15 vertical garden ideas

Obelisks, wigwams and pergolas can be planted with climbers, fences covered with roses and clematis, or crevices in walls packed with succulents. To keep costs down, try repurposing tin cans or plastic bottles, turning them into planters for a colourful display on your fence.

Green walls are another way to make use of fences, with their capacity to hold a wide variety of flowering plants. One drawback to consider is they can be high maintenance, especially if you aren't able to connect an irrigation system to the mains.

If you don't have room to grow your own, try creating a vertical herb garden for easy pickings or growing climbing veg. There are many exciting ways to enhance walls and fences. Here are some vertical garden ideas to try:

15 vertical gardening ideas

Fill gaps in a wall

Cheer up a bare wall by planting succulents and sedums in the gaps. Plants that thrive in hot, dry conditions will thrive in crevices between bricks. Houseleeks, rock cress, sempervivums and ferns will all cope in these conditions. Push the roots of your plug plants or seedlings into the walls and fill in around them with soil. Water every so often until the plants begin to put on new growth.

Train sweet peas up a wigwam

Sweet peas are an easy way to add a vertical highlight to the garden. They can be trained up wigwams, trellis and fences to bring colour and height to borders or on structures to act as a screen or divider in your garden. As well as being simple to grow, sweet peas flower from June to the end of July, and even beyond.

Put up a pocket planter

Material planters are ideal for creating vertical herb gardens. These handy planters are useful in small spaces, perfect for growing herbs like thyme and oregano or shallow-rooted veg plants like salad. Other plants to try include chives, strawberries, or bedding plants such as violas and pansies.

Create a green wall

To create your own green wall, you can buy a set, which comes in modules and can be adapted to suit the size of your wall or fence. These often come with an inbuilt irrigation system and can be filled with plug plants. If you can't connect your living wall to the mains, look for a system that has a top box, which can be filled with a watering can.

Grow fan-trained fruit

Planting fan-trained fruit is a productive way to make use of a south- or south-west-facing wall. Fruits such as apples, pears, plums, cherries, figs and gooseberries can all be fan trained, which saves space and creates a vertical focal point. Most fan-trained fruit needs a southerly aspect, but gooseberries will tolerate a north-facing wall.

Make use of fences

Transform leftover guttering into a planter for cut-and-come-again salads, annual herbs such as basil and coriander, or alpine strawberries. This vertical veg garden doesn't take long to make. Make sure you drill drainage holes in the bottom of the guttering before attaching it to your fence.

Hanging pots

Use leftover tins for a DIY vertical garden planter. This is a cheering way to transform a bare fence and a fun garden project to do with children. If you're doing the project with children, make sure you use a toy-safe metal paint. Make drainage holes in the bottom of each tin with a hammer and nail and another hole near the top to hang it on the fence. Fill the tin with compost and one plant, such as a pansy or snapdragon. Hammer some nails into your fence and hang up your tins for a colourful display.

Use evergreen climbers

Evergreen climbers provide year-round interest for boundaries and house walls. A few easy evergreens to try include star jasmine for summer scent, winter-flowering Clematis cirrhosa and ivy. Climbers can also be used to add privacy in exposed gardens, to soften sheds and other structures, or to cover obelisks and pergolas.

Reuse plastic bottles

Repurpose plastic bottles, such as milk bottles, to make vertical garden planters. These can be attached to a fence to create a decorative display. This is useful in a tiny garden and means herbs will be at the ideal height for picking. Add drainage holes to the bottom and plant up with your choice of ornamental or edible plants.

Put shelves up

Shelves create more space indoors to store objects off the ground, so why not try it in the garden too? Vertical wall gardens allow you to fit lots more plants into your garden, as the shelves can hold rows of small containers that would otherwise take up ground space.

Grow vertical veg

To pack more veg into your garden, grow veg that can be trained up an obelisk, trellis or fence such as runner or climbing beans. Choose bean varieties such as 'Scarlet Emperor' or 'Polestar' and you'll get a colourful display of flowers as well as a delicious crop of beans.

Grow perennial climbers

Use perennial climbers to brighten boundaries. Climbers such as roses and clematis will cover fences with flowers from spring through to autumn. Once planted, they'll come back year after year. Mix a few types of climbers together to extend the flowering season.

Plant pleached trees

Planting pleached trees creates a boundary that provides screening at head height and leaves space at ground level. This adds a formal look and makes an eye-catching feature.

Put up an auricula theatre

Give north- or east-facing walls a lift in spring with an auricula theatre. Auriculas have traditionally been displayed in bookshelf style theatres to give them the cool outdoor conditions they need, while sheltering plants from sun and rain. The range of auricula types available makes it easy to personalise your theatre.

Use a ladder for pots

In small gardens, displaying containers in tiers enables gardeners to add more flowers to balconies and small patios. There are several styles available, from ladders that lean against the wall to plant stands. Add trailing plants to soften the edges of the ladder.