops or walls of herbs, all on a much smaller footprint than traditional gardening.
Table of Contents
- What is Vertical Gardening?
- Why Garden Vertically?
- What Are Some Vertical Gardening Styles?
- What Plants Are Best for Vertical Gardening?
- What Are the Best Herbs for Vertical Gardening?
- What Are the Best Flowers for Vertical Gardening?
- What Are the Best Vegetables for Vertical Gardening?
What is Vertical Gardening?
Vertical gardening is the art of growing upward and not outward. In recent years, this strategy has become increasingly popular for weekend gardeners and professional farmers alike. But why is that?
There are two vertical gardening styles: growing plants in containers attached to vertical frames or wall surfaces; and training a plant to grow vertically. Both of these growing styles take plants off the ground and allow their foliage to expand three-dimensionally.
Now, vertical gardens do come with some challenges. They often take extra time to train the plants to climb a certain way, but the fact that you can grow this way indoors or out makes up for the additional required attention.
Vertical gardens are an excellent option for homes where space is limited, properties looking to create living fences, and even walls inside a home or business.
Why Garden Vertically?
Why select gardening this way over others? Aside from being beneficial to diversify your gardening strategies, sometimes the best solutions involve mixing and matching various options. But if I had to select a few reasons to consider adding vertical crops to a garden this year, they would be: save your back, save your money, and save the planet.
What Are Some Vertical Gardening Styles?
Part of the fun of vertical gardening is the numerous styles you have to choose from, ranging from traditional to upcycled. But before we look at what you can grow your plants in, here are a few things to consider:
When growing on a balcony or patio, the planter's size will determine what plant you decide to grow. Always plan for your containers to hold the adult size of your plant when selecting. And remember, small planters will require more frequent watering.
If you plan on suspending containers from a wall, remember to consider the plant's total weight, including the planter's saturated soil. A dozen dry pots aren't heavy, but the minute you water them in, you're adding just over eight pounds of weight per gallon.
When selecting your growing site, consider your sun angles for light and heat. The benefit of growing against a wall is that heat absorbed by the surface will slowly radiate back to the plants over the evening. This ambient heat can be beneficial later in the season as the cool fall evenings begin to slow plant growth. It would also be worthwhile to examine any overhangs casting rain shadows on your plants. The last thing you want is to think a storm watered your garden only to find them bone dry the next day.
When choosing your plant's support system, be sure to choose something that will support the mature plant's weight. Plants, like beans and peas, do best with climbing trellises that they can overwhelm. Your perennial grapevines, on the other hand, will need a sturdier structure for support. If you're planning on growing against a wooden frame, be sure to add extra layers of protection against humidity. This protection is because, over time, the wood will become saturated and decay.
Some sites recommend layering the surface with plastic covering and jute, giving the area a clean appearance and giving the plants something to grip. The downside is, if done improperly, you run the risk of trapping moisture in with the wood and running into the same issue.
That said, these are my 5 of my favorite vertical garden ideas:
Trellises
Trellises are the most common vertical growing option and are easily found at a local garden shop or made at home. These frames are an excellent option for a variety of climbing plants.
If your plants are in a container, be sure that it is balanced. Too much weight to any side and gravity will bring your crop back to the ground.
Tripods
Tripods are great for spaces away from walls and preferably in a yard where the whole area gets sunlight. Planting beans around each pole and allowing them to climb is one way to take advantage of the tripod design. By adding in connecting strings between each leg, you can train your crop around the support, creating a small enclosure. I've seen tripods large enough for children to sit comfortably in while they excitedly harvested the beans!
Upcycled
In the realm of vertical gardens, upcycled seems to be taking off. From reused canvas shoe organizers to bisected 2-liter bottles and even gutters, it can be a planter if it can hold a crop. Of course, when upcycling, always be sure to research the products you are using to ensure they are non-toxic.
In a world with plenty of trellises at the store, an upcycled garden may catch the praise of a passerby or create the inviting aesthetic you were hoping to achieve for your guests.
Tower Gardens
These gardens can be DIY or purchased and are, as the name implies, a tower of plants. These come in many forms, from a pyramid style to a vertical cylinder. When space permits, you can build a pyramid of planter boxes that can hold your strawberries, creating a delicious conversation starter.
What Plants Are Best for Vertical Gardening?
So what plants are going to be good options for a vertical garden?
- If you're new to the process, look for vining, rambling, and sprawling plants with flexible stems. Woody branched perennials are possible to train but are a bit more complicated.
- Suppose you're designing a vertical garden in your backyard. In that case, you have opportunities to grow fruiting trees in various ways against the fence, like single cordon, espalier, and fan.
- Raspberries and blackberries also make an excellent addition for vertical gardening, creating both a delicious treat and an intimidating boundary to a property. Or, for a pop of color, consider climbing roses.
- With adequate support, you can grow heavier melons and squash vertically. Consider growing squash over a garden trellis archway, pulling the tender squash through the openings when they were young to protect them from the sun.
- If you're working with a balcony or patio garden, have no fear, vertical gardening has plenty of options. For the gardener limited to only a wall of small containers, it can be challenging to find what to grow. I'd recommend shallow-rooted vegetables or herbs that you harvest frequently. By keeping seedlings ready, you can quickly swap out one crop for the next.
What Are the Best Herbs for Vertical Gardening?
Herbs are an excellent option for vertical gardening. Basil, mint, parsley, chives and thyme are the five easiest herbs to grow in a vertical garden.
What Are the Best Flowers for Vertical Gardening?
Are you looking to add a little color to the outside of your house? Or maybe you're hoping to enhance your veranda with some sweet-smelling fragrances? Sweat pea, honeysuckle and wisteria are three easy to grow climbing flowers that you can plant in your vertical garden.
As with everything in gardening, your garden may require research to succeed in your site's unique conditions. And that's okay! Everything takes time, and learning what plants will work best for your property is just one step in the fun journey of gardening. But before long, you'll be enjoying your wall of herbs and hanging baskets of tomatoes.
Tanner Sagouspe
Tanner Sagouspe has a Masters in Environmental Management and is a Permaculture Designer who promotes tackling the climate crisis at home.
