Small Space Gardening Solutions | Vertical Gardens Brisbane
Vertical gardens are a perfect solution for greening courtyards and balconies – they jazz up boring walls and act as a focal point to draw the eye through a space. Where space is limited, green walls are a brilliant way to introduce plants into a courtyard or balcony where there is no room for a conventional garden or pot.
Vertical gardens are also an effective foil for an unsightly boundary fence and can accomplish an effect that planters and troughs alone cannot. In addition, they elevate plants out of reach of small children and pets. Windows often look out to unattractive fences where there is not enough room to plant a hedge. Planting a vertical garden along a boundary fence provides a wall of green that displays more interest than a hedge, takes up less space and provides a lush outlook from inside the home.
Vertical gardens are a terrific tool for building drama and interest where there was none before. They are able to grab your attention and draw you through a space.
They are ideal for busy people as they require as little of your time as a garden pot – they will thrive with regular watering and feeding but otherwise are very undemanding. When space is limited, green walls are brilliant ways to inject a natural element.
When planting a vertical garden I think of the composition; like an artist choosing a paint colour, plants are my palette. Trailing plants, such as ivy, work well around the frame to disguise the edges of the structure. Philodendron ‘Xanadu’ and Walking Iris, fill the vertical garden with lushness and texture, while a few well-placed bromeliads or luxurious orchids draw your eye with their pops of colour. As long as you choose plants for the right position, and with similar needs, there is no right or wrong way to design your vertical garden.
The concept of the vertical garden has a history reaching as far back as the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Over the centuries gardeners and designers have employed tools like pergolas, hanging baskets, archways, and wires to extend gardens upwards. The vertical garden fills a modern-day need, to provide space-saving options for gardening. We have a desire to surround ourselves with gardens; they bring us a sense of peace, serenity and connection with the natural world. I have three vertical gardens. The one in my studio is the wildest. It is reminiscent of the plants in the film The Day of the Triffids. Huge Elephant Ears (Alocasia) are leaping out of the pocket and the Devil’s Ivy (Pothos) now touches the floor. I keep threatening to replant it, but deep down I love it. It changes and grows and connects me to the greater landscape like no ordinary pot plant ever could.
Happy Gardening xjo
