Vertical Gardening and Layering

Vertical gardening is a revolutionary approach that sees the potential for growth not just horizontally, but upwards. This method is especially transformative in urban settings, where space is at a premium. By layering plants—tall trees, understory shrubs, ground covers, and climbers—we mimic nature's own architecture, producing more food per square foot than traditional single-layer crops. Practical tips and examples will guide you in implementing these techniques, turning even the smallest spaces into abundant vertical gardens.

Practical Tips for Vertical Gardening and Layering

Choose the Right Structures

• Trellises and Arbors: Ideal for supporting climbing plants like beans, peas, cucumbers, and some varieties of squash and melons. Position trellises north to south to maximize sun exposure.
• Vertical Planters and Wall Gardens: Use hanging pots, wall-mounted planters, or repurpose items like pallets and shoe organizers for herbs, strawberries, and salad greens. Ensure they have adequate drainage.

Select Suitable Plants

• For Upper Layers: Choose taller plants or trees that can provide shade for more sensitive plants below. Fruit trees and tall perennials work well.
• Mid-Layers: Bushy plants like blueberries, raspberries, and medium-sized vegetables fit here.
• Ground Layer: Low-growing plants, including strawberries and ground cover herbs like thyme, can thrive here, utilizing the shade provided by upper layers.

Utilize Companion Planting

• Implement companion planting to maximize space and plant compatibility. For example, tomatoes can be planted with basil and marigolds vertically to enhance growth and deter pests.

Ensure Proper Watering and Nutrition

• Vertical gardens may dry out more quickly. Consider a drip irrigation system for consistent moisture and to reduce water waste. Ensure plants have access to necessary nutrients, especially in container setups where soil volume is limited.

Examples of Vertical Gardening and Layering

Urban Balcony Garden

• Setup: Use a combination of hanging baskets for herbs, a trellis for climbing plants like tomatoes and peas, and tiered planters for lettuce and radishes to create a layered effect.
• Outcome: This setup maximizes the vertical space available on a balcony, providing a variety of produce within a limited area.

Suburban Backyard Food Forest

• Setup: Start with fruit or nut trees as the canopy layer, add berry bushes and perennial vegetables like artichokes in the understory, and use the ground layer for annual vegetables and herbs. Incorporate a trellis with grapevines or kiwi on the edge.
• Outcome: This approach creates a diverse, edible ecosystem that mimics natural forest layers, offering high yields over time with increased biodiversity.

Small Community Garden Plot

• Setup: Install vertical planters along the perimeter for herbs and flowers, use central areas for taller vegetable plants, and intersperse with low-growing species. Include a small trellis system for beans or cucumbers.
• Outcome: Even in a communal setting, vertical gardening techniques can significantly increase the variety and quantity of produce grown, encouraging community engagement and education on sustainable practices.

By incorporating these vertical gardening and layering techniques, you can transform any space, regardless of its size, into a lush, productive garden. These strategies not only optimize your growing area but also contribute to creating a more diverse and resilient growing environment.

The Concept of Polycultures

Monocultures, or the cultivation of a single crop over a wide area, are a staple of conventional agriculture but come with a host of problems, from pest outbreaks to soil degradation. Polycultures, the cornerstone of permaculture design, introduce a diverse mix of plants that support and enhance each other. This diversity leads to a reduction in pests, improvement in soil health, and a year-round harvest. We'll show you how to design polyculture systems that are not just productive but also a haven for biodiversity.

Designing polyculture systems is a cornerstone of permaculture, aiming to mimic the diversity of natural ecosystems for increased resilience, productivity, and biodiversity. Here are a few examples of small garden plots utilizing polyculture principles, with details on plant selections and the synergies between them.

Example 1: The Kitchen Herb and Vegetable Garden

Plants Included:

• Tomatoes, Basil, and Marigolds: Tomatoes benefit from the company of basil, which can improve growth and flavor, while marigolds deter pests like nematodes.
• Carrots and Onions: Planting onions near carrots can help repel the carrot fly, as onions mask the scent of the carrots.
• Lettuce and Chives: Chives can deter aphids, protecting the lettuce, and their small footprint allows them to fit easily between lettuce heads.

Design Explanation: This garden layout maximizes space by combining taller plants like tomatoes with ground-hugging lettuce and root crops like carrots, creating a vertical layering effect. Companion planting principles are applied to enhance growth, deter pests, and increase yields, making this small plot a productive and aromatic space.

Example 2: The Pollinator-Friendly Berry Garden

Plants Included:

• Blueberries, Strawberries, and Lavender: Lavender attracts pollinators, benefiting the berry plants, while its strong scent can deter deer and rabbits.
• Borage and Raspberries: Borage, planted with raspberries, attracts beneficial insects and can improve the flavor and yield of the raspberries.
• Nasturtium and Fruit Trees (Dwarf Varieties): Nasturtium acts as a trap crop for pests, protecting nearby fruit trees, and its vibrant flowers attract pollinators.

Design Explanation: This polyculture design focuses on attracting pollinators and beneficial insects, crucial for the pollination of berry plants and fruit trees. By integrating flowers with fruit-bearing plants, the garden becomes a haven for biodiversity, ensuring healthy crops and a vibrant ecosystem.

Example 3: The Small-Scale Edible Forest

Plants Included:

• Apple Tree (Dwarf Variety), Underplanted with Comfrey and Daffodils: Comfrey acts as a dynamic accumulator, bringing up nutrients from deep in the soil, while daffodils repel rodents.
• Kale, Swiss Chard, and Calendula: Leafy greens like kale and Swiss chard benefit from the presence of calendula, which can deter pests and attract beneficial insects.
• Sweet Peas and Carrots: Sweet peas fix nitrogen in the soil, benefiting nutrient-hungry carrots. Their vertical growth habit also saves space.

Design Explanation: Mimicking a forest's layers, this garden uses a fruit tree as a canopy, with underplanting that provides multiple functions: pest deterrence, soil improvement, and high-yield vegetable crops. This setup demonstrates how even a small plot can be designed for abundance, sustainability, and beauty, with each plant selected for its role in supporting the overall system's health.

These examples show that thoughtful plant selection and placement can create polyculture systems that are not only highly productive but also promote a rich tapestry of life. By designing with nature’s principles in mind, even the smallest gardens can become ecosystems brimming with life, beauty, and bounty.

Edible Forest Gardens

Edible forest gardens take polycultures to the next level, creating multi-layered food systems that emulate a forest's structure and function. These gardens are perennial, self-sustaining, and incredibly productive, offering a model for agriculture that's in sync with the natural world. Through case studies and practical guidance, you'll learn the principles behind edible forest gardens and how to start your own, whether you have a small backyard or several acres.

Edible forest gardens epitomize the essence of permaculture by mimicking the structure and function of natural forests to create self-sustaining, productive ecosystems. They are designed with layers of vegetation, from the canopy to the root zone, each playing a crucial role in the garden's ecology. Here, we explore the foundational principles of edible forest gardens, followed by illustrative case studies.

Principles of Edible Forest Gardens

1. Layering: Mimic the layers found in a natural forest — the canopy (tall trees), understory (small trees and shrubs), herbaceous (non-woody plants), ground cover (plants that grow close to the ground), rhizosphere (root crops), and vertical layer (vines and climbers).
2. Diversity: Incorporate a wide variety of plants within each layer to increase biodiversity, resilience, and productivity. Diversity ensures a more stable ecosystem that can better resist pests and diseases while providing a year-round harvest.
3. Integration of Perennials: Focus on perennial plants, which live for several years, to create a low-maintenance garden that evolves and matures over time, reducing the need for annual replanting.
4. Support for Wildlife: Design the garden to attract and support beneficial wildlife, including pollinators, birds, and beneficial insects, which play essential roles in a garden’s health and productivity.
5. Natural Mulch Production: Include plants like comfrey and clover that can be chopped and dropped as natural mulch, providing soil cover, adding organic matter, and conserving moisture.
6. Soil Health: Foster healthy soil through minimal disturbance, regular organic matter additions, and the cultivation of soil-building plants to maintain and enhance fertility.

Case Studies

Case Study 1: Urban Edible Forest Garden

Location: A 1/4-acre urban backyard in Portland, Oregon

Design Elements:

• A canopy layer of dwarf fruit trees, including apples and pears, provides shade and fruit.
• The understory features berry bushes like blueberries and currants, combined with nitrogen-fixing shrubs such as sea buckthorn.
• The herbaceous layer is rich with culinary and medicinal herbs, along with perennial vegetables like artichokes and asparagus.
• Ground cover crops include creeping thyme and strawberries, suppressing weeds and providing harvests.
• Climbing plants like grapes and kiwi vines utilize vertical space along fences and trellises.

Outcomes: This garden transformed a conventional backyard into a diverse, productive space that yields food throughout the year. It serves as a model for urban edible landscapes, demonstrating that food production and ecological sustainability can flourish even in limited spaces.

Case Study 2: Rural Community Edible Forest Garden

Location: A 5-acre community center in Vermont

Design Elements:

• The canopy consists of nut trees (hazelnuts, chestnuts) and standard-sized fruit trees (apples, cherries).
• Understory layers include smaller fruit trees and nitrogen-fixers like Siberian pea shrub.
• The garden incorporates extensive herbaceous layers with perennial kale, horseradish, and wild garlic.
• Ground covers of clover and vetch improve soil fertility, while rhizosphere crops like Jerusalem artichoke and yacon fill the root zone.
• The site features ponds that support aquatic plants and wildlife, enhancing the ecosystem’s diversity.

Outcomes: The community edible forest garden has become a hub for local food production, education, and biodiversity conservation. It showcases how permaculture principles can be scaled up to create resilient food systems that support community well-being and environmental health.

These case studies illustrate the transformative potential of edible forest gardens, from small urban backyards to larger communal lands. They demonstrate the practical application of permaculture principles, offering inspiration and a blueprint for those interested in starting their own forest garden projects.