Operation Vertical Garden
Posted by ReadyMade
Written by Amy Devers
No doubt about it, vertical gardens are rad. With the help of handy-dandy Woolly Pockets, you can grow herbs, plants, and flowers all in neat little rows. Woolly Pockets are a modular system derived from recycled plastic water bottles. The breathable, lightweight material comes in black, brown, or blue, and pockets are available as singles, rows of 3, or rows of 5. Position them high enough and they have the added benefit of blocking ugly house views. You’ll need to add a little bracing to your fence to hold them up that high, and you may need a stepladder to water them. Or you can just get a super-soaking water gun and spray them from an upstairs window. Even more rad.
Read the article that accompanies this project here.
Skill Level
Moderate
Active Time
One day
Cost
$$
- Two 248-foot redwood boards
- 3½-inch Deck Mate flat-head coated galvanized redwood deck screws
- Two 2410-foot redwood boards, another for each extra row of Wally Fives
- 2½-inch Deck Mate flat-head coated galvanized redwood deck screws
- Woolly Pockets: Wally Fives (that’s a row of five pockets); use at least two, but you can do more rows if you like
- Plants and soil
Materials
- Circular or chop saw
- Measuring tape and pencil
- Level
- Drill/driver
- Stepladder
Tools
Cut both 248s to 90 inches in length with a 30-degree bevel on one end (to help water drain off the top).
Face one 24 so it’s flat against the fence, on-center with a fence post on the back side of the fence, and with the bevel on top sloping toward the back. Plumb with a level. Drive in 3½-inch screws, predrilling if needed, to sister the 24 to the fence post.
Do the same with the other 248 at the next post. The tops of the 24s should be even and level.
Attach a 2410 perpendicular to (and even with) the top of the posts with 2½-inch screws. Center and level.
Do the same with the second 2410, 13 inches on-center down from the top.
Repeat for any additional rows, spacing them 13 inches on-center.
Now stretch your Woolly Pocket out across each cross member, and attach it by driving the included screws in through the grommet holes.
Add plants and soil, and voilà!
