A vertical garden is a living wall. Whether you refer to them as wall gardens or vertical gardens, these can be wonderful and appealing opportunities for homeowners with restricted backyard space. They have the power to capture the imagination, they defy gravity, they link us with older civilizations and most importantly create aesthetic appeal where it was formerly absent.

Vertical gardens can be large or small, as with any garden dimension.  A vertical garden design can cover an entire wall or multiple walls in a courtyard. Vertical gardens are becoming very popular for inner city properties with tiny backyards.  As a New York City garden designer, I have ample opportunity to create these living walls to disguise unattractive views, erect privacy screens or create a focal point in a small garden design.

The most common vertical wall system (basic and time-tested) is to grow vines up a vertical wall.  There are several very effective trellis systems, from the basic wood or plastic trellis you could purchase at a Home Depot or Lowe’s – to more sophisticated heavy gauge, plastic coated or galvanized panel trellis systems.

A conventional system for gardeners is to run small gauge wire across a span of wall and much like you would on the back of a picture frame, put galvanized screw eyes into a wall and attach the wire (or fishing line) to span the width.  Depending on the plant and what you choose to accomplish with its growth you can install these in parallel lines or create a grid pattern for the vines to spread on.

A variation of vertical gardens (as opposed to growing vines up a wall) is hanging pots with slits up the sides (common in several Mediterranean countries) or pots on stands or frames. These pots and containers are specially designed to attach to vertical walls or fences. There are more modern systems which use various bags of growing media that are attached to the wall into which the plants are sown. Other systems use specially designed plastic vertical pots that are designed for wall gardens. Hydroponic vertical gardens have become popular in the last ten years. Some of these vertical gardens are “cutting edge,” but a word of caution …these are higher maintenance and typically more costly.

In designing a vegetable garden it is important to take advantage of every opportunity to maximize your space. Even when people have the space, many prefer the convenience of an herb or vegetable garden at eye, or waist level which is much easier to tend and harvest. A vertical garden design increases your yield per square foot because you can fit more plants into the garden! Some people like the idea of being able to grow herbs or vegetables on a building wall, although care must be taken not to damage the existing structure. Additionally, vertical gardens increase accessibility for gardeners with disabilities or limitations because they can tend and pick from a chair or garden seat.

Here are the many benefits to vertical gardening:

• Aesthetic - first and foremost, whether it be a residential or public space garden design

• Improvement of Air quality – we all remember from grade school that one of the many benefits of plants is that they clean the air. China needs a few of these!

• Noise reduction – plants buffer sounds, reduce sound refraction

• Reduction of the “Urban Heat Island Effect” (a phenomenon caused by the centralized heat in urban cities caused by vehicle exhaust, air conditioners, and massive quantities of heat harboring in asphalt and concrete.)

• Reduce energy demand on buildings due to shading / introduction of microclimate. Living walls and green roofs reduce air-conditioning requirements and energy consumption of urban buildings through cooling the city.

• Stormwater absorption – it slows down the run-off effect of heavy rains from roofs

• Provide habitat for birds, their food sources and pollinators.

• Biophilia hypothesis – the inherent urge to affiliate with other living systems

• Potential for food production – whether latticing vegetables or espaliering fruit trees

• Greenery soothes your eyes. When you spend time with plants, not only do you feel relaxed and rejuvenated, but it also takes your mind off everyday worries and troubles. Any type of gardening is known to be a stress release. There is a natural human proclivity towards “natural” scenery in which vegetation is present – particularly in urban settings where the immediate environment is otherwise devoid of such luxuries

• From a gardener’s perspective, you are maximizing your space with minimal exposed soil, THEREFORE LIMITING THE WEEDING!

The keys to a successful vertical garden is having enough growing media for the plants and making sure that they can be watered efficiently and that the soil does not dry out quickly. Another key to a success (as in any garden design) is matching plants to the location of the garden and the variables associated with the garden's location such as sun, shade, wind, the plants needs, culture, size. Not all plants are suitable for vertical gardens.

Watering using irrigation systems are critical to the success of the garden.  Many of the pot systems are stacked so that water drains down from one pot to the next one below it.  As with any other types of gardening, vertical gardening must be carried out on a site-specific basis

Most vertical gardens need watering every day, except in wet and cold weather. Watering systems such as drippers are ideal to keep the plants properly hydrated.

Many high-tech vertical garden systems can be very expensive and cost many thousands of dollars to install, especially to retrofit new gardens into older properties. Vertical gardens are less costly when they are built into the design of the house and yard when it is first constructed.  However there are some low tech options such as Dripworks that is suited both to the DIY and professional landscaper.

Vertical gardens in cities are becoming trendy, as people love the way vertical gardens soften the wall, reduce heat and reflection, and provide a lush modern and contemporary look to a property.  You can find many vertical gardens in a New York City or Brooklyn garden design.