Derek FellVertical Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out, for More Vegetables and Flowers in Much Less Space

This book has given me some great ideas for locating growing areas that will be more versatile. I don’t have much room to grow things so this has helped me adapt to the areas I have.

I recommend this book for everyone! Whether you only have space for containers on a patio, a 12 inch space against a south, east, or west wall, or a garden plot with rows and rows, you can benefit from the information in this book. Did you know that you can grow 10 times more green beans when growing a pole snap bean than when growing a bush bean?I grew my first garden this past summer at my new residence, but the garden space wasn't enough for what I have plans to grow. My hubby said we can't make a bigger plot, so I am thrilled while reading this book, realizing that many of my space problems can be easily solved with a little effort and cost. Cost depends on our choices of the materials that we use and I intend to grow bamboo for many of my structures. The author explains various types of bamboo that he likes for best appearance.Other added benefits are the saving of water while growing a lot more of whatever you want to grow, less work of weeding, no more back breaking work picking green beans and such low to the ground, easier pest control, better flavor of produce...and so much more.You can grow in an 8 square foot vertical space what you would normally grow in a 24 square foot horizontal space. My husband says that food taste better when vertical growing and Derek Fell explains that the plants contain more Chlorophyll, which improves the taste of the plants. He also shares how to grow tomatoes on top of the ground and potatoes directly underneath in the tomato root system.This book contains information of how to use various items to build your structures to grow up and not out, which plants produce an abundance supply, and tidbits of wisdom from years of experience and experimentation are sprinkled throughout.My mother gave me an advertisment that she received concerning this book and I am so glad that she did! It's going to prove invaluable to me!

This is a good, interesting resource. However, don't expect a riveting read. It is just a Puritan-ethical serious as you might think. The illustrations tend to look a little ramshackle (i.e. the neighbors would b!tch), but the principles are great and could easily be used in dressier, more neighbor-friendly ways. There are some pretty unsubtle pitches for the author's own hardscape products, which was a little bit offputting, but on the whole this is a good idea book. After all, no one is ever going to write a book about how best to use my specific garden in my particular neighborhood! I would say this is a better book for promoting thoughts about vertical gardening than for adoptng as verbatim recommendations, but after all, creativity is the fun part of gardening! I do feel that I need to say that if anyone is considering purchasing it specifically for information about the potato-tomato plant as I did, it isn't the book you want; the idea here is growing one up and one down to support each other, not to grow a fantastically useful hybrid.

I actually purchased this book after taking it out at my public library. If you want to do vertical gardening this is a good book to consider. I have plenty of space to build a garden, in fact three different places to plant so that I can rotate once a year to rest my soil and build up as needed. All gardening places about 1/4 acre each. Still I wanted to condense my working area because I am getting older and my energy and strength is not what it use to be. The book seems to be well organized an well written and covers both blooms and vegetables. I am anxious to try some of his ideas out to make my gardening easier and to still get the produce that I need to cover my winter needs with my root celler, fermenting and canning that I do in the harvest season.

LOVE THIS!!!!! I am combining several ideas in gardening since I have very limited sunlight due to trees. I am even growing a vertical garden in an old cooler on my patio. I can pull it up close to the house if bad weather is coming or out of the way if bbq-ing. It seems easier to keep the animals off, is a little better to see what is growing, can watch for bugs better, seems like it will be easier to harvest and save my back from bending over so far. I have even incorporated an old metal box springs off my grandmothers bed. I place next to the fence and used t-post and straps to hold upright. On the top I planted flowers in pots. I have tied my beans and squash with different colored yarn to keep them growing in there own spot and have stick pinwheels in the sides and shny things in the trees close by. This does seem to be helping with the birds. I didn't mind at first but then the birds started pecking at the produce. Lots of great Ideas!!!!!

Vertical Gardening proved to a most interesting book. The author discussed many ways to grow plants at eye level and above for a variety of locations and income levels. There are helpful suggestions for dealing with problems such as diseases and insect, controlling weeds and otherwise keeping plants healthy. Different sections deal with food producing plants, flowering vines and others best known for their foliage. Color photos in the book were high quality and attractive. While the book is inexpensive, I feel it is well worthy owning.