Grow a green wall

No matter how tiny your garden – even if it’s just a balcony or patio – you have room for a substantial flower, or vegetable garden if you grow upwards. Vertical gardens can clothe the wall of a balcony or each wall of a sunny courtyard. You can buy freestanding vertical gardens to use as privacy screens, to hold flowers, or to give you herbs and vegetables.

Build and maintain

A good vertical garden needs only a scatter of slow-release plant food every few months and an automatic drip or seeping watering system. Sunshine is usually more reliable on a wall, so in most cases you’ll get more sun on a vertical garden than in-ground beds, and vertical gardens will be protected from light frosts, too. A “ready to install” vertical garden will start at about $80. They range from a single trough to a series of pots or pockets that you can fill with your favourite plants. A watering kit will cost from $10 upwards. Designer vertical gardens start at about $350 per square metre but provide stunning, living, architectural design.