Best Vertical Garden Plants for Space-Saving Greenery

With their lush foliage and innovative designs, vertical gardens are a wonderful way to bring nature into urban settings and to maximise the use of limited space. Whether fixed to a wall or freestanding, vertical gardens can transform balconies, patios, and even interior spaces with a vertical splash of green.

Choosing plants for your vertical garden is fun, yet it requires consideration of factors such as exposure to sunlight, watering needs, and the size of your plants.

What are the Best Vertical Garden Plants for Your Home?

The best vertical garden plants include succulents like crassula and echeveria which are popular for their low maintenance and striking appearance, while certain vine species can provide dramatic blossoms and foliage.

When it comes to vegetables, pole beans, sweet potatoes and tomatoes are an excellent choice for vertical vegetable gardens.

Key Takeaways

• Vertical gardens offer a creative solution to add a dash of greenery into compact or urban areas.
• Selecting the right plants is crucial and depends on factors such as sunlight, maintenance levels and maturity.
• Vines and succulents are commonly chosen for vertical gardens for their beauty and low maintenance.

Read on to discover more about the best vertical garden plants to grow at home!

Table of Contents: Best Vertical Garden Plants

Best Vertical Garden Plants: An Overview

Whether you’re working with a cosy balcony or a small backyard, vertical gardening is definitely a good solution to make your area look beautiful and to grow your own fruit and vegetables.

In this section, let’s take a closer look at the benefits of vertical gardening along with the types of vertical gardens to consider.

Benefits of Vertical Gardening

Vertical gardening is a real space-saver, allowing you to cultivate a variety of plants without eating up your precious floor area.

It’s also a brilliant approach to create a green wall, which can act as a natural air filter, enhancing both your garden’s beauty and your own well-being.

With systems like drip irrigation, plant care becomes efficient, conserving water and centralising maintenance. Essentially, vertical gardens mean you can make the most of your space and are a great way to uplift small, urban outdoor spaces.

Types of Vertical Gardens

There are a ton of options when designing your upward garden. For example, modular systems make it manageable to build living walls, which are suitable for everything from fresh herbs that need bright light, to air plants that thrive in indirect sunlight. 

Outdoor vertical gardens often use vertical structures like trellises, offering support for climbing plants like sweet peas or black-eyed susan vine.

Another option is low-maintenance plants with shallow roots – or succulents from South Africa.

When it comes to indoor vertical gardens, spider plants and golden pothos, are two plants that work well because they don’t need to be watered as much.

Selecting the Best Vertical Garden Plants

When choosing the best vertical garden plants, you’ll need to consider plant selection along with suitable plant varieties.

Considerations for Plant Selection

When starting your vertical gardening journey, you’ll need to consider the amount of light available.

Plants requiring full sun won’t flourish in a shadowed area, while those that thrive in partial shade probably wouldn’t suit a sun-drenched balcony.

Also, consider water usage – for example, a drip irrigation system is efficient for a living wall. Also, remember that good drainage and fertile, moist soil are pivotal.

• Space: opt for plants with shallow roots or consider installing a modular system tailored to different types of plants.
• Maintenance: if you don’t have a ton of time, low-maintenance plants like snake plants or the hardy golden pothos may be ideal plants for your setup.
• Seasonality: will you choose annual flowers or perennial vines? Your growing season could affect the long-term appearance and upkeep of your garden.

Suitable Plant Varieties

Here are some suitable plant varieties to keep in mind:

• Florals: black-eyed Susan vine and morning glory offer different colours and textures as annual vines.
• Succulents: an excellent choice for vertical gardens due to their adaptability and low maintenance requirements. Their ability to store water in their leaves allows them to thrive in vertical environments with limited soil space.
• Foliage: add a cascade of large leaves with English ivy or consider the Boston fern for high humidity areas.
• Vegetables: pole beans and sweet potatoes can work in a vertical vegetable gardens, while tomatoes can thrive in well-drained soil.

Additionally, in bright light, the vibrant lipstick plant could be an excellent choice, while succulents and ferns can manage well in partial shade, so a more forgiving option for indoor gardens.

Whether it’s a historic homage to the hanging gardens of Babylon a practical approach to making the most of your vertical space, or even a hydroponics vertical garden, selecting the right plants is paramount and can make your vertical garden a great way to add lush greenery to your small space.

Designing Vertical Gardens

Creating your vertical garden involves two primary considerations: the support structures you’ll use and the aesthetic look you wish to achieve. These are crucial to ensure your vertical garden is both functional and beautiful.

Structural Elements and Containers

In vertical gardening, choosing the right structural elements and containers means your plants have the support they need.

For full sun exposure, select materials that can withstand heat, such as powder-coated metal frameworks.

When aiming to grow a variety of best plants for a small space, there are a few options to consider:

• A modular system can be great! This allows for flexibility as plants grow or as seasons change.
• Vertical wall gardens make striking use of vertical space.
• With a vertical planter, options like sweet potatoes or pole beans become viable.
• Tiered planters are very popular and created when four tiers are stacked on top of them.
• Trellises are an excellent choice for climbing plants. They can be fixed to your wall and look very attractive as well!

There are many other types of vertical garden containers you can use, just make sure that they suit your plants because they need varying levels of support.

Aesthetic Considerations

One of the key points of a vertical garden is to make your space look pretty. Whether creating an edible garden with sweet potatoes and fresh herbs, or a decorative display featuring flowers, indoor vertical gardens can be just as much about beauty as utility. 

When selecting plants, consider the different colours and textures they bring to your garden.

To add depth, mix leafy plants with those having large leaves or vibrant flowers, adjusting for the amount of light available and choosing low maintenance plants if you’re less experienced.

Remember, outdoor vertical garden designs should align with the natural orientation of your garden to make the most of sunlight.

Best Vertical Garden Plants: Maintenance

When tending to your vertical garden, proper watering techniques and nutrient management are important for the health and growth of your plants.

Watering Techniques

Hand watering: this is the simplest method, ideal for small vertical gardens. You’ll need to be vigilant about the moisture level, watering only when necessary to prevent overwatering.

Drip irrigation: this is a more efficient system for larger setups. Installing a drip irrigation system ensures that water is delivered directly to the roots with minimal waste.

Nutrient Management

Fertilisers: select a balanced fertiliser suitable for the plants in your vertical garden. Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines strictly to avoid over-fertilisation, which can harm your plants.

Compost: adding compost can slowly release nutrients and promote a healthy growing environment. You may opt to add a thin layer of compost to the top of your planters.

Best Vertical Garden Plants: Common Challenges and Solutions

When embarking on your vertical gardening adventure, you’ll encounter a few hurdles. Understanding these challenges and learning how to tackle them can ensure your vertical garden thrives.

Pest Control

One of the most common issues you might face is pest infestation. These unwelcome guests can range from tiny aphids to snails, and they can be quite tenacious.

To manage pests, it’s critical to inspect your plants regularly for any signs of damage or the pests themselves.

Preventive measures include introducing beneficial insects like ladybirds. Using neem oil or insecticidal soaps can help keep the pests at bay.

Another effective strategy is the use of physical barriers, like nets or floating row covers, which can prevent pests from reaching your plants in the first place!

Space Optimisation

Maximising the limited space in a vertical garden is another hurdle to overcome.

As mentioned earlier, to optimise space you’ll need to select compact plant varieties and pay attention to the vertical spacing between your plants.

Best Vertical Garden Plants: Final Thoughts

When selecting ideal plants for your vertical gardening project, the good news is that a small property and outdoor space doesn’t have to limit your green aspirations!

With the right plants and structure, your vertical gardening efforts can transform parts of your home into a thriving green hub, with much less water usage and soil than traditional gardens require.

Even in community gardens, vertical gardening is a fun way to maximise space. Just make sure you assess the amount of light your garden gets and that you choose the best containers and vertical structures available.

You may want to opt for low-maintenance plants because they can be easier to manage, especially if you live a hectic urban life.

Whatever you opt for, make sure you enjoy creating your garden. After all, vertical gardening is a wonderfully therapeutic exercise that can bring a lot of joy – wherever you happen to live.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)