Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces

by Susan Morrison, Rebecca Sweet

Filled with design tips, plant ideas and over 200 photos, Garden Up! offers inspiration and how-to information for enhancing any outdoor space with vertical elements. Authors Morrison and Sweet cover everything from living wall projects simple enough for a home gardener to tackle to creative solutions for blank walls and narrow beds.

In chapters like 'Arbors and Trellises' and 'Garden Secrets', the book offers a wealth of design advice and problem solving solutions for traditional gardeners. Small space gardeners, DIYers and those looking to incorporate the latest vertical techniques into their gardens will appreciate sections that examine 'skinny space' planting beds, urban gardens, edibles and living walls. In keeping with their problem solving approach to gardening and design, Morrison and Sweet have arranged their
plant picks chapter by solution rather than plant type.  Each chapter features a design spotlight that examines a specific garden and breaks down the elements that went into its creation. 

The range of gardens included in the book support the authors' belief that vertical gardening is more than a temporary trend - it's here to stay.

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature, Green

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Susan Morrison is a landscape designer, master gardener and writer in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her designs have been featured in various publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Horticulture and Fine Gardening Magazine, where she also contributes articles on design and plant selection.

An early convert to the value of social media, she connects with gardeners from all over the world via Twitter and Facebook, and is a founding member of the Lawn Reform Coalition and the Garden Designer's Roundtable. In addition to writing for traditional media, Susan blogs about her life as a landscape designer and shares her challenges and successes as a home gardener at Blue Planet Garden Blog.

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for more with all the hype this book has received on gardening blogs. It has some beautiful pictures, good recommendations and ideas for vertical gardening, but there isn't much in here that is new or novel. I did enjoy the section on how to create beauty within a narrow space like a side yard, but will never understand why, when it comes to the edibles section, most garden authors assume you want to recycle ugly buckets or attach gutters and PVC pipe to the side of your fence or house. The before and after pictures are often not taken from the same angle, and there is always another element of some expensive landscaping, paving, or home remodel. There is a large section on "Plant Picks" which is a nice addition to the book. It is probably the only section I will refer to after having read the book and shelving it among my many books on gardening.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with other reviewers that the section on small side yards is the strongest and there aren't many other new ideas. Worth a check-out from the library but not something you'll find yourself wanting to own and return to over and over.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Skimmed, good for ideas.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good ideas in here

[Tara Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the vertical plantings.

[Pam Penick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Garden Up! offers great ideas for adding vertical dimension to your garden, whether you garden on a spacious rural or suburban lot or are making the most of a tiny, narrow side yard. For instance, suburban gardeners often start with a blank slate, a flat plane of grass with maybe a shade tree or two, and it can be daunting to figure out how to make an inviting garden space out of it. Susan and Rebecca share their experience as garden designers to illustrate how vertical hardscaping (arbors, trellises, fencing, walls, and the like) and layering plants to bridge the mid-level between grass and trees can define human-scaled garden spaces.

Likewise, the city gardener on a tight urban lot needs to capitalize on every inch of space, and gardening vertically is the key. The authors suggest using containers of different heights to create a layered effect in narrow spaces like balconies and around the edges of courtyards. Gardening up on the walls is also a great technique, whether with traditional trellises or contemporary succulent “pictures.”

I also like how they juxtapose before-and-after shots to illustrate how to garden up. Throughout the book they take a garden shot and break out the elements, with separate pictures and text, to show what makes the garden work. It’s a very illustrative method of explaining the essence of good vertical design.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Being newer to gardening, I was looking for a plethora, or even a few, new ideas. I did not get them here. There are a lot of interesting looking things in pictures, but they aren't labeled, so I had, and still have, no idea what plants were being used - something that I value a lot as I go about learning in this area. The due date came up at the library, and this was returned, unfinished, as a result - and I don't plan on finishing it either.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ideas for the gardener, especially those with limited yard spaces. My only concern with this e-book was that the photos did not always correspond with the section being read. Otherwise, very good book, full of various garden topics from edibles, to florals, to screens, to wall art and pocket gardens, to designs and list of plants to use. Sections were concise and easy to read. Recommend this to my gardening friends.

[Tamara]

Mostly just flipped through for container ideas. Might try to find a pocket system online; not too interested in making my own. Also like the idea of wire mesh baskets that I could hook to the edge of the deck railing...

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really the type of information I was hoping for but the pictures are pretty and I did get a couple of ideas, however won't be reading the book again.