Skyscraper Garden

The patent pending design of The Skyscraper Garden is an easy-to-assemble kit that allows vining plants to climb either against the wall, or on a free-standing unit.

"Vertical gardening makes it easier to have your ornaments and eat them too," said Leonard Perry, an extension professor of horticulture at the University of Vermont. "Grab a tomato or two as you walk by, which is an easy thing to do when they're hanging at different levels."

There are plenty of advantages of becoming your own 'green grocer' and growing crops in this way, says Fell. The frame is constructed against a warm south-facing wall. Because it is naturally warmer than the ground it creates its own microclimate resistant to killing frosts. "That can mean starting your garden earlier in the spring and continuing with it later into the fall," said Derek Fell.

Other advantages are -

• Requires less water
• Less disease and pest prone
• Plants are healthier, allows more air to circulate
• Little or no stooping is required
• Can be used year after year

Fell says he sees only two downsides to this form of gardening:

• The weight of a maturing vertical garden can fracture or rot buildings if it's not installed properly. But a purchased potting soil can help reduce extra weight caused by heavy saturated soils.
• Not all vegetables are suitable for growing tall up supports. Crops such as lettuce, cabbage, peppers, and eggplant are more suited to growing low in the front.

Fell's idea for a vertical garden is particularly timely considering the current trend toward home gardening, and First Lady Michele Obama's recent project leading area children in the planting of a White House vegetable garden. Yet this was not the first vegetable garden for the White House. It was Derek Fell who designed a vegetable garden for the Ford Administration 30 years ago "when the President advised citizens to plant a vegetable garden to beat inflation." Fell was appointed chairman of a committee to see the garden implemented.