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With spring just around the corner, now is the perfect time to plant the seeds for a garden that will yield beautiful flora and herbs year-round.
Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just starting to get a green thumb, a vertical garden is easy to plant and fun to maintain.
For anyone who wants to maximize their indoor or outdoor space, discover inspiring vertical garden ideas that will give your greenery plenty of room to grow without requiring a large footprint!
30+ Fascinating Vertical Garden Ideas
There are endless possibilities when it comes to creating your own unique vertical gardening space! Your vertical garden can be used as a beautiful conversation piece, or you can fill it with herbs, fruit, and vegetables to use in your very own farm to table recipes.
To make the most of your vertical garden, consider the measurements of your space and the amount of sunlight available. Most plants need direct sunlight, so having them either outside or near a window is essential.
To help you get started, here are some exciting vertical garden ideas that work as alternatives to a traditional garden...
Popular Outdoor Garden Designs
In the past year, people have flocked to the outdoors to get fresh air and be able to safely spend time with loved ones. It's no surprise that outdoor gardening has been trending as a popular activity; it's good for both your mental and physical health, plus you get to grow your own nutritious food. Let’s have a look at some inspiring outdoor vertical gardening ideas and other wall garden ideas!
Hanging Basket Garden
Spruce up your space with colorful hanging baskets filled with plants. This type of vertical garden uses less space than a traditional garden, yet makes a big impact when it comes to beautifying an entryway or back porch. Be creative when choosing your baskets and the flora within! Bright garden mums, fragrant sweet alyssum, geraniums, ivy, and trailing pansies are popular choices for hanging baskets.
Ladder Garden
One of the most practical types of vertical garden design ideas is a ladder garden, like the OUTLAND 4-Bin 6 foot Vertical Garden. In this system, you’ll find long bins on each level of a ladder that you can easily reach to fill with soil and the plants you desire. The simple, high-quality planters are 8 inches deep and made with food-grade #5 Polypropylene, so you can safely grow and eat herbs or even veggies like peas, carrots, peppers, radishes, and beets!
Metal Grid Wall Garden
To create a wow-factor in small spaces, build a living wall garden made of landscape fabric or a metal grid. Source some metal planters and fill them with herbs or houseplants for an urban vertical garden on the side of a wall.
Gutter Garden
One of the top wall gardening ideas for a city apartment is a gutter garden. This type of vertical garden is perfect for your patio or balcony. To build this easy vertical garden, all you need are rain gutter pieces with end caps as well as a mounting system to attach them to your wall. The best type of plants to use in a gutter garden are small herbs without large roots.
Tomato Trellis
Tomatoes from the store are often tasteless and pale on the inside. If you want consistently plump and flavorful tomatoes, why not grow them yourself? Throw them on a salad, use them in a sauce, whip up a pot of soup or make Insalata Caprese with hearty red tomatoes straight from the vine. Tomatoes grown on trellises are of the indeterminate (vine) variety. Growing this type of vertical garden is ideal for tomatoes because it keeps them off the ground and away from insects and pests. It also provides more sunlight and circulation, two things that tomatoes need to thrive. The trellis gives the vine structure and support so that the tomatoes not only succeed but do so in style. Of course, a vegetable gardener can also use the trellis for other veggies like squash, cucumbers, beans, and peas.
Other Outdoor Vertical Planting Ideas:
- Checkerboard Veggie Garden
- Wooden Pallet Planter
- Living Wall
- Tower Gardens
- Garden Made of Stacked Crates
- Obelisk Garden
- Plastic Bottle Garden
- Pyramid Garden
- Plant Shelf
- PVC Pipe Planter
- Mounted Terra-cotta Pots
- Hayrack Planter
Reasons To Grow Outdoors Instead Of Indoors
Vertical gardens can flourish inside or outside, but you’ll want to choose their placement carefully based on what their intended purpose is and what plants you are growing. For example, if you desire plants that require a lot of sunlight, set them up outside. An outdoor vertical garden will create a focal point on your patio and you can use them to cover up unsightly features, like electrical boxes or a chain-link fence. Some people even use a vertical garden like a privacy screen to shield themselves from their neighbors.
Popular Indoor Vertical Garden Ideas
Mason Jar Planters for Herbs
There’s nothing better than being able to reach up and pull fresh herbs, like basil and mint from your kitchen wall while you’re cooking. This easy DIY vertical garden idea is perfect for the budding chef who wants to harvest their own herbs. All you need are mason jars that you can mount on a grid or a piece of wood. Make sure a window is nearby to provide adequate sunlight.
Faux Plant Display
Of course, your garden doesn’t have to literally grow. For those of you who don’t have a green thumb, you can use a vertical staircase garden system on a strictly aesthetic basis.
This way, you don't have to worry about maintenance or features like drainage holes. Fill the bins with bright faux flowers to create an uplifting mood at home.
Photo Frame Succulents
Art imitates life and sometimes…art is living! Bring your art to life by planting succulents within a picture frame. This artistic garden tops our list of indoor wall planting ideas. As succulents don’t require a lot of water, you can lightly spray them a few times a month to keep them going and there won't be any drips of water down the wall.
Macrame Hanging Planter
Macrame became very popular in the 1970s and is still going strong today, both for wall art and as the support for a vertical planter. Suspending plants from colorful woven textiles creates a zen-like, airy appeal that is dreamy in a bathroom, yoga studio, or kitchen.
Other Indoor Hanging Garden Ideas Include:
- Pegboard Vertical Garden
- Bookshelf Garden
- Coffee Cup Herb Garden
- Hanging Glass Planters
- Wall Planter in Fabric Pockets
- Copper Pipe Hanging Planter
- Hanging Buckets
- Garden in Dresser Drawers
- Hanging Coconut Shell Planters
- Shoe Rack Garden
Reasons To Grow Indoors Instead Of Outdoors
An indoor vertical garden is perfect for when you’re trying to make a statement in your home or apartment. Foliage brings life and warmth to a room, so it is often integrated into interior design. Certain houseplants, like the Peace Lily and Gerbera Daisy can also improve the air quality in your home.
Plus, no matter which plants you choose, with an indoor garden you don’t have to worry about bringing them in when it’s cold, as you do with an outside garden!