Looking for inspiration for vertical gardening ideas on the cheap? In honor of Bing’s Summer of Doing, I’d like to share some of what I’ve been doing to get my plants off of the ground to maximize space and improve the overall health of the plants. Plants that sit on the ground provide a perfect environment for fungal and bacterial disease so training your plants to grow vertically helps to improve air flow and keeps plants from touching, minimizing moisture build up and the spread of diseases like powdery mildew and blight.
During my work with Domestic Construction’s Design.Plot we’ve toyed around with a bunch of fun materials that we salvaged and put to use in the garden. Here are some pictures with captions explaining what they are and how to make them!
(A burlap coffee sack lined with landscaping fabric and planted with herbs. Find instructions for something similar made by my friend Martina HERE )
(Simple wooden frames, much like those artist stretch canvas over, wrapped with colorful nylon twine and zip-tied to a chain link fence to add color an interest to an otherwise perfectly suitable, albeit boring way to trellis!)
(Twine and bamboo tipis are a great and inexpensive trellis set up. They also manage to look very neat and manicured once they fill up with a vining bean or cucurbit!)
What is your favorite way to grow vertically? To find more inspiring ideas to GROW UP, search today’s term using the new Bing by clicking here!
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