Garden Tips for Growing Vertically

Plants

• Vines, such as wisteria, trumpet creeper, morning glory and English ivy, are vertical gardening's foundation. They add flowers and foliage to the landscape, are robust and easy to grow. Climbing, trailing or rambling roses are another choice for vertical gardening, as their fragrant flowers and glossy, green foliage fill the garden with color, scent and texture all summer. Those who prefer edible plants should consider leafy, vining vegetables, such as tomatoes, peas, pole beans and cucumbers, or small fruits such as grapes, passion fruit and small melons.

Structures

• The plants in vertical gardens need support. In addition to ordinary wooden trellises, vinyl netting, chain-link fencing, wooden stakes or wire cages, train plants to climb old ladders, telephone poles, pergolas, arbors and landscape features, such as old trees, porch railings and antique cars or tractors. Fill vertical spaces with window boxes and hanging baskets. Many trailing plants look lovely when cascading over the edges of elevated containers.

Location

• Choosing the correct site for a vertical garden is critical to success. Position structures, such as arbors and trellises, so that the plants growing on them receive adequate amounts of sunlight, but will not shade other plants as they grow. Placing a structure against the south side of the house is ideal, as this not only exposes the plant to the maximum amount of sunlight, it offers shelter from seasonal winds.

Training

• Encouraging a plant to climb a structure is known as "training". As the plants grow, they must be secured to supporting structures and persuaded to move upward rather than sprawling along the ground. This can be accomplished by tying the plants to the structure with strips of stretchy fabric, gardening twine or lengths of old pantyhose. As plants develop, vines can be given some gentle direction by unwrapping any stems that are headed the wrong way and re-wrapping them around the support structure, steering their growth along the desired path.