Vertical Garden: An Easy Solution

If you've visited our house lately, you may have noticed that it's been been rather barren outside. Remember all the foliage in the front? Gone. I have a serious disdain for the Bird-of-Paradise and banana plants we inherited all around the property (no offense to those of you who have a liking for the leathery evergreens, but they're like the clingy ex-boyfriend of the plant world to me), so Nate hired some guys to come yank it all out. BOOM. Blank slate.

I wanted something decorative there while I contemplate a long-term solution, so I turned to vertical gardening. Container gardens are perfect for those of us who frequently change our minds, and vertical gardens help me maintain a clear ground to keep the animals from pummeling it all.

How to Vertical Garden

The vertical garden structure we got from Pennington is sold at Home Depot. It's actually meant to be hung up on a railing, but I decided to wait to attach it to the wall after we paint the house exterior…soonish.

Our vertical garden system  consists of two weather-coated vertical rails (available in two, four or six foot lengths) and Eastern Red Cedar planks going across the middle (customizable in eighteen, twenty-four or thirty inch lengths). This whole system altogether can hold 300 pounds! It is seriously sturdy. I was a little stumped at first when it came time to attach the horizontal rails to the vertical outside railings, but it turned out I just had to unscrew the brackets from the planks and turn them around, inserting the brackets into the side railing before slipping the planks in and screwing it all back together.

Add a decorative scroll, some fun planters and a couple tool hooks and you're good to go!

I kept one of the previous owner's beloved succulents (I'm sentimental like that, guys) and left a cedar box in the middle open to hold whatever fresh produce I happen to pick around the property. This way the display will always be changing, and I'll have a convenient snack right outside my window!

This little blackberry bramble was neglected all summer, but I stuck it in a small pot to see if some seasonal rain can nurture it back to life. These things are astoundingly resilient, and I've seen quite a few revive themselves when I was positive they were goners.

The biggest bucket is reserved for my gardening supplies and s'more sticks, of course. The fire pit is right across from this vertical garden, so it makes a handy place to stash poker sticks and other small essentials.

I love the look of all my tools hanging there. The boots, obviously, won't be a permanent fixture. They'd get chewed up by our spazzy dogs in no time.

It occurred to me after setup that this would look quite gorgeous hung on an inside wall. I feel a guest room addition coming on! I can just picture it now, filled with bonsai and jade. Where would YOU put a vertical garden?

Pennington Vertical Gardens partnered with bloggers such as me to help educate us all about their Pennington Vertical Gardening System products. As part of this program, I received compensation. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the use of the products. Pennington Vertical Gardens believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Pennington Vertical Garden’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.