Rise of the vertical garden

As cities become denser, the amount of space available for garden landscaping decreases. Luckily, a trend for vertical gardens has been springing up as quickly as the number of apartment blocks being built.

What is a vertical garden?

Traditional gardens are horizontal - making the most of flat, green space. As this is lacking in the concrete jungle, people are increasingly looking skywards.

Vertical gardens refer to walls that are partially or completely covered in vegetation. Often containing integrated water delivery systems, these gardens make the most of all the available space.

What you need to build a vertical garden 

- An iron frame or garden rack. 

- Four to six pieces of wood that are around 10 x 5 x 5. This is to be used to hold the garden rack from the wall.

- Planks or slats to line the frame.

- Hessian cloth to hold the dirt. This needs to be around 20 cm longer than the size of your garden rack, to allow for overhang.

- Paint or other weather-proofing spray.

- Screws, dowels, cramp irons and connecting strips.

- Tools, including a drill, hammer, screwdriver and saw.

How to build a vertical garden 

Firstly, make sure the wood is protected from the elements - a lick of paint will protect it from rain and sun. Neglecting this step could reduce the lifetime of your vertical garden as the wood could begin to decay.

Next, saw your planks to fit the frame. You will end up with three pieces - a short one for the top and two longer ones for the sides. 

The blocks will come next - these are the sections of wood used to attach the frame to the wall. As you will be using the long sides for this job, make sure you have long nails, around 15 cm.

Attach the planks to the garden frame using iron cramps and then turn the frame over to attach the top planks together using connecting strips.

Then secure your hessian to the frame. Do this in a similar way to stretching canvas across a frame, and make sure it is securely and tautly fastened with no wrinkles. 

The frame will need to be attached to your wall at four main points - the top two corners and the space half way down the middle of each side. The best way to find these spots is to mark them out using your frame, before you drill holes to put the plugs in.

You will also need an irrigation system that can provide moisture through the hessian layer and a way to fertilise the garden.

Use a razor blade to insert plants through the outer layer of fabric and get as much soil off the plant's root as possible. Insert this into the cut and use a staple gun to create a secure envelope around the plant.