It’s time to take your vegetable gardening to the next level.
Yes, we mean that quite literally, up trellises and strings, around poles and fences, and in hanging baskets and window boxes.
If you’re short on space and want to grow things, vegetables especially, you can vastly expand your garden by going vertical. Benefits, however, go far beyond that.
Off-ground plants often enjoy more hours of much-needed sunlight, fewer weeds and improved air circulation, which can help prevent disease.
There is a learning curve to growing up, of course.
We consulted Everett master gardeners Rob and Richelle Taylor, who created a new vertical vegetable display at the master gardeners’ demonstration garden at Jennings Memorial Park in Marysville.
“The whole idea is a small footprint, which most homes have nowadays,” Rob Taylor said. “You can still have good production.”
Though there are all sorts of expensive and newfangled devices on the market, the Taylors have made their own vertical-veggie systems for far less.
It may be too late to steal ideas for this year’s crops, but tour the vertical display, now in its prime, to gather ideas for next spring.
Pea tunnel
The Taylors’ largest vertical creation is a long arch made of hog wire fencing from a farm supply store. They planted peas on each side in early spring, and now the plants are so tall, they almost meet in the middle, creating a tunnel effect. The Taylors also planted pole beans and a second sowing of peas to keep the structure green and growing as the early spring peas fade.
Pole beans can climb just about anything with their large twisting vines, but peas’ tiny tendrils require twine or thin wires for clinging.
When choosing pea and bean varieties, look for the tallest types. Many can grow up to 8 feet. Avoid so-called bush types.
Scarlet runner beans are a common top pick for beans because they grow, seemingly, to infinity and also attract hummingbirds when they flower.
Pumpkins on a trellis
Pumpkins are notorious for eating up precious space in small gardens. One seed can easily produce more than 10 feet of pumpkin vine.
Though pumpkins aren’t natural climbers because of the weight, Rob Taylor was able to train small and medium varieties, such as New England Pie and Cinderella, to climb by threading the vines in and out of the bamboo poles on a homemade trellis.
He makes adjustments every few days to keep the vines on track. Though some gardeners use slings to support large pumpkins, Rob Taylor has found most vines become resilient enough to hold their own. If a vine looks weak, he’ll tie it to the trellis.
Tomato buckets
The Taylors cut holes in the bottom of 5-gallon buckets and planted small tomato starts upside down. They hung the buckets from 3-inch-diameter posts planted 3 feet deep in the ground.
Then, using shelving supports and small S-hooks, they hung the pots by the bucket handles, filled them with lightweight potting soil, not dirt, and planted nasturtium and basil in the tops.
“You get double duty,” Richelle Taylor said, adding that nasturtiums repel aphids and basil keeps hookworms away.
Potato box
Spuds are space hogs when planted in a traditional garden, and they can leave behind tiny pieces of potato, making the crop painfully persistent.
The Taylors copied a system from Irish Eyes Garden Seeds of Ellensburg designed to grow 100 pounds of potatoes in just 4 square feet.
They built a small wood frame, big enough to hold a few plants. Each time the plants grew about a foot above the soil, the Taylors covered about a third of the new growth with soil and left the rest exposed, adding boards as they went to hold in the new dirt.
New potatoes will form on the branches buried in the soil.
Any similarly sized container would work for growing potatoes this way — a whiskey barrel, a garbage can or a plastic compost bin — provided it has enough holes for good drainage.
Window boxes
These cute small boxes can perch on simple, homemade frames. The Taylors made three off-ground, extra-long boxes and placed them on supports next to a fence for lettuce, radish, carrots and onions.
Break tradition
Vertical gardening is a whimsical act without hard and fast rules. Rob Taylor got started by growing pumpkins through their trees at home to amuse their grandkids.
“Use your imagination,” Richelle Taylor said. “See what you can come up with. Have fun.”
Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037, sjackson@heraldnet.com
Supplies
Make your own: Building your own supports and structures is cheaper. Prowl around a garden center, hardware store or farm supply store for materials.
Just buy it: See www.gardeners.com and click on vegetable gardening, then vegetable supports, to find trellises, bean towers and A-frame supports, plus soft ties and twine.
Get fancy: Harvest Highrise ($100) is a modular PVC structure 45-by-45-inches square and 84 inches tall. It’s meant to fit into a raised bed. It comes with two ground anchors, 200 feet of cord for climbers, 100 rubber vine anchors and 10 hook-and-hammock suspension systems for heavy fruit.
It is recommended for squash, beans, cucumbers, pumpkins and melons, but can be used with any vine crop. See www.gardensup.com or call 801-599-1137 for details.
See the garden
Visitors can tour the Snohomish County Master Gardeners’ demonstration garden at Jennings Memorial Park, which includes vertical displays, from 8 a.m. until dusk daily at 6915 Armar Road, Marysville. Master gardeners are available to answer questions from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays through September at the garden. See snohomish.wsu.edu/mg/gardemo.htm or call the master gardener hot line 425-357-6010 for more information.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
