Plants are a great decoration for any home. They add colour and vibrancy, improve the air, and make a place feel inhabited. They change as they grow, unlike static features, and are as much pets as ornaments.
The problem is one of space; most urbanites have no room for a garden. In small apartments, even a decent sized shrub can make a room seem crowded. With good vertical gardening, a home owner can overcome these issues.
Vertical Gardening: Good For Limited Space
By growing plants upward, rather than spreading them across a surface, vertical gardening conserves precious space. At the most basic level, this involves growing plants on rooftops or balconies. That’s a sort of vertical gardening. The range of options is much wider. With indoor trellises, hanging pots, or clever architectural features, it’s possible to inject a bit of paradise in the humblest home.
The spatial advantages of vertical gardening can’t be overstated. By dangling the plants in mid-air, you can assure they won’t block sofas, tables, or walkways. It also provides immediate visual impact, if the plants are at eye-level.
As a side benefit, it’s great for pet owners. When your azaleas are off the ground, Spot or Rover can’t come along and dig them up.
Picking The Right Plants
For hanging pots, consider the use of trailing plants for maximum impact. These plants “spill” out of their containers and dangle down the sides. Just two or three of them will give your home that rainforest-y feel. Money Plants are an old favourite for indoor hanging pots. They grow well in shady areas, and require just four hours of sunlight a day.
Petunias and Verbena are also attractive options, and are often planted together. The Verbena plant gives off a light, pleasant scent though, which you may or may not want for your interior. These flowering plants are more sensitive though, and require up to 12 hours of sunlight every day. If you’re not a dab hand at gardening, stick to the leafy plants.
Organic Vegetable Garden Challenge
If you’re into organic foods, and up for a challenge, you can try a vegetable garden. Not only is this good for your kitchen, it’s very eye-catching; like you managed to squeeze a whole farm into your home. To do this, you just need an area with at least 6 hours of sunlight every day. Chillis, okra, and cherry tomatoes are good bets in Singapore. Cherry tomatoes are also trailing, so they look great in hanging pots.
If you are lucky enough to have a yard, you can do some vertical gardening with an arbor. This can act as a boundary, defining the entrance to the garden in a spectacular way. You can also put up a trellis near doors around porch areas, to complement the entrance with creepers. Just be careful to train them upward properly; when they start climbing they might tug at rain gutters or chew through a paint job.
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Cover photo courtesy of Skroutz on Deck
