Have you ever wondered how to get the most out of gardening in a small space?
Perhaps you’ve tried, without success, to grow your own herbs and vegies before, only to find that they didn’t thrive as well as you hoped. Maybe you like the idea,
but you haven’t tried because you’re not sure how to start. It might be that you don’t think that you have enough space, or enough light, because most gardening ideas are about using bigger spaces.
Imagine that you can grow food in small spaces. Think about how good it would feel to use your space efficiently to create a thriving garden that looks great, smells amazing and nourishes you from the inside out. Imagine that it is fun to create, and that once it is set up, it doesn’t take you much time to maintain it.
Vertical gardens might just be your answer.
Vertical gardens come in all shapes and sizes, and they don’t need to be complicated. In practice, ‘vertical’ just refers to planting in layers, not necessarily straight up a wall. Vertical gardens have been growing naturally since the beginning of time, but the man-made versions have become more and more popular in recent years as people:
• Live in smaller spaces
• Live further from parks and nature; and
• Start to re-recognise the many benefits of having your own garden.
Fresh, edible gardens have a direct impact on our human psyche. Over millennia, humans have evolved to live close to nature, but in the last few hundred years, we’ve lived exponentially further away. Our evolution hasn’t caught up with this different way of living, and as a result, we need to add nature back into the equation. Now is the time to get some more plants into your lives, and whether you have acres of space or just a window, a vertical garden is an efficient and beautiful way to increase your connection with nature.
Convinced?
I’ve been exploring Europe recently, to see how the Europeans live well. One of the things that our wonderful friends Pete and Firlie pointed out to us was that every window in Sweden seemed to have both a plant and a lamp in it. All over Europe, as soon as spring hits, people start to plant flowers to celebrate the change in season. And in Hungary, small farms with very clever uses of space are everywhere.
The photos here were taken in Tihany, a little town on the north of Hungary’s great Lake Balaton, famous for its lavender farms. The hillsides make for perfect farming, and the views across the lake and the country are so stunning that in summer, thousands of tourists from Hungary, Germany and the rest of the world congregate here to drink wine, pálinka (a very strong national drink made from distilled fruit) and to eat all things lavender.
We were taken by this simple, yet beautiful and effective example of vertical gardening. This restaurant had a surplus of wine barrels, which they have cut and made into vertical gardens producing both herbs and flowers. The top level is watered, and the water filters down into levels two and three. This way, you water once, save time, and make the most of the light in an otherwise narrow street.
Upcycling readily available materials to create simple vertical gardens is a great idea. It’s good for the finances, good for your health and good for the planet.
At Living Joy, we like to optimise small spaces, and so we use often use vertical gardens. Many of our townhouses are on plots of
land of around 200 m², and that means that we need to use smart and beautiful ideas to create true wellness in everyday life.
Now that you know how easy it is, are you going to join in and create something amazing?
Join in the conversation below!
Make today amazing.
Love,
Alice
