Need to stretch your gardening space? We’ve all heard about going vertical, but here’s another way to take your garden to new heights. This tower garden uses less than one square foot of ground space and supports seventeen plants. I did this experimentally last year, planting basil and bok choy. The basil got a bit leggy after several months, but I think that’s my fault for being a little lax in caring for the tower. The bok choy worked beautifully.
You’ll need:
- 8″ pvc pipe* (mine is just shy of 4′ in length and was scrounged from a construction site trash pile)
- 1-1/2″ hole saw
- potting soil
- seedlings (greens work well)
Aim for four rows of four holes, equally spaced around the pipe. Stagger the holes to allow more space for each plant. Note that I did not do ANY measuring, but my holes are about 7″ apart. Two rows start about 7″ from the top of the pipe; the other two rows start about 3″ from the top of the pipe. The bottom of the pipe will have roughly 12″ of solid pipe.
Dig a 12″ deep hole and bury the bottom of the pipe. Fill the inside of the pipe with potting soil up to the bottom of the first holes. Slide a seedling into the holes, and add potting soil to reach the next set of holes. Continue in this manner until each hole is planted. Add one more plant in the top of the tower.
If your seedlings are really well rooted, you shouldn’t have a problem with them staying put. Mine were not, so I wrapped the roots in a square of newspaper before sliding them into the hole. The newspaper made it easier to work with the seedlings and helped prevent the loose soil from escaping.
The photo at the top of this post was taken about two weeks after the tower was completed. During a rainstorm. Through a window. No, I won’t win any photography prizes with these images, but I think you get the gist.
One thing I’d do differently: I’d add a length of 2″ pvc, drilled with holes to the center of the tower for easier, more efficient watering. If you try it, I’d love to hear how it works for you.
*Yes, it’s plastic, but it was diverted from the landfill. Is pvc safe to plant in for health reasons? I dunno. I don’t know if pvc will leach chemicals into the soil, or if the plants will uptake them if they do. Certainly, given the choice between a bunch of pvc towers to garden in or a large, flat piece of sunny space, I’d choose the sunny space. But until I have that, I’ll continue experimenting!
Love the idea, but don’t think PVC would be a good choice at all if for no other reason than the amount of toxins produced when it is made.
I did this in my yard. I used 6″ PVC in 5 lengths. Buried about 1 1/2 feet, so about 4′ is out of the ground It works fabulous. I have lettuce and spinach in 2 and I tried broccol in the other. I agree about putting a smaller pipe in the middle for watering. I like that critters can’t get at the plants and the plant stay nice an clean. I also did some with tristar strawberries.
You need to make sure you use pvc that’s used for water pipes, as opposed to piping for other things like septic, etc.
This is fantastic!
Check out Suzanne Bedard Brown’s towers: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3888461565537&set=p.3888461565537&type=1&ref=nf
very reminiscent of strawberry towers. I like the idea!
Did you see the one on t.v. that is over $500.00?
Tina Crawford-Shellkopf, I did not. But I wouldn’t even be *tempted to fork over that much! This was pretty much free, other than the soil and seeds.
Love this idea.
What a wonderful idea!! Love that you experimented with it and took photos. I like that Suzanne tried some other plants, and as for Rachel’s comment, that’s a good point. Maybe it would be best to find PVC pipe that’s at a yard sale or some a friend is giving away instead of buying it new.
Yes, mine was diverted from the landfill. I love that someone mentioned creating one from wood – that would work, too!
So clever! Your projects always are so clever…but always make me realize how UN-handy I am. I’d love to know the final outcome!
@Sheryl It does require learning to handle a drill, but that’s something I think everyone should take time to do – at least once in their life! (It’s not that scary once you’ve done it.)
[...] Click here to view the tutorial. [...]
I have no place to “plant” the pipe. I’m wondering if there’s a way to stabalize it standing freely.
Jean, I’d try situating it in a 5-gallon bucket. If I were going to do this, I’d center the pipe in the bucket and fill to the rim of the bucket – both inside and outside the pipe – with small heavy rocks. Pea gravel, maybe? I’d love to know if you try it!
make sure you get pipe that’s used for water so that you have anything toxic leaching into the plants.
[...] PVC Garden Tower: Drill holes in a PVC tube and you have a strawberry [...]