Vertical gardening does not have to be complicated, we’ve curated 25 vertical garden plans in this article to get you started. When you’re done browsing through the plans listed on this page, do not forget to check out our article on how to start vertical gardening.
Several factors must be put into consideration as you plan your vertical garden, is it going to be indoor or outdoor? What type of plants do you intend to grow in your vertical garden? Are you willing to spend some dollars on getting fancy items, or you would rather embark on a DIY project by turning what you already have into pots and other accessories that you would need in setting up the garden. We have considered all these factors in compiling this article, and by the end of the post, you should be adequately informed on the best plan for your vertical garden, based on your need, space availability and budget.
#1. Clay Pot Vertical Gardening:
This option is perfect for those with little balcony space. You can easily hang the clay pot from the roof allowing for optimum use of space. Using a strong steel connector, you can hang up to three “skypot” as described in detail in this article.
Aside from the cost of getting the sky clay pot and steel connector, the only reservation we have about this vertical garden plan is that it requires a significant amount of effort to set the garden up, but once you’re able to get past the initial setup phase, the possibility of what you can do with the hanging pot is numerous.
#2. Shoe Organizer Vertical Garden
You could create your vertical garden with that old shoe organizer you stopped using. A few bucks would even get you a new one. It is an awesome idea to maximize what little space you have in the garden, deck, or even kitchen to grow herbs and vegetables such as spinach and lettuces.
This tutorial tells you all you need to know about creating one including how to water the plants to get the best from them. And hey, you can hang your garden anywhere! While this is quite easy to set up, you might have a problem with the pouches coming unstitched from the combined weight of the soil and plants. To prevent this, simply reinforce the stitches before filling the pouches with your potting mix.
#3. Cinder Block Planter
This vertical garden using cinder blocks has many things going for it. It is inexpensive and has a laid-back sophistication that friends and family would fall in love with easily. All you need to create this is a yard/space, cinder blocks, potting soil, block adhesive, and metal screens or plates to glue to the bottom of the blocks.
This serves to keep the dirt inside the blocks. Like Benson explained here, you could play around with different cinder configurations to arrive at the final layout or shape. As well as a vertical planter for succulents and veggies, you could place it strategically to serve as a privacy screen in your yard.
#4. Soda Bottles Hanging Garden
This is nifty craftsmanship to recycle soda bottles into a cool vertical garden. The idea is pretty straightforward. Simply pack empty soda bottles with the potting mix and suspend them from your wall using a clothesline or any strong string. Don’t just take our word for it about how easy this is. Simply head over here for full details of how to beautify your wall with what would otherwise be thrown away as trash.
#5. Steel Mesh Vertical Wall Planter
With this vertical wall planter, your options are limitless. The basic idea is to have a wall planter that can be adjusted to fit any wall no matter the size of the wall. And with the steel mesh, you could have as many succulents and herbs as you want. All you need are small planters attached to the steel mesh using S-hooks.
You can test your decorative skills by using pots or containers of different colors. Even the steel mesh doesn’t have to be a single color. Check out the tutorial for the step-by-step tutorial on how you could repurpose a plain steel mesh to improve the decor of a bare wall and room.
#6. Brass Ring Hanging Garden
This hanging garden created from gold-plated brass hoops, pinewood, screw eye hooks, planters, and other supplies typifies what we love about most DIY projects: they are easy. In about 10 minutes or even less, you could have a vertical garden hanging anywhere you want including your private reading space or workstation at home. According to the detailed tutorial, you could try different planters until you hit on the perfect one for you. And don’t let the low natural light of your space stop you, several faux succulents thrive in such conditions.
#7. Modern Kitchen Vertical Garden
We love how Michael transformed his kitchen here. He created a spectacular kitchen herb vertical garden with black 4″ ceramic wall planters. The black planters and growing herbs are the perfect contrast to the white wall to create a unique kitchen with a modernist touch. If you love using herbs to cook, this is a neat idea to have your herbs at arm’s reach while cooking. Nothing stops you from customizing this herb garden by getting planters that match your kitchen decor. In less than an hour, you should have your planters ready to receive the potting mix. To avoid excess water staining the walls, get planters with saucers underneath to collect the draining water.
#8. Stand-alone Vertical Garden Wall
This vertical garden plan can take over 30 terra cotta pots. But the number would depend on the size of your pots and the dimensions of the wall. You can either go bigger or smaller depending on your space. Created by attaching hex or chicken wire netting to a wooden frame, it’s easy to fall in love with a simple wall garden concept that doesn’t block the view of what’s behind. Don’t forget to locate your wall garden where it can get the best possible sunlight daily.
#9. Stacked Pots Vertical Garden with Bird Bath
This is a very adorable vertical garden idea incorporating a birdbath at the top. It might look complicated but as shown here, it is a pretty straightforward project as long as you don’t mind a little elbow grease. You can choose to make it as high as you want which means more or even larger pots. With a flexible project like this, you should indulge your creativity and paint the pots in different colors. The tough part might be getting a discarded globe to use as the birdbath and cutting the rebar to your preferred length especially if you don’t have a hacksaw. It shouldn’t be hard to improvise when it comes to the globe and get someone to cut the rebar.
#10. Copper Pipe Hanging Planter
Never discount the power of simple creativity to constantly amaze. This project adds a bit of flair with the ‘Grow Up’ sign – a simple, creative pun underlying what vertical gardening is all about. You just have to acknowledge the cool but breathtaking beauty of the garden. Laura at A Beautiful Mess walks you through the tutorial. There is nothing complex and you should be over and done with it in less than a couple of hours. Make sure the wall you pick is strong enough to hold the weight of the pots. You don’t want crumbling wall plaster on your floor as the wall’s structural integrity is slowly compromised.
#11. Pallet Vertical Gardening
There are several variations of vertical gardening using old warehouse pallets. This is another inexpensive plan and the tutorial here explains how to get it done. You could choose to paint the pallets in colors that would complement your home or garden.
Standing the pallets upright and using them as planter boxes, you could also incorporate flower pots to beautify the space. The planters can take edible veggies including lettuce varieties, basil, and cherry tomatoes.
#12. Stacked Pots Herb Tower
With this DIY vertical garden, Martha Steward’s guide is simply saying you don’t need drills, nails, bolts, and other supplies to create an awesome vertical garden. Just your pots and potting mix are all that is required to plant as many herbs as there are layers in the tower.
This involves simply placing flower or garden pots of different sizes on top of each other. Each pot contains an inverted inner pot that acts as a support for the pot on the next upper layer. Even the smallest of spaces can accommodate this simple and practical vertical garden.
#13. Vertical Spiral Garden
There are many takeaways from this vertical gardening project. For instance, this could be your chance to learn how to build a gabion wall. In this case, though, it is going to be a spiral-shaped wall to host your elegant and unique herb garden. Be prepared for lots of grunt work, but the basic design and construction are really straightforward. You could make your spiral as high as you desire but that ultimately depends on the space and perhaps how much time you are prepared to put into the project. Check out the guide for more details on how to get this eye-catching herb spiral going.
#14. Pyramid Tower Vertical Garden
A vertical garden doesn’t get any better than a pyramid tower for growing fresh crops such as strawberry and lettuce. While this counts as one of the best DIY vertical garden plan to embark on when gardening space is a problem, it might require a certain level of skills and proficiency with the tools to get it right. If working with these types of tools isn’t your thing, you could always have an expert (for a fee of course) construct the tower for you if your determination to get one far exceeds your DIY talents. Getting the supplies would set you back a couple of hundred bucks but it would be a worthwhile investment. If you are comfortable handling tools, here over here for the full guide for you.
#15. Hanging Succulent Wreath Garden
Vertical gardening ideas take a stunning turn with this living wreath that you could hang anywhere indoors or outdoors. It is all about using wreath frames coupled together with wires, sheet moss, plant pruners, floral wire/pins, and a bit of patience. Of course, you need plants, succulents preferably, and potting mix to bring everything together to live. You could create as many wreaths as you want to hang in various spots around the house. You’d be surprised how no two wreaths look the same with each one taking on a different personality when the plants are in full bloom. Read the detailed ‘how-to’ is here
#16. Bookshelf Herb Garden
If you can spare a couple of hours on any given Saturday, you could invest the time in constructing a vertical garden using everyday supplies you can get from the nearest Home Depot or hardware store. Designed like a bookshelf leaning against a wall, it is about mounting troughs made of Cedar to wooden sides. You could add a touch of earthiness to the appearance by using non-toxic stain on the outside. As you’ll discover from the detailed DIY guide, you would need at least a medium-level proficiency with different types of DIY tools.
#17. Wooden Trellis Vertical Container Garden
With S-hooks, 1×1 pieces of wood cut to the required length, metal buckets with handles, and other DIY tools, you are nicely set to add this awesome vertical planter to your garden. This plan is easy; cutting and nailing together the lumbar pieces to construct the support for the metal buckets are probably the hardest tasks. If you want to make this outstanding and much more than a trellis supporting metal buckets, you could paint it with a color that complements the wall it leans on and even play around with buckets of different colors. Of course, the plants in full bloom would be the last piece of the puzzle in creating a colorful space. Get the detailed instructions here.
#18. Wood Panels Vertical Pot Garden
Like most creative vertical garden plans, a large chunk of the time would be spent choosing a great color scheme and types of herbs and veggies to plant. This Brooklyn Limestone tutorial used a combination of blue paint and a gray topcoat. Choose color shades you prefer including your preferred colors for the terra cotta pots. This would make a great backdrop anywhere in your yard. As long as there is enough sunshine daily, the plants would thrive.
#19. Mason Jar Vertical Herb Garden
This is a rustic vertical gardening plan that is sure to add personality to any blank wall indoors. Mason jars are popular indoor planters. Most households have several sitting in the basement, attic, or garage. In the DIY guide, you’d also need items like pipe clamps, screwdrivers, potting mix, nails, etc. These are just common items you can source easily and cheaply from most hardware stores. The main problem here could be drainage. You could resolve this by lining the bottom of the jars with pebbles and charcoal. And refreshing the soil with a new one after a couple of years is highly recommended.
#20. Air Control Tower Vertical Garden
This Sunset’s DIY vertical garden project designed like an airport control tower would cost about $150 if you are DIYing it. And about double that amount to get an already built one. Made from plate steel strips and mesh insets, it can be customized for even the smallest yards. The metal basin at the top to trap water for irrigation is a nice touch. To prevent the tower from toppling, the base is reinforced with sturdy concrete. Your completed tower would be perfect for growing lightweight edibles such as herbs, strawberries, lettuce, etc.
#21. Colander Herb Garden
This is another vertical garden plan that allows you to grow your herbs anywhere, especially if space for growing crops is a challenge. With the colander’s holes, you don’t have to worry about soil aeration and drainage. But you’d need to line the bottom of each colander with coffee filters to keep the potting mix inside. There are many versions of this project online and this is one of the easiest. All you have to do is suspend the colanders (the size and number of colanders depend on you) from a nail or hook on the wall.
#22. Fence Vertical Garden
These instructions on creating a colorful fence garden from a bland wooden fence using pot planters include several cool images. You’ve got no excuse not to get it right at the first attempt. You would need colored terra cotta pots (painting the pots yourself is an option), hangers for the pots, wood screws, and other supplies that you can find at home. Once you are done hanging the pots, all that remains is to decide what to plant and getting the potting mix.
#24. Modular Vertical Vegetable Garden
If you like things compact and tidy, how about this super cool vertical garden plan for growing vegetables and herbs. It is easy to figure out that this would be great anywhere it’s installed as long as there is a free wall space or fence to attach it to. That said, this might take a while to build but the effort would be worthwhile. To save cost, you can use treated wood instead of cedar. By evenly spacing your 1x3s across the bottom of each planter box, the soil can have proper drainage. The great thing about this project is that you can conveniently expand it to accommodate more plants. The easy-to-understand tutorial can be found here.
#25. Bamboo Trellis Vertical Garden
Sometimes simple vertical garden plans are the most effective and practical. This bamboo trellis vertical garden is the essence of practical and effective. Simply lash some pieces of bamboo together at the top end and spread out the bottom to form a teepee structure. To keep the structure stable, push or bury the bottom of each pole into the soil. Annual vines and beans can be trained to climb up it. This is a pretty straightforward plan but this tutorial at Artful Parent shows the various possibilities linked to the project.
Other Vertical Gardening Articles:
How To Grow Zucchini Vertically (Pots, Cage & Square Foot Garden)
Best Vegetables for Vertical Gardening
How to Start Vertical Gardening: Simple Guide For Beginners
