Tackle Garden Hang-Ups

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Carol A. Crotta

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Walls can provide great support for climbing plants.

Think your garden is a bit grounded? Lift it to whole new level – into a tree, up a trellis or atop an arbor. Vertical gardening works particularly nice with shade gardening since the shade source often provides a built-in support for vertical plantings like vines and container gardens.

Growing vertical is actually easy to do no matter your garden’s situation. If your shade is created by an arbor or overhead trellis, soften the edges of the structure by training sun-loving vines such as bougainvillea up posts and across the top. If your arbor is very open and doesn’t offer much shade, the trailing foliage of a substantial vine like wisteria can create the shade you want below.

There also are shade-tolerant vines that can enhance both living and man-made elements of your shade garden. Most ivy cultivars will scale the trunk of a tree happily, but you have to be careful to contain the ivy’s growth so it doesn’t engulf the tree entirely – potentially killing it.

Or perhaps you prefer to adorn the branches of your trees. With the right humidity, either natural or supplied through a misting system, you can “attach” some unusual plantings to a tree. The staghorn fern and orchids are epiphytes, meaning they’re perfectly suited to open shade that maintains some humidity. Attach them to a tree trunk with soft cotton cord; the plant will eventually send roots into the tree bark for support as the cotton cord biodegrades.

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Growing plants at eye level gives you a whole new perspective on beauty.

Or perhaps you like pops of bright color interspersed among your trees’ foliage. Then consider suspending hanging baskets for added color, depth and texture at eye level.

Hanging containers are versatile additions to a shade garden. They can provide focal points, create intimacy, bring in spots of color and accentuate the twist of a beautiful tree branch or the good looks of an outdoor structure. You can also switch up the look and mood of your container garden simply by changing the annuals in the hanging baskets to announce a new season.

Just be sure to use the correct technique to suspend hanging planters from branches so you don’t damage the tree. Since hanging containers move freely in the wind, the hanging hardware can chafe and saw through limbs, killing branches and exposing the tree to disease. You can avoid this problem by installing a loose collar around the cord or chain of your hanging basket. Just take the simple steps shown in the following pictures and described in their captions – then enjoy gardening at a whole new level!

Facts

Containers and hanging baskets dry out much quicker than if your plants are in the ground. While shaded container plants may not dry out as quickly as those placed in full sun, you should still keep constant watch over soil moisture levels.
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Wisteria is a sun-loving woody vine with dangling clusters of fragrant blue, lilac or white pea-like flowers in spring. Grown over a long structure, wisterias can create lovely shade below.

Tips

Climbers with heavy foliage may need the extra stability of a trellis to stay erect. Trellises have an open-air design, often with crisscrossing diagonal slats made from thin strips of treated wood or vinyl. If used for a container planting, the trellis should be installed before the soil and plants are added. Affix the trellis to the inside of the container using brass screws for wood containers and through-bolts in drilled holes for terra-cotta pots. Always place containers with trellises a few inches away from any structure to ensure good air circulation between the plant and the structure.
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The best time to lay your shade garden’s foundation (which includes arbors, trellises, posts for hanging plants, decorative stones and boulders, irrigation systems, etc.) is before you begin planting.

Come to The Garden Party and share your vertical plantings and tree hanging baskets with the rest of our Learn2Grow community! Post some pictures of your climbers and hanging planters, create a blog, or learn from our experts and other home gardeners some more ways to bring high-minded beauty into your yard.

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Articles

Growing Vertical
Looking to add some vertical interest to your gardening spaces? Whether you cover an obelisk, trellis or teepee with flowering plants, it may be just the thing to raise your level of enjoyment in the garden.
Building a Plant Post for Creative Container Displays
Looking for a new way to show off your container garden? Build a plant post! This easy construction project is an affordable way to display your planters and small hanging baskets in a beautiful and unique fashion. Learn the simple steps to making your own.
Vine…Be That Way
From growing up trees to spreading across fences, vines bring the garden a great deal of interest. Here are just a few of the fantastic things vines can do for our landscapes.

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