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 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!

1. Maximise Limited Space

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

2. Create a Garden Room

Some vertical structures like arbours, arches, pergolas and gazebos help create the ambience of an outdoor garden ‘room’. A vertical garden structure helps to focus the eye on the mystery beyond.  Overhead vertical garden structures also give a sense of height and depth to an otherwise small space.

3. Grow a Privacy Screen

Disguise unwanted views, noisy neighbours and create more privacy. For example, grow a green wall to screen a boxy air conditioner and unattractive garden structures like sheds or compost bays.

4. Increase Accessibility

Plants are easier to reach by bringing them up off the ground. Gardening vertically makes fertilising, watering, pruning and harvesting much more convenient and saves your back.

5. Nurture Healthier Plants

When you raise your plants up off the ground, this improves air circulation. This is a simple strategy for healthier plants and less pest or disease problems.  You can also minimise plant damage due to pets or wild animals digging up gardens on the ground.

6. Enhance Visual Appeal

Improve the beauty of your garden and increase ‘curb appeal’ by adding character, variety, structure and colour. Create ‘eye candy’ by planting at eye level with vertical garden structures like hanging baskets and window boxes.

7. Grow More Plants

Expand the number and kind of plants you can grow in your garden.  Some vegetables like pumpkins that grow on vines can take up a lot of personal space. However, you can train dwarf varieties to grow up and over a trellis in a very compact space. You can garden vertically with many climbers including cucumbers, tomatoes, passionfruit and melons.

8. Obtain a Higher Crop Yield

You can enjoy a more productive harvest of food crops by growing up and using vertical gardening techniques like espalier.

9. Reduce the Impact of an Urban Environment

You can use vertical gardens to soften otherwise hard or stark building and landscape surfaces. Camouflage with living green walls and other vertical design features.

10. Define a Space

Create an entrance, backdrop or framework; define boundaries and edges; and provide a sense of enclosure or seclusion.

11. Create a Microclimate

You can insulate your home from heat, air pollution or noise by designing in a living natural shield. This can help to regulate temperature by cooling and shading an area.

You can also create a microclimate by adding a vertical structure like a tepee, trellis, pergola, arbor, arch or A-frame that will provide shade below.  The cooler spot under the support will suit shade-loving plants and sun worshippers will thrive climbing up and over so you get the best of both worlds.

12. Improve Air Quality and your Health

Research has revealed that plants improve both indoor and outdoor air quality by removing harmful VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and absorbing pollutants.  Houses have been found to have consistently poorer air quality indoors than out, even with external pollution.

So, growing plants vertically even in compact spaces like windowsills, balconies, front entrances and hanging in aerial space will make a BIG difference to your health.