Space is a prime commodity these days.
Portland is filling in areas that used to be open for food cart pods, and large backyards are being used to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs). In a fast-growing city like Portland, open space tends to decrease per person.
You might find yourself with limited outdoor space in which to entertain, grow flowers, and also have space for a food garden.
However, there is a solution: build UP.
Keep reading and discover 7 creative ideas for vertical gardening.
1. Vertical Gardening on Your Fence
If your backyard is fenced in, you’re in luck. You can easily attach wooden planters along your fence.
You likely have three sides to use, four if you count the side of your home. With that variety of light exposure, you can grow an assortment of beautiful or delicious plants all summer long.
During the rainy season, you can either let the planters lie fallow, or fill them with ferns to keep your fence alive all year long.
2. Strawberry Planter
Strawberry planters are available from many home and garden stores.
These terra cotta planters are attractive and very useful, if you love strawberries, that is. In fact, a small one takes up very little space, yet yields a great crop of strawberries.
If your kids are interested in developing a green thumb, you can put them in charge of this vertical fruit garden.
3. Arbor Gardening
If you want both shade and plants, an arbor is a great way to have the best of both worlds.
Cherry tomatoes, grape vines, or ornamentals, such as passion flowers, are each great options for your trellis.
Imagine a shady spot in the yard that is full of ripe tomatoes all summer long.
4. Potato Tower with Tires
Potatoes grow on roots. The longer the root system, the more potatoes.
If you take a used tire and fill it with dirt and a potato plant starter, soon the plant will grow up and fill the space. At that point, top it with another tire, more soil, and continue adding soil and tires.
Before long, you’ll have a tower of potato power. When it’s time to harvest, take each tire layer off one at a time and remove your tubers.
This small space gardening solution allows you to grow a full garden’s worth of potatoes in the ground space of a single plant.
5. Shoe Organizer Gardening
Shoe organizers maximize your closet space by allowing you to store shoes on the back of a door or on a wall. You can take the same organizer and hang it up outdoors, fill the shoe spots with soil, and plant your favorite plants.
Imagine a wall full of kale, wildflowers, and strawberries.
This is diy vertical gardening at its finest.
6. Reused Tin Cans
Old tin cans can be placed in your recycling bin, or you could find a new use for them. 
Fill the old cans with soil, hang them from your fence or exterior wall, and start growing food or flowers.
You can get creative with your cans by painting them with bold colors or with a pretty picture.
You can make this a family project and everyone can have a can or two that they use to grow their favorite plants.
7. Vertical Planter Boxes
Vertical planter boxes can act like shelves for your garden.
If you build shelving along your fence, but then square off the shelves to resemble frames or planter boxes, you can place pots on the shelves.
This is a great, custom solution for vertical planting that makes changing planters out a snap. Simply take the pots off the shelf and replace them with another.
Each box can be a different size and if you offset them you can add an interesting visual effect to your garden.
About Crowley Landscape Management
Innovative landscape design can transform any size yard, and vertical gardening techniques offer a unique solution for small spaces in particular.
No matter the size of your property, our landscape design professionals can help you maximize its use and appearance. We create and maintain residential and commercial landscapes of all sizes.
Contact us today for a creative, beautiful landscape!