Vertical Vegetables & Fruit: Creative Gardening Techniques for Growing Up in Small Spaces

by Rhonda Massingham Hart

For gardeners working in confined spaces, Rhonda Massingham Hart presents an ingenious solution for maximizing grow up! With tepees, trellises, hanging baskets, cages, wall pockets, and multilevel raised beds, you can reap bountiful harvests in even the tiniest growing areas. From kiwis on a clothesline to tomatoes dangling outside a window, Vertical Vegetables & Fruit shows you how to construct and maintain a thriving and abundant garden in whatever small space you have available. 

Genres: Gardening, Nonfiction, Horticulture, How To, Green, Food

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 16, 2011

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The description says "innovative", and that is definitely not the case. You've seen 95% of this before, and almost always with better pictures.
But the info on pruning and training the various kinds of plants was precise, succinct, and useful -- and something that's not normally covered as well in other vertical growing books/blogs. That info easily earned the book an extra star.
The other thing I appreciated was that (while she does lean heavily toward recommending hybrid seed, which made me cringe) she gives very specific info and recommendations re: the annual plants. Where other books are like "Espaliers look cool; plant some apples and stuff" this author's like, "Here's an easy-to-read list of common apples that grow well when espaliered, with USDA zones, necessary chill hours, bloom times, approximate harvest dates, and a thorough description of appearance and flavor for each. FYI, espaliered apples have been proven to give higher yields when grown at a 45 degree angle, but keep in mind pears produce better on vertical cordons."

[Shala Kerrigan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vertical Vegatables and Fruit : Creative Gardening Techniques for Growing Up In Small Spaces by Rhonda Massingham Hart is a nice addition to a gardening library for people who are considering growing a lot more of their own food in limited space.

This is best for people who have at least a small yard, however there are some ideas for people who only have a balcony or a sunny window as well.

It starts with good reasons to think vertically for your garden. How it helps plants take advantage of sunlight better to create more food, it cuts down on weeding since your plants have a smaller footprint, and allows a lot more to be planted.

Then the author explains the best materials to use for building supports and trellises, and how to build some popular structures like trellises, cages and teepees. She gives some suggestions for good container plants with minimum depth and spacing suggestions and a chart about how much soils and soil mixes weigh for hanging planters.

The rest of the chapters are on different types of plants. Each plant has planting and seed recommendations. These helped me a lot with planning my garden. I live in a Zone 3 area, which means that my options are pretty limited. Recommendations for varieties include zone hardiness.

My favorite chapters are the one about sweet potatoes which explains how to make your own slips to plant in following years, strawberries, raspberries and espalier trees. I grow strawberries and raspberries already. Using the methods explained in this book will make it easier to really help them grow more abundantly, and get enough extra to pass some on to friends. My family loves sweet potatoes, and making slips and training the plants will be good practice for my son.

The ideas are shown with lovely full color illustrations that are clear and easy to understand.

If you want to make the most of a small growing area to have the joy and thriftiness of growing some of your own food, you may really enjoy this book.
[I received a complimentary copy of the book to review on my craft blog- Don't Eat the Paste. My reviews are always my honest opinion]

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who just expanded my garden, I am always looking for ideas on how to conserve space to get more "bang" out of it. This author presented some interesting ideas for supports and container gardening which I will be putting some to use. I did feel with the size of some of the supports that I thought they would have some really difficult times in smaller gardens. I saw the supports more for alternative ways to tomato cages, etc. versus for a smaller garden.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This slim book was neither highly technical nor full of personal experiences and a specific point of view. It's written in that general-information, distant kind of style: "Other designs that have proved successful with squash and gourds..."

Proved successful where? In this particular author's garden? In gardens she's visited? In technical papers somewhere? The information covered, and the style that it's covered in, makes me feel like I'm re-reading a dozen articles from the internet stuck together. Admittedly, they're nicely laid out in this book, but if you've already spent some time on Google and Pintrest, there was nothing new here. I simply didn't find it compelling.

[Ligaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book on getting more planting done in smaller spaces. I'm not a novice gardener but even I learned a bunch that I can use at my new home and smaller garden. The writing is enthusiastic and clear. I love all the illustrations. And, unlike so many books I've read lately, the typeface is LARGE. I appreciate all the plant recommendations, and growing tips and creative techniques to get more yield in a tight space. The one thing I thought was strange was an entire chapter devoted to Kiwis. I've never seen a kiwi plant! Nonetheless, this is a great resource to have around.

[Remy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book wasn't super helpful - there are much better pictures and ideas online just browsing Pinterest. It didn't have as much info as I was hoping for - there are sections dedicated to discussing various plant varieties which didn't really seem to fit the theme of the book - it was more like the author needed to take up space and filled it with that. However, there were some nice diagrams and a few good ideas that made it worth browsing through. I'm glad I got it from the library. I would never pull it out again if it was in my home bookshelf.

[Lauren Read · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guidebook is lacking in its delivery of/for techniques and 'small spaces.' It basically profiles different food-plants that grow well vertically. Since I plan on including some of them in my container garden, it suits my fancy fine, but I didn't learn much about adaptive systems for maximizing space.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute book and this would have been a great book to have as a beginning gardener. About half of the book is dedicated to plants that tend to do well growing up (tomatoes, beans, peas, squashes, for example) and the other half is very loose ideas. I was hoping for better construction tips: for example, the wood potato box - how are those boards attached?

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

some good info but i was expecting more in depth on ways and ideas to grow vertically and it does have some info on this, but most of the book is about plant options for vertical growing.

[A.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many ideas!

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s ok

[Jun Nguyễn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book. The authoress gave out basic botany lessons, fundamental caring technique with a flair of humor. The texts come along with vivid illustrations and cheerful colors.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even if you don't need a vertical garden, this is a must read for incredible ideas. So creative!!!

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though it is time to take the garden down, these ideas make planning for the coming year something to be anticipated.

[EdibleNotesReviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Growing up and not out are words to live by for anyone who gardens in small spaces - or who wants to produce more from the space they have. Vertical Vegetables & Fruit by Master Gardener Rhonda Massingham Hart (Storey Publishing, Dec. 2011) is an absolute treasure-trove of highly useful and practical information for any gardener considering growing tomatoes on a balcony or growing more fruit through space-saving espallier pruning and anything in between.

Hart has compiled, in a brisk, tightly-written and effectively illustrated 176 pages, what has to be one of the best special-subject gardening books of the year (and it must be considered one of the best overall gardening books of the year as well). From the ideas and information on building structures to support plants as they grow up to the resources on plant-by-plant varieties that are well suited to a 'vertical lifestyle', Hart has placed an enormous amount of information at the hands of experienced and novice gardeners alike who can easily digest it and put into their work immediately.

The resources on plant-by-plant varieties that are well suited to vertical growing are very well thought out and include not only the peculiarities of growing beans or melons or whatever in a more vertical space but essential, easy to understand and apply information on plant propogation, planting and transplanting, water requirements and plant nutrition needs. These resources are clear, concise and very effective and make the book even more of a worthwhile guide.

Even gardeners free of the confines of a patio or balcony will find the book to be a valuable resource for growing more in the space they do have. Urban and community gardeners take note - this is the book for you when it comes to solid, expertly written and highly useful information about getting more produce out of the space you have.

The design of the book - from the way each chapter is laid out to the sidebars and resource chapter, should set the trend for how well gardening books can be done. The illustrations are effective and clear and the book does not rely on terrible black and white photos of important elements where the reader is expected to guess or surmise what the photo is about or what to do as so many other gardening books do. Here you get the real deal - great information and great illustrations all in a highly effective and useful design.

Verical gardening has taken a few hits recently especially as it pertains to water use. Don't confuse this type of vertical gardening with 'living walls' where water use can be intense. If a trellis, teepee, cage, A-Frame, arbor or even pots stacked one on top of the other won't cure your space problem then a living wall won't be of any help either. These are real-world answers to the immortal quandry of not having enough space to grow the vegetables and fruits we all work so hard for and wait so long for.

Vertical Vegetable & Fruit is one of the most worthwhile investments in knowledge any gardener can make regardless of space or experience. There is something here for everyone to use and for other garden books to grow up to in terms of how garden books should be done in today's marketplace.

EdibleNotes received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and no other compensation was received for this review. Copyright 2011 Edible Notes.

[Emilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Also posted on www.greenbibliophile.wordpress.com
This is a very informative book for maximizing use of space for a garden. There are some great tips for what types of plants can be trained to grow vertically and what types of structures should be used for what types of vegetables. Hart also provides suggestions for which materials to use for different types of structures and suggestions for the best way to assemble many of the structures described.

There are also some ideas for producing homegrown vegetables in containers (though there are a number of books devoted specifically to container gardening that cover that topic in much greater detail). I’m lucky to have a yard in my current rental, but not everyone has access to a yard or community garden space or even a balcony. Hart includes a panel devoted to a gardening movement that’s been gaining traction called window farming. This refers to a soil-free method of growing herbs and small vegetables in vertical structures of plastic bottles strung with tubing to carry water and nutrients. www.windowfarming.org makes designs free to members and also has preassembled kits available for purchase.

I don’t know that I’m going to be able to do much vertical gardening this year since I’m a total newbie gardener, but I’m definitely going to be trying some of these ideas in the future.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read for novice and amateur gardener. I'm sure experienced gardeners will be all "been there, know that, done that". I have been gardening (successfully as far as I'm concerned) for a few years and found this book reinforcing things I'd figured out on my own and adding to my efforts. I thought this book would be all about vertical gardening (that's why I checked it out n the first place), but there is so much more in it than I expected. I wish I'd read this book a few years back and hadn't suffered the growing pains I did.

[Ria F · Rating 5 out of 5]

I already have been working with different vertical gardening ideas on a balcony. This book has more ideas I want to try and also a rundown of various plants that work well with this concept- while not expressly a container garden book - containers are covered in all chapters. I will be buying my own copy to keep in my library,

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is AWESOME holistic approach to packing edibles in limited space, but increasing yield by sending anything with vertical capabilities soaring...or cascading down from great heights. ;) Didn't want to return it to the library, and I already need it again as a resource for setting up my balcony veggie garden.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-organized and enjoyable to read with what looks to me (an inexperienced gardener slowly branching out from pre-potted flowers) like good advice on selecting plant varieties and getting the most out of different types of produce. Looking forward to trying some of the trellis techniques on my porch next spring.

[JoAnn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has almost everything you would want to design and build a vertical garden. It has a chapter in the back called resources for gardeners, that contains websites for seeds or plants and more ideas for trellises and supports. If you would like to think outside the box, this book will have you growing veggies and fruit vertical in no time.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up some very useful tips and some good ideas for making the most of a small space for growing fruit and vegetables. The explanations for putting together A-frames and teepees, etc. were pretty clear and there were a good number of recommendations for types of plants work well for vertical or container growing.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

first section about various ways to grow up trellises hanging pots etc and why : less exposure to pest who live on the ground, shades itself, more efficient watering usually easier to harvest

2nd annual vines (vegies) about specific varieties of veg and their grow times plus best methods for growing them

3rd perennial fruits

[Manhattan Public Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

For people with small gardens, planting food crops that climb can greatly increase yield. This book is a great resource for recommending which types of structures are best for each type of climbing plant.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It had some wonderful creative ideas for re purposing items for garden use, such as old canvas shopping bags. I found the information to be useful and not as region specific as some other books on the same topic.

[Raech]

New gardener looking to go up instead of wasting space. Not the target audience since I have a bigger garden, but it was an informative, creative read and I can still apply many of these ideas to my bigger space.

[Fernleaf · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book with plans and ideas for vertical gardening and recommendations on varieties for both vegetables and fruits that do well in a vertical system.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like this, want to re-read at some point, may want to own.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of good information and do it yourself ideas.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many useful ideas for gardening in a small yard.