The Most Ingenious Vertical Garden Ideas For Small Spaces

Not sure where to start your own garden? That’s ok, we’ve rounded up the best of the best, the most ingenious and creative vertical garden ideas for you. From kitchen gardens to backyard blooms, you’re bound to find some inspiration for your next DIY. So let’s dig in!

Indoor Vertical Herb Gardens

There’s nothing like having fresh herbs on hand when it’s time to prepare dinner and starting a kitchen garden indoors doesn’t have to be challenge, even if you only have a tiny area to do it. 

Herb Garden Board

This vertical herb garden board is a super quick DIY for anyone who craves a kitchen garden. It doesn’t take up much space and it’s as pretty as it is functional. Just grab a board, paint or stain it to fit your decor, add nails and hang your plants up. Gift tags can be used as garden markers to help you keep track of what you’ve planted and since the buckets are on hooks, they can be removed when it’s time to water or fertilize. Even better, the board can be moved around, if necessary, to catch the sun.

See post: Shelly@The Domestic Heart|Simple Vertical Kitchen Herb Garden

Window Dressing

While windowsills may be the perfect spot for a garden, not every home has one that’s appropriate. This hanging vertical garden is a creative alternative. Simply mount curtain rods across a sunny window and hang buckets up with “S” hooks. You can choose rods that suit your style and decorate the tins with herb names, seed packets or artwork to represent each plant. As your garden grows you’ll get fresh food and a lush view and that’s doubly delicious. 

See post: Kristy Lingebach|Hanging Kitchen Herb Garden

Farm Fresh

Mason jars, distressed pallet boards and chalkboard strips are combined to create this industrial farmhouse inspired vertical garden. Set between open shelves, white plates and vintage bottles, it’s both form and function. It’s easy to make. The large canning jars were filled with soil and strapped to the board using metal clamps. The chalkboard strips were gently nailed into place underneath each plant, to label the miniature kitchen crops.  

See post: Medina At Grillo Designs|DIY Mason Jar Indoor Herb Garden

Mug Garden

Mugs come in so many different shapes and sizes and make wonderful planters, but if you live in a small space, you may not have room to cultivate a garden full of them. Well, this adorable DIY vertical garden solves that problem! Adhesive hooks get the mugs off the ground, while keeping the herbs accessible at mealtime. They can be removed when the plants need water, food or a burst of sunlight or to temporarily dress up a dinner party dining table. Then they’re back on the wall, just as fast, leaving the countertop clean and clear again. 

See post: Shawna Bailey|Hang An Indoor Herb Garden        

Vertical Succulent Gardens

Succulents are easy to grow and don’t need a lot of water, so they’re the perfect choice for vertical garden.

Pretty As A Picture

Succulents don’t require a lot of water which make them an ideal choice for a vertical planter, plus they come in so many beautiful colors and shapes, that when framed, they become artwork. Michelle, from A Crafty Mix, proved that when she decided to mount her own succulents on the wall. To do it, she found an old plastic frame, secured a box behind it and filled it with soil. Michelle added a piece of mesh on the front to keep the plants secured in place and hung them up to soften and decorate her concrete wall. 

See post: A Crafty Mix - Michelle|How To Frame A Vertical Garden

Picket Fence Succulent Garden

Houseplants are a great way to bring life into a room, especially during dark winter days. However finding room to garden in the living room is a tall order. So Hometalker Kirsten decided to build up. She used twine to attach mason jars to a small section of picket fence and used it to decorate her mantle. She placed succulents inside the jars since they’re easy to care for, which is a big plus if you don’t have a green thumb.

See post: Kirsten|White Picket Fence Succulent Garden

Faux Is Fabulous

Another way to deal with a brown thumb is to fake it. Who says your vertical garden has to be filled with real plants? You’d never guess that this mini pallet planter was filled with faux succulents. They require no care at all and even better, this DIY was done in a jiffy. Once the unfinished pallets were painted, the moss and plants were pushed into the open spaces. That’s it, no potting soil was needed, no watering can was on call, just paint, push and go.

See post: TheHoneycombHome|DIY Vertical Succulent Garden

Ingenious DIY Vertical Gardens

Vertical gardens come in all shapes and sizes. Unleash your imagination and plant a garden in an unexpected container.

Gutter Garden

Hometalker Ashley C. wanted to grow herbs. Since she didn’t have the floor space to plant a traditional garden, she decided to build herself a vertical one from a few hardware store supplies instead. She constructed a simple wooden frame out of lumber, grabbed vinyl gutters, cut them to fit and created a design on each one using painter’s tape and chalk spray paint. The result is a very modern space saving garden.

See post: Amanda C, Hometalk Team|Vertical Gutter Herb Garden / Planter

Fruitful Footwear

Boots, sneakers and heels make great garden decor, even if you don’t have room to fill them with flowers and place them in your landscaping beds. Katharine Ingalls was looking for a way to display her Dutch shoes when she found a post to inspire her and made it her own. She grabbed a few old fence slats, nailed them together, gave them a coat of chalk paint and mounted her shoes. If wooden clogs aren’t your style, hit the thrift stores and see if you can find something fun that makes you smile. Bowling shoes, anyone?

See post: Katharine Ingalls | Dutch Shoe Heaven!

Plastic Planters

Here’s a nifty way to decorate a plain fence in your yard, help the environment and expand your garden bed all at the same time. By using old plastic beverage bottles to build her vertical garden, Hometalker Magdalena, author of the site Mama Is Dreaming, was able to add some visual interest to her yard. She simply cut the bottles in half to create hanging pots. She jazzed them up with colored twine, then poked holes in the sides of the bottles to thread a twine handle on each and suspended them from hooks she placed in between the fence slats. Then she filled each bottle with a flower or veggie plant, providing her with dinner and view!

See post: Magdalena|Upcycled Bottle Planters

Pocket Planter

If you’re a seamstress with a penchant for gardening you can mount these darling posy filled pockets on a wall. It’s sowing and sewing all in one and another way creative way to combine your passions while you cultivate a garden that goes up instead of out. Choose a pattern that catches your eye for the front of the pocket and a piece of vinyl fabric for the back, stitch them together and in no time, you have an adorable pocket. Tuck the flower of your choice inside and you’re all set. Just imagine a blooming wall full of softness and color in your yard or even inside your home. How divine!

See post: Sow And Dipity|DIY Plant Pockets

Ladder Gardens

What’s more fitting for a vertical garden than a ladder? Inside or outside, old or new, they were made for this job. Going up?

Step Ladder Solution

Hometalker Judy, from Cranberry Morning, wanted to bring her plants inside for the winter, but wasn’t sure if she’d have enough floorspace for all of them. Instead of leaving anyone out in the cold, she decided to grab a step stool and stack them up high. It’s a quick and easy indoor vertical garden that doesn’t require any kind of construction at all. Now every one of her pots, filled with spider plants and ferns, fit nicely in a well lit corner of her home, warm and happy for the winter. 

See post: Judy|Where To Put All Those Houseplants I Brought in for the Winter

Safe And Secure

Honolulu Hometalker, Kristen M had the same idea, but she opted for an outdoor ladder instead. It took a little more work, but as you can see, it was totally worth it. Unlike Judy whose plants were safe and sound in the house, Kristen’s painted pots would be exposed to the elements. She was especially concerned about them blowing over in the wind. In order to protect them, she drilled holes into the ladder and used bolts and washers to fasten the two together. The result is a stunning DIY vertical garden that’s safe for the flowers and the people enjoying them from below. 

See post: Kristen M|Vertical Gardening with a Repurposed Ladder

Do It Yourself Ladder

Don’t have a ladder to spare? That’s ok, you can construct one yourself. Since it will only be used for decorative purposes, you can choose thin or wide wood slats. Once you decide on spacing that will fit all your pails, nail it all together. Brush on a hue that makes you smile and hang your pots by chains, nails, hooks or rope. To finish it off, place your vegetables, herbs or bright blooms inside, mixing and matching will add some life to your vertical landscape. Oh, and remember, it’s a good idea to secure your ladder to the wall, so you don’t lose all that pretty when the wind blows. 

See post: Angie CountryChicCottage|DIY Vertical Garden

Pallet Board Vertical Gardens

Pallet boards have become a popular building material in recent years. They’re usually free, readily available and easy to customize, so why not add one to your garden?

Painted Pallet

When people hear the word pallet, they often think of rustic and raw, weathered boards, but that doesn’t have to be the case. If you’re a fan of a more finished looking vertical garden planter, don’t count the pallet out, just paint it. The frame itself is a three dimensional form. Line the back of it with landscaping fabric and fill the entire pallet with soil. Stick the plants in between the slats and you’re done. It’s that easy. You can either hang it on a fence or prop it up against one. Hometalker and blogger Mommy is Coo Coo placed her bright blue pallet garden on a stone wall. It softens the hardscapes while adding color and interest. What color would you choose? 

See post: Mommy is coocoo|How to make a Vertical Garden from a Pallet

How Does Your Crafty Garden Grow?

Cottage style garden fans are sure to love this pallet planter. This curbside find was transformed by removing and rearranging some of the boards to form vertical planting shelves. The back of the structure was lined with landscaping plastic and then the entire was piece was painted and stenciled with an inspirational quote. Different varieties of flowers, both tall and small, were placed inside the dirt and a whimsical country style garden was born. 

See post: Diz26|Vertical Pallet Garden

Rainbow Garden

Who says that the flowers have to be the only colorful thing in the yard? This plain wooden pallet received a Roy G Biv rainbow painted makeover and became the bright backdrop for a lovely, flower filled accent. A different take on the traditional vertical pallet garden, this one places the plants on the boards, instead of inside them. No need to fill the structure with dirt, just sand, paint and secure the pots to the wood and you’re done. It’s a simple weekend project that pops!

See post: Crystal Allen|DIY Upcycled Pallet Rainbow Flower Garden

These creative vertical garden ideas prove that you don’t need a large plot of land to enjoy the beauty of fresh flowers or the farm to table taste of home grown herbs and vegetables. Inside or out, there’s always room. Just choose an area you’d like to plant, get your DIY on and everything will be coming up roses in no time. Well, or carrots, that choice is up to you!

If you’re looking for even more gardening inspiration or you have a vertical gardening idea of your own that you’d like to share, be sure to check our more projects or post your own on Hometalk today! 

Written for the Hometalk community by: Kim | Exquisitely Unremarkable