If you are short on space or have an unsightly area of your fencing, walls or outhouses that you'd like to regenerate, why not consider planting a garden vertically? These beautiful living walls can also be introduced inside your home if you're feeling bold.
There are many, many ways to start building your vertical garden and you need to start with your planting area - the hardware if you like. You can buy frames and contraptions that are built specifically for this purpose or you can upcycle old pallets or fashion your own from bamboo and other strong supports. The aim is to have a construct that holds plants in pots or will be strong enough to take small bays full of compost.
You can also have pots on hooks or just on rows of shelves. However you choose to design yours, keep it simple, make it well and remember to factor in the water you'll be using in it - both for its weight and drainage.
You might want to include plastic sheeting behind the frame itself to keep water off the wall. And another nice option is an automatic irrigation system although you can opt for a good old-fashioned manual approach to watering which can be very therapeutic!
Choose plants that suit the aspect of your vertical area. If it has plenty of sun then you can choose sun-worshipping plants but if its in the shade, choose accordingly. You could include edibles such as vegetable plants, herbs or fruiting vines. Having a display of different colours of greenery is also really effective.
Remember that some plants will grow outwards and then droop down which looks lovely but can affect the plants below so have some fun experimenting with the designing of your vertical garden. We'd love to see your photos so please send them in!