I want to go vertical this year too. Also we're doing raised beds. I can't wait!!

I'm planning on vertical for squash, cukes, tomatoes, eggplant, peas & beans.

Raised beds full of peppers, okra, cantaloupe, fingerling potatoes, strawberries, onions, garlic and salad greens.

Question: My husband knows a guy who'll make us some trellises out of heavy duty wire, but will those hurt the plants getting so hot in our Georgia sun??

I have loved making my garden chart this winter and will have lots of herbs growing around the border, mixed in with marigolds.

I grow a lot of lemon balm in my greenhouse and will transfer some to the garden next month.. also a great idea repelling insects after your garden gets going: lemon balm leaves sprinkled around your plants. Insects hate it; it'll also repel mosquitoes if you'll rub the leaves on your arms and legs.

I loveeee garden planting time!!!!

I'm just north of Atlanta by like 60 miles so the sun would be a good question. Honestly I don't "reckon" it would.. I've grown tomatoes in steel wire frames and gourds on a black pipe farm-made swing-set so I'd probably try it myself.. Spray painting them white might be an option?

white.. good idea!!
thx and happy growing,
Becky

Though going vertical is on the list of this seasons new options. Our main objective is to cross-pollinate all 6 types of our hard-shell gourds so that in seasons our seed supplies will make infinite unusual shapes. (at least that's the plan) Beyond that it's veggies as usual trying to ween off of commercial thinking and gardening practices.

I may try growing gourds this year. I do love their shapes and they can be used for so many things. Is there a particular one you suggest I try??

It really is so wonderful to eat from a home garden. Our garden is our main concern/hobby in the spring/summer/fall. We're in our 40's and used to love summer for vacations, getting a tan, drinking margaritas, etc..

It's been a fabulous transition to grow our fruits and veggies, still getting lots of exercise working in the yard/garden and we've matured to iced green tea w/mint instead of the alcohol :-)

I agree nothing more fun,easy,and rewarding as having a little garden of some sort. As for a type of gourd to try. Birdhouse/Bottle gourd of any seed house. They often are a mix of both.. cheapo seeds are as good as any..

I gave up my party days several years ago. I burned the party candle at both ends, with lots of scotch. I'm just coming into my early 30's and now my wild parties include iced-tea, a boardgame, and showing folks my latest "garden theory/project" (Woo-Hoo! Wild times ya'll)

Gardening is my connection to the greater cosmos..

For a lighter trellis you could do dipper gourds they tend to be somewhat lighter and grow long and straight when trellised.

wow, dipper gourds would be great; I can use them in my greenhouse!! Thx so much!!

Yes, it's nice to 'come of age' to appreciate there are better things in life than a wild time, not to mention the toll on our bodies. You're wise to start as early as you have to recognize a healthy life is a longer life.

I turned 41 in Jan and my husband is 42 TODAY!! So we're happy to work hard and come home to our little paradise.

I am trying to find pics of some examples of vertical gardening , can anyone help ?
Thanks very much .... Jewelyn

Well if you've ever seen flowers or vines growing "up" something like a wall or trellis then you've seen the basics.

I did a quick image search on Google and Bing search engines and found quite a few nice examples. See if doing that gives you anything.
Any plant that you can coax,train,or allow to grow "up or down" rather than along the ground in a traditional gardening setup is all it takes. After that it's "the sky's the limit" anything and everything goes.

Hope that gives you a starting spot to look.

I had thought today.. Vertical carrots... Hmmmm... I've already started mentally setting one up.

vertical carrots...just hang deep pots or containers up a trellis and plant as usual.....

Well my idea is to take a sturdy metal pole/rod and attach pieces of 18" long pieces of PVC pipe in the 4" diameter.

Then going down from the top to bottom, I would stagger them in the round. So in the spaces made by the first row of 4 pipe pieces. The tops of the 2nd row would grow in-between. and so on down the pole to ground level. It would be some cost up front (unless salvaged materials are used) and it would be some work. But for true saving of ground space it would allow 20 carrots to be grown in roughly 1.5 feet of ground space. (oh and the bottom of the pipe pieces I just cut rounds of plywood drilled 5 holes in them for drainage. Using 3 screws to hold them in)

I have also been interested in Vertical growing, and recently came across the Urban Garden at growvertical.net, seems to be a cost effective way to go about it. I have a small FL yard, so it will be nice to get as much hanging on the fence as possible.

wallgardener would not work for me anyways.
I plant most of my vertical garden in raised beds, then use bamboo poles & string to hold them vertical.
Little plastic pots would have to be watered & babied every day.
I do not have time for that & weeding, pruning, harvesting all the other crops I have.

I'm using a hydroponic system built from recycled containers. The threads are Sustainable Hydroponics or look under Photobucket/ChristianWarlock. Also look up Non-Nutrient Hydroponics

I have started growing herbs, melons and veggies on my aeroponic growing device called the Tower Garden. It's beautiful, takes up very little space, and recycles the water. There's no dirt, weeds, or back breaking work. It's based on technology started at NASA in the 1960's and utilized by Walt Disney World. The food grows really fast too because of the mineral solutions added to the water. It uses 1/10th of the water and nutrients used by conventional gardening.

Here's a link to the title "Zucchini" in the Square Foot Gardening Forum. It not only tells how to tie up the plants, it also shows pictures of different plants using the vertical planting method.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/sqfoot/msg0310241914233.html?40