I have a mostly shady spot in my backyard that was created when we added our shade arbor, directly outside our kitchen door. We spend a lot of time out under the arbor and consider it our outdoor living room. We have a fire pit and large table where we like to gather a lot of people and eat wonderful fresh food.
I installed this vertical garden (isn’t more of a horizontal garden?) because I could never get anything to grow along this back fence, under the arbor. I found these planters (sets of three) on Amazon by Worth Garden and they really work for this tricky area.
I bought two full sets and Ted and I screwed them to horizontal boards that span the width of the arbor. The sets come with watering tubing that you can install from above to keep it watered but I haven’t needed to do that yet, as the little cups hold water quite well to keep the plants hydrated.
This spring I planted shade plants, mainly non-flowering types but like ivy and sedum. I did plant a couple of lobelia and white impatiens to add a little bit of cool toned color. The large vine in the middle is a white clematis that I’ve managed to keep alive for about 10 years, though it doesn’t get much bigger than it is now. Now, if only I can keep the hydrangea I’ve planted below this to stay alive, and the dogs away, I’ll really be happy.
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