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Forget your boring old flowerbeds. Instead, build an edifice to your green thumb with a vertical garden tower!
With just a few lengths of PVC pipe and some elbow grease, you can create indoor gardens that will grow year-round in any space. These DIY projects are perfect for urban dwellers who don’t have room for traditional outdoor gardens or even just someone looking to spruce up their living spaces with something beautiful. So what are you waiting for?
Read on to find out how easy it is to build these fashionable designs yourself!
Why gardens are so important to the environment
We’ve all heard it before, but it bears repeating: green spaces clean the air and improve mental health.
It may seem like a daunting task to transform your concrete jungle into a lush garden, but vertical gardens are one of the easiest ways to turn your space green. There are many DIY projects for creating indoor gardens, but by far, the easiest method is to make a tower garden that you can quickly and easily move around since it’s lightweight.
Vertical gardens are also easy to maintain; surprisingly, they don’t require much workforce once you set up the vertical space. All you need to do is water the plants every few days and follow your sunlight schedule for your area.
The benefits of vertical gardens
Vertical gardens take up little floor space and require very little upkeep. They’re also portable, meaning you can easily move them to any part of your home.
They create a stunning focal point in your landscaping and improve your home’s air quality (think urban jungle).
Vertical gardens are also natural oxygen replenishers, which means they filter the air in your home. And if you know anything about dirty air, you know this is something to get excited about!
They can be as simple as a living wall or as intricate as a greenhouse garden filled with flowers and vegetables.
Best of all, no matter how small your indoor space, you can create a garden that will grow fresh herbs and vegetables for your kitchen. The future is in your hands—literally.
All you need are some simple supplies from the hardware store!
How they’re taking over cities and homes
Vertical gardens are quickly becoming popular for landscaping because they’re beautiful, easy to recreate, and use minimal floor space. They’re perfect for people who lack outdoor space or anyone looking to spruce up their indoor areas.
Vertical gardens are taking over cities worldwide because of their ability to bring life and color to otherwise drab concrete. They’re also quickly becoming popular in cafes, restaurants, hotels—anywhere people gather for food or fun!
You can purchase pre-made vertical garden planters in a variety of models.
Here’s a few of our recommendations.
Garraí Vertical Garden Planter
Amazing Creation Stackable Planter
6ft Freestanding Elevated Planter
If you’re feeling brave and ready to tackle a wood project of your own, here are the basics of what you’ll need to do to build your garden tower!
What you need to build a vertical garden
All you need to create the perfect garden in a tower are some basic components:
- A base structure (usually made of wood)
- The container (most people use PVC pipes because it’s lightweight and easy to connect, but if you want something more sustainable, you can use jars instead)
- A liner (the most common material is plastic, but you can use fabric or even rice bags if you want)
- Soil and plants (you can get all-organic composts and seeds online or at your local garden center)
How to build a vertical tower garden
- Start by measuring the length of your container.
- Cut the base structure to accommodate this measurement, making sure you leave enough room at the top for a lip.
- Connect four pieces of PVC pipe together to make an x shape.
- Make sure all flanges are tightly pressed together before adding another piece onto it or else it won’t be sturdy enough to hold your weight.
- Repeat this step for all four x-shaped legs and set up the base by placing it on top of the wood.
- Now you need to make sure it’s balanced, so measure out where each pipe will sit in relation to the lip of the container. Once they’re evenly distributed, mark where you need to make a hole for the next round of pipes.
- Cut out the marks you made and use a hole saw drill bit to bore through the PVC pipe.
- Once this is done, add another row of four pieces of PVC pipe onto each leg, making sure they’re level with one another.
- Repeat adding the legs until you reach the top.
- Add a PVC flange to connect your piping together on each level. You can add as many legs as you want, depending on how long and spacious you’d like your tower garden to be!
Once the frame is complete, all that’s left is to attach a lip around the inside of your container. This will be used so the soil and plants can sit on top.
Now all you have to do is add the soil and plants!
Vertical gardens need not be permanent fixtures in your home. All you need is a sturdy tripod or four legs to make it as mobile as you like. You can add casters to the bottom to make it easier to move around.
Depending on how high your ceiling is, you can choose to make your garden vertical or horizontal. A great thing about vertical gardens is that you can move them around anytime, anywhere, since they’re easy to transport.
How to care for your new garden tower
The most important thing you need to remember is that your vertical garden needs sunlight! Without it, the only thing your tower will grow is some sad, wilted plants.
Go ahead and set up this fantastic accessory in any living room area with an outlet nearby. You can even create a window sill garden or plant stand if you don’t want to put your plant on the floor.
Remember to water it now and then, but make sure not to overwater because that can lead to mold.
Once every ten days, you can also fertilize your plants on top of giving them a good, healthy drink. Since you’ll be watering it so often, the nutrients in the soil will have plenty of chances to absorb water and stay rich for your plants!
And that’s all there is to it! That’s how easy it is to build a vertical garden tower with things you probably already have at home.
The best plants for a vertical garden or tower
There are a variety of plants that can be great for vertical garden towers, but since we’re focusing on low-light areas, you’ll want to stick with succulents. They’re hardy and don’t need as much light or water as other plants as tomatoes or peppers do. Here’s a list of the best ones:
Aloe Vera
Aloe vera treats cuts and burns, but did you know it’s also a great houseplant? It’ll be happy in poor light conditions and dry soil, making it the perfect plant for your tower garden. It will grow fast, so make sure to trim off any excess large leaves regularly so they don’t take over the whole garden tower.
Dieffenbachia (Dumb Cane)
Dumb Cane is an extraordinarily resilient and easy-to-care-for plant that is excellent for decorating any living space. They’re also perfect in your vertical garden since they can grow up to three feet tall and five feet wide! Ensure you keep them away from pets and small children since they can be toxic.
Spider plants
Great for your tower garden, spider plants are plants that you can grow from cuttings and take root in water or soil! They’re perfect for beginners because they don’t require much watering or bright light conditions to survive, but keep an eye out for pests since they’re easy to attract.
Cacti and Succulents
By far the easiest houseplant you can grow, cacti and succulents do not need much care! They’re perfect for your tower since they don’t take up much space and resist well in dry conditions. Keep them out of reach from pets and children, so they don’t accidentally ingest any of their spikes!
Orchids
Orchids are unique houseplants because they come in various exotic colors and shapes. They’re perfect for your vertical garden since they don’t need much water or sunlight, but make sure to put them away from pets and children because the soil can be toxic if ingested.
Lettuces
Packed with vitamins, lettuces are great for salad lovers everywhere! They require almost no maintenance, which is perfect for your tower garden since you don’t want to be stuck taking care of plants all the time. They also grow very quickly, so they won’t take up much space in your garden or house, even though they can get pretty tall!
Radishes
Radishes are great for all tower gardeners since they grow tall (four to five inches tall) but don’t take up too much space. You can also grow dozens at a time since they’ll grow back after you’ve harvested them!
Flowers
Flowers aren’t just for meadows, flower pots, and ceremonial occasions; they’re great in any vertical garden!
You can never go wrong with any of these plants for your tower garden, but you can also get creative and try out new ones so long as they meet the requirements of being low-light!
Ready to start your own vertical garden?
With the information in this blog, you will now have the basic knowledge necessary to get started with vertical gardening. Understanding the basics of vertical garden towers doesn’t take much and anyone can get started with a simple project like this using materials commonly found in the home.