Things Learned This Year

So now as the season is closing I want to share some of the things that I learned this year about The Vertical Garden. You may ask, what else could be learned about vertical gardening? Didn't you do the same as you did last year? Actually, no! We tried many new plants and designs this year and that is what I would like to focus on.

PLANTS:

Some of the new plants we tried were:

(* indicates it was a real winner!)

Nemesia

Kale, Red Chidori- Beautiful color! Goes to seed quicker than Redbor.

Impatiens*- This really turned out nicely. Nice and Compact.

Creeping Charlie*- Splended display! We chose the variegated and planted it on the end.

Bacopa*- beautiful! Really filled out with gorgeous color!

Mauve Thyme*- very compact and colorful

Bidens- Tended to be leggy and not very compact.

A few facts we learned:

1: When you are planting Pansies or Violas you need to be aware of what is planted directly above them. If it is something that will shade them you will end up with extremely leggy pansies.

2: Apply Slug Bait frequently! The slugs can be your worst enemy. Although we didn't have any issues the first year, this year we found they made their dwelling behind the typar, making our lovely plants their dinner!

3: Whatever you plant in the top of the wall must be draught tolerant. I have discovered that Nasturtium are very thirsty plants and while we consistently watered through the top of the wall we still ended up with very puny Nasturtium.

4: Sweet Peas are not the #1 choice for the arch. They are very prone to Powdery Mildew and don't keep their "prettiness" very long. I am hoping to research another option for our arch.

5: It's important to constantly check that plants are not shading their neighbors unnecessarily.

I am sure I will think of other learned concepts but this is what I have for now. Questions? Comments? Let me know.

(Photos courtesy of covegirl79.blogspot.com , Carolyn Pivarnik)

Build Your Own Vertical Garden!

Perhaps one of those most frequently asked questions about the Vertical Garden is how it was built. A practical question and one I intend to answer in this post. Keep in mind that all of this can be done on a much smaller scale to accomodate whatever size VG you wish to build.



Let's start with the materials. You will need:



Hog Paneling
Chicken Wire
Shade Cloth (Typar)
Long wire?
Post to support the Wall
Cement to set the posts in


The Process:

1: Decide where you will put your Vertical Garden and flatten the ground. Be attentive to how much sun each side gets as that will determine what you plant.

2: Dig the holes and pour the cement for your wooden posts. Pound in the T-posts at the point where your sides will be held in place. It is very important that you ensure the stability of your structure. A wall full of heavy dirt could be a dangerous thing to have topple over.

3: Construct the "sides" of your wall. If you leave the ends of the hog wire with extra sticking out you can hook the chicken wire onto the hogwire making it more secure. It might be a good idea to wire the ends just for extra measure. You next step is to attach the shade cloth.

4: Wire three sides of the wall to the T-Posts leaving an opening to do your inside work.

5: Insert "cross braces" cut from the hogwire, starting at one end and working your way back toward the opening. Wire to each side of the wall. Before you put in each "cross brace" you will need to do some major wiring in between the two sides. You really can't do too much. The idea is to work your way from one end of the wall to the other. This will keep the wall from bowing as it gets heavy.

6: Wire the end onto your wall and install your irigation system. Fill with dirt. (Be sure to water BEFORE you plant so the dirt can settle.)

I hope this helps all of you aspiring Vertical Gardeners. If there are any details that you are unsure about feel free to email us or call. (aknotinthyme@verizon.net, 360-240-1216)