I love the look of vertical gardening!
I am almost done with fabricating tower #2. Honestly I am much farther behind than I expected to be, due to trying to finish grafting/deck designing/irrigation system planning/ generally spreading myself too thin. I did pick up the coconut coir, soil, and watering pipe (I am thinking I’ll use 1" pvc) for this project, SO maybe by tomorrow I’ll get the first tower vertical. My wife would prefer another color to “bright green” so I’m going to try some forest green paint I have in the garage. I’ll post pictures with updates!
Thanks Deborah! I am hopeful for having an abundance of strawberries next year.
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So I forgot to give an update on how these turned out. Since install, the few strawberries I planted that lived (there were some mold issues) have created enough runners to fill in a good amount of the spots available. I used some straps and 2 t-posts to keep each tower upright.
A 1" pipe was perforated and I used some small pieces of spare turf reinforcement mat from work to wrap around each pipe, reducing soil entering the watering pipe.
The soil mix I used was spruce chips/needles, coconut coir, optisorb, a bit of fertilizer and peat moss.
I am happy with the results so far and plan to pick up both towers with a moving dolly and store them in the garage for the cold parts of the winter. I purposely didn’t make holes on the side facing north so I can put that side against the dolly for moves.
I need to figure out some sort of screen /filter that would keep soil in the bottom while allowing drainage out the bottom of the tower. Any ideas on something cheap and durable?
And another vertical planting idea that makes life significantly easier for planting potatoes: Potato chicken wire planters
I posted this on another thread recently but it definitely belongs here as well for future reference. I have straw from Halloween decorations available and horse manure/compost available for free so I’ll be trying this out next year. Potatoes are cheap at the store but I’ll happily grow my own like this for the small space it requires.
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An idea for the center water pipe. Some people insert wicks into the pipe that exit the pipe horizontally in the soil. As the soil dries the wick keeps the soil moist, but not mud. They just keep the water tube filled with water. You would need to experiment to see how many and how much wick to use. Also, with that you can cement the bottoms in to support.
I’m thinking about building one myself. Not from lack of space, but to keep them out of deer range.
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Thank you for the suggestion, that is a great idea to look into versus manual watering. I did notice the strawberries looking pretty sad during the hottest parts of the summer this year, so regular water is a must, at least using the well drained soil mix I went with to reduce chances of rot.
Is there a particular “wick” you can suggest or resource that further explains what you are referring to? I am envisioning a jug of water with a pipe full of cotton rags using capillary action to do the job but I’m sure there is a better way.
As far as deer proofing goes, I hate to say it but I think in mid November (I can’t remember the exact date) our local herd got bold enough to munch all of my strawberry leaves in a single night. You may want to utilize additional measures if this is your primary goal. FWIW I plan to expand with more towers as time, materials and motivation permits. I might be able to source some 10" pipe from work this week actually.
Not exactly what you are doing, but a good video and I think you can adapt to what you have in mind. I would stick with the inside tube like you have using wicks.
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Ha! I wasn’t far off with my rag idea, just the wrong material 
Thanks for posting, it is always exciting to see people who are passionate about their field of study, especially when they have hard science and data to back up their hypothesis.
I’d imagine if I DO upgrade to a 10" pipe (or larger) for some towers, there should be more than enough room to add a wick system. I could even cut a few entry holes on the north side for the tubing. Using this system would nicely compliment anyone who catches rain in barrels to have a “slow release” for the water without having to pump uphill if properly applied and installed.
Think you may be right with the deer. Your creation did have eye appeal though. Will have to go with my original idea. I was just going to build a 10 foot high platform to grow low lying plants and potted plants. Still vertical planting though because I can also plant under it. I have enough land that it will not be an eyesore.
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There is always fencing as an option for deer too… It might be cheaper than building a platform these days.
It’s just starting out as a platform for that. Later when I can afford it will turn half of it into a gazebo. Something to hang out in away from the house about an acre away.
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ive had the best luck growing strawberries out in 5 gal pails placed in a 6-pail staggered stand to hold them like a tier garden. used a 2in hole saw to cut holes down one side of the bucket and planted the top of the bucket. i mulched in between the top plants to hold in moisture. if you want to deter birds use red buckets. the soil volume of a 5-gal pail holds moisture much longer than smaller containers. i leave the soil 3in from the top so i can fill it up with water and let it soak in. thats usually enough for a few days unless its very hot out.
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Do you by chance have any pictures of you strawberry bucket pyramid in action?
no i dont. its all put away for the season. i found the design on esty i think. its real easy to make. even if the bottom plants in the top tier of pails is shaded by the front pails, they quickly send up taller leaves to reach the light. i tried shelving on pallets and using planters set on them but they were impossible to keep watered.
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I plan to install my irrigation this year so I don’t have to manually water (it would be a part time job). I have a Rachio so I can automate it to do different zones on different schedules. The strawberries might have their own zone for now, and I can add more vertical planters to that schedule later when I have about 500 runners by the end of the year haha.
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I’m looking for input on how to make use of a steep area at the base of a hill that receives runoff to a culvert pipe.
I’m considering some kind of cinder block strawberry planter/ retaining wall but wanted to see if anyone had other ideas.
Basically I want to build up and out around the culvert without affecting it’s function or altering it’s design so I can make more usable land while using the ‘wall’ I’m designing productively.
My initial plan was to install mafia/ecology blocks (2x2x4’ concrete stackable blocks) but by doing that I won’t be using the space so I’m looking for ideas.
Flow is likely intermittent and mostly during rain events.
Basically envision a bowl surrounding a pipe at the bottom where water outlets and you have current conditions (yes I’ll be constructing some kind of filters /rain gardens/ibc tote ponds)
Does anyone incorporate a dedicated vertical stacking system into their landscape design?
Reading Permaculture A Designers Manual is giving me possibly too many ideas… The one most present in this topic is ‘stacking functions’
I’m considering something like:
Solar panels (power greenhouse/electric fence/well pump/sump pump)
Soil layer (honeyberries/gooseberries/currants below panels)
OR
Greenhouse below a row of solar panels on the north side of the roof, supported to reduce impact to the greenhouse
On top of -
Shipping container, (or similar reinforced structure for equipment storage etc), box culvert, ecology blocks, or similar
On top of -
Underground root cellar/mushroom log propagation tunnel
With in soil piping for geothermal circulation/climate control and possibly a water well or vertical heat pump/exchange loop
Again I ask out of an interest in conserving space but with a new space in mind.
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