Western Morning News (Saturday)
Growing up in the world
If you have a small garden, think vertically and any space can offer an abundance of produce in pots if you make the most of walls, windowsills and fences, says Mark Ridsdill Smith, creator of the popular website Vertical Veg (verticalveg.org.uk) and author of a new book, The Vertical Veg Guide To Container Gardening.
Here are some ideas to help you maximise growing potential.
Think platforms and prettiness
“If you’ve an old ladder, plant pockets or shelves to attach to a fence or wall, you can increase the amount of vertical space,” he recommends. Using the rungs as shelves to display a pots with different edibles.
“If you have space for one plant growing up a wall, make space for a hanging basket coming down, filled with trailing edible flowers like nasturtiums and violas.
“I love Orach ‘Scarlet Emperor’, a magenta-coloured leaf which tastes like spinach and is easy to grow, while chard has different-coloured stems.”
Make use of climbers
Veg like climbing French beans and climbing runner beans are ideal for growing in a pot up a frame made from three canes tied together at the top. Or use coppiced sticks for a more natural look.
“You get a lot of beans from one pot,” he says. “But they don’t tolerate frost, so start them outdoors at the end of May or indoors a little earlier.”
Attach string to your wall when growing vine tomatoes, squash and other tall plants which grow on one stem, which you can tie in as they grow. Blackberries would also grow in this way, he adds.
“Cherry tomatoes such as Gardener’s Delight are good, but will need sowing inside in spring, or buy plants for planting outside in June.”
For this to work effectively, you’ll need an attachment point above the plant, whether it be screwing small eyes into the wall above, or finding an old nail to run vertical lines down to your plants.
You can even grow tomatoes in a pot on the windowsill if you tie the string to the top of the windowsill and then tie the other end loosely round the base of the plant, winding it around as it grows.
Make a vertical herb garden
“You can re-pot supermarket herbs into larger pots to encourage growth. Split plants like parsley and basil, but you won’t need to split mint. Or go to a herb nursery. Herbs really are one of the easiest things to start with,” Mark says.
You can put them on shelving on your wall, grow them in window boxes or on a balcony and pick leaves when you need them.
“Most of them don’t need very much sun, either,” Mark adds.
Start off with micro-greens
“These are great for beginners,” says Mark. “They grow really quickly, so you get a crop in about two weeks. Pea shoots are very tasty. Buy dried peas from the supermarket and sow them in a seed tray thickly and you’ll have pea shoots in two weeks. They are better grown outside and are best grown at this time of year.” Trail veg from hanging baskets
A bracket is all you need from which to suspend a hanging basket, which will provide you with trailing tomatoes and salad leaves, he recommends.
Invest in fruits
“They require a longer investment of time, “says Mark. “But you can easily grow fruit in a pot, which will make use of your vertical space. Fruits like blackberries – there’s a thornless type called Loch Tay which fruits in July – will grow up a wigwam.”
Grow salad leaves in wall pouches
“Salad leaves are among the easiest things to grow. There are so many different varieties – mustard, rocket, sorrel and many others,” Mark advises. “You can have this really mixed diversity of leaves which looks really pretty. Include some nasturtiums as the flowers look lovely and can be eaten.”