Kem Ormond is a features writer for The Country. She’s also a keen gardener. This week, she’s writing about vertical gardens and updating the latest from her patch.
OPINION
Kem Ormond discusses vertical gardens, using staghorn ferns, succulents, and air plants for different conditions.
She recommends using recycled materials and pot methods for growing vegetables in limited spaces.
Ormond practices the “chop and drop” method for soil fertilisation, resulting in rich soil and abundant harvests.
I have been asked by a few people with unsightly fences what they can grow up, around and in front ofthem.
I am a fan of vertical gardens and have seen some great examples.
However, I have also seen some that I know will look good - until summer comes, and then they will struggle due to the heat, lack of watering and poor design.
I have three distinct types of vertical gardens.
Each is planted with different plants due to its situation.
I have a shady, damp area where I have used staghorn ferns.
On the back of one of my archways through to my raised vegetable gardens, I have succulents mixed with air plants, and on a blank wall at the end of my deck, I have several types of air plants.
All made using square gauge grid steel cut to size, with either a shade cloth backing or brushwood fencing.
The succulents have been put into small black pots with two V cuts, so they can be added by slotting in and attaching to the grid steel.
You could use the same pot method for strawberries or lettuce if you wish.
Air plants have been attached to pieces of driftwood with a wire hook added to attach them to the steel.
Kem's air plant wall has pieces of driftwood to keep the plants in place. Photo / Phil Thomsen
They are always a talking piece with visitors.
I have seen recycled pallets used successfully to make vertical vegetable gardens, but I still would use the pot method, placing the pots inside the pallet.
In fact, I have grown vegetables in baskets, old copper, teapots and even an old water urn.
Just make sure you feed them and water them, and they will return you with wonderful produce — great if space is limited.
My vegetable garden update
Early potatoes are ready for harvest. Photo / Phil Thomsen
While I may struggle with the darker mornings, I really do enjoy daylight saving time.
It’s wonderful having those extra hours in the evening to spend in the vegetable garden, and at the moment, I’ve got an abundance of jobs to tackle.
My early potatoes are ready for harvest, and there’s nothing quite like fresh new potatoes smothered in butter (the true “new gold”) and sprinkled with chopped parsley.
My Christmas potatoes are also up and growing well, so it looks like I’ll be well-supplied for the season ahead.
The chop and drop method was used in Kem Ormond's tomato house, and now last year’s foliage is breaking down into mulch. Photo / Phil Thomsen
As you can see from my tomato house, last year’s foliage is breaking down beautifully into mulch.
Once my tomato seedlings are ready to be planted out, I’ll move the foliage to either side of the house, where it will continue to enrich the soil.
I don’t add anything else, just the remains of the previous season’s crops.
