Garden Up!: Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces [Paperback]

Disclaimer: I know the authors and I work for the publisher. But I had nothing to do with the creation of the book, and only saw it when it arrived on my doorstep.

I'm a gardening fanatic, but I'm bad at planning and even worse at projects and building. I've been working on my garden for three years now, trying to give it more shape and structure. While reading lots of fancy new books and magazines, I've fallen in love with the "gardening up" concept, but didn't know how to work it into my yard. I have a traditional red brick ranch--not exactly modern. (I know it was considered modern in the 1970s, but we've moved on.) How could I integrate these fabulous finishing touches of contemporary garden design? How could I garden up without gardening in PVC pipes (not really my aesthetic)?

What's great about this book is that there are projects and photographs for every gardening style. If you tend toward traditional (like me), there are lots of projects for you to try. You can garden with the trendsetters without being overly "trendy."

If you're lucky enough to have a house or yard that goes well with "modern," there are lots of projects for you, too.

Layout: One of my complaints about garden books is that I find it incredibly difficult to actually figure out and implement the projects. Projects are crammed in with lots of gorgeous pictures and a bunch of words. While this book has lots of great description and wonderful photos, it is also nicely laid out. Here's the chapter breakdown:

Arbors and Trellises
Skinny Spaces
Garden Secrets
Urban Gardens
Edibles
Living Walls
Plant Picks
Design Spotlights

My favorite part of each chapter is the "Design spotlight" section. They show a photograph illustrating a technique they've outlined, and put little callouts and arrows pointing to each important part. That makes it easy to replicate or take inspiration from the project.

The "Do it Yourself" project outline for projects and techniques is also helpful. There are photographs for different steps in the process, a materials list, and tips.

Overall, I think this is a fun new book that will introduce a lot of gardeners to techniques that they previously thought were completely beyond their skill level.

As a landscape designer, books that solve problems are high on my go-to list.

Ugly old chimneys, vents, air conditioners, or chicken coops? Morrison and Sweet have ample solutions to these and other potential eyesores.
Need to bring height to a garden bed or patio that has no room for width? They show multiple examples and photos of how to make the most of small or skinny spaces.
How to bring interest and beauty to a barren wall? Step-by-step instructions for a number of DIY projects are included, with full-color photos of each step along the way.

They cover trellises and arbors, growing edibles vertically, living walls, screening, small urban spaces, and more. I loved that they included a lot of non-intuitive design tips that you can tell come directly from their years as landscape designers. Even as a designer myself, I picked up a number of exciting new ways of looking at things and tips on using different textures effectively for their effect on space. And their photos and projects have me so inspired. I am definitely going to try making my own living succulent wall and potato tower!

Whether you're looking to maximize your space as an urban gardener, or you have a sprawling lot with more than one "garden secret" you'd like to hide, I highly recommend this book for its beautiful photos and innovative design solutions. While vertical gardening is a hot trend right now, I see this book as being a solidly useful design and idea manual that will grace your shelves for years to come.

A few years ago I became intrigued with vertical gardening, but every book I found seemed to be written for professionals about major installations. I was looking for a `how-to' written for the average gardener that wanted to try something different because whether we live on a huge hunk of land or an apartment with a balcony... we always have a vertical space that would look so much better with a bit of greenery. "How to go about the process?" and "What materials could I use?" were my big questions.

Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces truly is an amazing book. It is filled with inspiring photographs, practical advice and innovative methods that can be applied to the vertical spaces we all have but don't quite know how to bring to life. If you are like me, you'll soak it all in and then come up with your own ideas. You'll take little bits of this and that, then experiment. Thank you, Susan and Rebecca for giving me the info that I need to create my own vertical garden. I think I'm in love with this book.
Sheila Schultz