Page 44 - Simply Veg 3.21

Vertical Growing
I have mentioned before about vertical growing in the magazine, usually in connection with growing plants indoors
on shelves mainly for the production of salad leaves, microgreens or similar crops. These are often grown in large sheds, warehouses or similar buildings but are also grown in disused air raid shelters under London. In this article I want to look at growing outdoors using vertical space that is often underutilised. Many gardeners with modern houses will have small gardens and the trend seems to be for small allotments with half and even quarter allotments now available. It is therefore even more important to make maximum use of space, which is of the premium, which is why it makes sense to use the vertical space by growing crops upwards rather than over the ground.
There are a range of crops that can be grown as vertical crops which I will look at later. The actual growing of the crops is the same as growing over the ground except some form of support is needed. The type of support depends on the crop being grown and can vary from the simple bamboo cane to wigwam structures and wires strained along rows. It is possible to use decorative supports like arches, obelisks or similar structures. If the growing site is alongside a wall or fence wires can be stretched either vertically or horizontally and fixed to the wall with vine eyes. Trellis is easy to fix to battens on a wall or fence and the plants trained
up. Other supports for in the garden are hazel poles, which look quite rustic, building reinforcing, weldmesh (metal or plastic) or similar materials that can be recycled. It is often worth looking in skips or recycling sites to see what is available.
Fruit trees and bushes can be trained easily along wires stretched along a wall
Apple ‘Falstaff’ columnar type
or between posts to make
a type of hedge to divide the garden. Whatever you are growing make sure the support is strong enough
to support the weight of the plants and any likely winds. It is surprising how often we seem to get fairly high winds in August when the plants are in full leaf and laden with crops. When in full leaf the
When in full leaf the plants have a lot of wind resistance and something has to give!
plants have a lot of wind resistance and something has to give!
When using vertical growing make full use of
any South facing walls and borders which can be used for tomatoes, peaches, nectarines or apricots. It is surprising how warm the area in front of a south facing wall can get even in spring
days and this makes a good site for the more delicate plants.
If you have no garden or allotment, plants can still be grown vertically in containers
as long as they receive sufficient feed and water. Ensure the container is of sufficient size and weight to stay upright and not blow over in the first breeze.
Vegetables that can be grown vertically include both runner and French beans of
44 Simply Vegetables
Apple ‘Golden Gate’ column type
Vertical planting