Vertical gardens Archives - The Micro Gardener

New Season Garden Planting Tips

Have you ever experienced unhealthy plants? A poor harvest … or worse, no harvest at all? This may be due to a lack of preparation. Before planting, is the ideal time to prepare and reinvigorate your soil to avoid disappointment.

Creating healthy soil is one of the key factors to focus on before you begin planting. It’s unlikely plants will grow well in ‘dead dirt’!

“Organic matter, nutrients, moisture and an active microbe population are important elements to add to your soil.” – Anne Gibson

So let’s take a look at some tips and simple ways to prepare your garden for planting and using your space wisely.

Garden Planting Tips

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Anne Gibson2019-10-10T13:55:11+10:00Categories: Blog, Garden Maintenance, Planning & Design|Tags: Chickens, Compost, Green manure, Nasturtiums, Pest management, planting, Soil, Vertical gardens|3 Comments

DIY Pallet Planter

Looking for a DIY Pallet Planter project? I’m always creating compact solutions for my garden. If you have limited time, money, space or skills you may find this easy, low-cost pallet project a simple way to make your garden functional and beautiful.

A tutorial on how to make your own vertical pallet planter

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Anne Gibson2022-05-14T11:56:15+10:00Categories: How To DIY Projects & Recipes, Repurposed Planters, Vertical Gardens|Tags: DIY, Micro gardening, repurposed planters, small garden design ideas, Vertical gardens|13 Comments

How to Plant out a Herb Garden

Have you ever ended up with ‘dried herb arrangements’ (those that died of thirst or sunburn)? Or herbs that rotted and drowned due to waterlogged roots? Whether you want to plant herbs in a pot, garden bed or a herb spiral, my 5 Step Guide to Planting Herbs can help you successfully choose the best position and maintain your herb garden.

How to Plant out a Herb Garden

In this article I also share key tips on where to plant herbs so they thrive. Understanding the kind of microclimate each herb prefers, can make all the difference to growing them successfully! So ‘dig in’!

Lushly planted mature herb spiral | The Micro Gardener

“The construct itself gives variable aspects and drainage, with sunny dry sites for oil-rich herbs such as thyme, sage, and rosemary, and moist or shaded sites for green foliage herbs such as mint, parsley, chives, and coriander.” – Bill Mollison

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Anne Gibson2018-09-07T11:17:08+10:00Categories: Herb Gardens, How To DIY Projects & Recipes, Vegetables & Herbs, Vertical Gardens|Tags: Herb garden, Herbs, Micro gardening, Small kitchen garden, vegetable & herb gardens, Vertical gardens|9 Comments

4 Step Guide to Building a Herb Spiral

Want to make your own vertical herb spiral garden? This compact space saving design can be made with just a few basic steps.

Construction materials and methods vary. So after deciding on the best position and gathering your materials, you can have one built the same day.

Stone filled gabion walls are an elegant twist on this herb spiral | The Micro Gardener

Depending on your budget and taste, herb spirals can be made very economically or be quite elaborate like this one with stone filled gabion walls.

* [The original link to this image (via Cara-Ornamentals) is no longer available. I have no control over this & apologise for any inconvenience but you’ll find alternative resources below.]

If you like this particular design and want to learn to make the curved wire baskets, see the end of this post for videos and wire basket suppliers for Gabion Herb Spirals. These are some basic instructions for making a gabion wall or visit BlondeMafia or Garden Drum. More instructional videos for gabions are here and here. For the tutorial steps, read on!
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Anne Gibson2022-11-25T11:07:45+10:00Categories: Clever Design Ideas, Herb Gardens, How To DIY Projects & Recipes, Vegetables & Herbs, Vertical Gardens|Tags: Clever design ideas; Tips & Tricks, Herbs, Micro gardening, small garden design ideas, vegetable & herb gardens, Vertical gardens|28 Comments

Herb Spiral Design

Do you have limited sun, space or time to garden? Want a highly productive, energy efficient way to grow food? Then consider a herb spiral design in your garden. Creating a Herb Spiral close to your kitchen might be your perfect solution.

The Herb Spiral design is easily accessible from all sides: to plant, water, fertilise and harvest. This large long herb spiral has a dry microclimate at the top and a moist zone at the bottom.

What is a Herb Spiral?

The Herb Spiral is a highly productive and energy efficient, vertical garden design. You can stack plants horizontally AND vertically to maximise space. It’s a practical and attractive solution for urban gardeners. A herb spiral design is typically 1.5 – 2m (5 – 6.5ft) wide in diameter at the base and rises to 1.0 – 1.3m (3.2 – 4.2ft). The centre of the spiral is at the highest point. The spiral ramp provides a planting area large enough to fit in all your common culinary herbs.
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Anne Gibson2023-02-07T16:59:56+10:00Categories: Clever Design Ideas, Herb Gardens, Problem Solving, Vegetables & Herbs, Vertical Gardens|Tags: Beautiful gardens, Clever design ideas; Tips & Tricks, Drainage, Herbs, Micro gardening, Problem Solving, small garden design ideas, Vertical gardens|10 Comments

Inspiring Pallet DIY Garden Projects

Looking for ways to upcycle pallets? Some creative DIY pallet garden projects? Recently I repurposed a pallet and large square wooden crate lying around a local landscaping yard, into a mini garden shed for $7. I was so pleased with the result, it made me consider other ways to reuse materials for my garden needs. More of us are conscious of repurposing rather than impacting on landfill with unnecessary waste. So I thought I’d share these DIY creative ideas to upcycle pallets. You may be amazed at the possibilities!

Cheryl has turned this hardwood pallet into a stunning vertical garden – perfect for a narrow balcony or limited space. Repeating coordinated colours works well. You can find the DIY instructions below.

“Upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.” – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upcycling

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Anne Gibson2022-11-25T14:40:31+10:00Categories: Clever Design Ideas, Container Ideas, Frugal Gardening, How To DIY Projects & Recipes, Vertical Gardens|Tags: DIY, Pallets, repurposed planters, small garden design ideas, Vertical gardens|69 Comments

10 Creative Space and Resource Saving Garden Ideas

I’m always looking for inspiring, low-cost and resourceful ideas for the garden – here are some of my favourite projects for you to try.

1. Peg Plant Marker – This is an easy improvised solution using everyday materials. Kids can paint the pegs and make them colourful and if you save seeds from your edible gardens like I do, this makes plant identification a snack!

Dill peg plant marker. Photo: Stacey Shitani

Always scratching around to find a plant marker? MYO in seconds with a bamboo skewer, wooden peg and a permanent marker! How easy is this?

2. Tiered Terracotta Planter – I love this project from Amy at Positively Splendid because it’s a simple design idea to dress up your garden entrance. (more…)

Anne Gibson2022-11-25T11:54:38+10:00Categories: Gardens & Projects for Kids, How To DIY Projects & Recipes, Repurposed Planters, Vertical Gardens|Tags: Frugal gardening, gardens for kids, Plant markers, Pots & containers, repurposed planters, Vertical gardens|9 Comments

DIY Bamboo Tepee Vertical Garden

One of the most useful structures in my garden are bamboo tepees. They are the perfect vertical garden solution for growing more in less space. Here’s my simple system for making a 3 or 4 legged tepee from bamboo stakes in about a minute for around a $1!

My snow peas are currently growing on a homemade bamboo tepee in a pot.

I have countless tepees in my garden growing seasonal edible climbing crops. These snow peas are flowering and fruiting and their tendrils love the vertical stakes to grab hold of.

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Anne Gibson2019-03-07T14:31:37+10:00Categories: Garden Maintenance, Planning & Design, Gardens & Projects for Kids, How To DIY Projects & Recipes, Vertical Gardens|Tags: Tepee, Vertical gardens|17 Comments

Important Factors to Consider with Vertical Gardens

Got a small space? To help you decide what kind of structure to use for your vertical garden, consider these 15 practical design tips.

Vertical gardens can be anything you imagine. Take some inspiration from these ideas to start your own project.

This garden gate has been used not only for functional vertical growing space with a mounted planter box filled with flower pots but also a handy place to hang some garden art.

1. Don’t overlook your garden entrance

A gateway is usually the point of entry and the place where you make first impressions! With a little imagination this space can be another creative vertical garden. (more…)

Anne Gibson2022-10-17T08:23:11+10:00Categories: Clever Design Ideas, Tips & Tricks, Vertical Gardens|Tags: small garden design ideas, tips & tricks, Vertical gardens|8 Comments

Vertical Gardening Benefits

Regardless of where you live, I’m a firm believer you can take advantage of some of the many benefits vertical gardening offers.

The advantages of vertical gardens really come into their own in micro garden spaces where options are very limited. As most people live in urban areas, clever design ideas are a key to make the most of the space you have.

So if you’re not yet growing up, here are 12 reasons why you should!

“Vertical gardening is an innovative, effortless, and highly productive growing system that uses bottom-up and top-down supports for a wide variety of plants in both small and large garden spaces.” – Derek Fell, author Vertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out for More Vegetables & Flowers in Much Less Space

12 Reasons Why You Should Garden Vertically

1. Maximise Limited Space

When you garden vertically, you can ncrease your growing space especially when it is at a premium in a very tiny area.

An edible kitchen garden with clever tiered vertical beds, make great use of a narrow space that was formerly a dog enclosure.

This kitchen garden has effectively used techniques like stacking raised garden beds and growing climbing veggies up trellises. These increase productivity and make maximum use of space.

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Anne Gibson2018-09-07T14:04:19+10:00Categories: Clever Design Ideas, Vertical Gardens|Tags: Garden Planning & Design, small garden design ideas, Vertical gardens|12 Comments

12 Next

Garden Planting Tips

Herb Spiral Design

What is a Herb Spiral?

Inspiring Pallet DIY Garden Projects

10 Creative Space and Resource Saving Garden Ideas

DIY Bamboo Tepee Vertical Garden

Important Factors to Consider with Vertical Gardens

1. Don’t overlook your garden entrance

Vertical Gardening Benefits

12 Reasons Why You Should Garden Vertically

1. Maximise Limited Space

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