Keen on growing your own food? You don’t need to be a farmer or have a sprawling backyard garden to do so. The rise of vertical gardening means you can grow and harvest a whole bounty of produce even if you’re an urban dweller living in a small indoor space. “It’s a great thing that helps decentralize our agricultural system,” says Nick Cutsumpas, or “Farmer Nick,” an urban gardener, landscaper and author of “Plant Coach: The Beginner’s Guide to Caring for Plants and the Planet.” “To empower people, especially those without land access in urban areas, to grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables is a gift.”
Vertical gardening devices or systems have a small footprint but can grow many plants, and there are countless different types. “The most simple garden towers are just stackable planters with different pockets to accommodate plants,” says Anna Ohler, owner and operator of Bright Lane Gardens. “The most advanced garden towers offer automatic watering to each plant, integrated light systems and even integrated nutrient delivery systems.” Some work via hydroponics (where the plants grow in water-based nutrient mediums), some via aeroponics (where the plants grow in air) and some via soil.
“You can get very fancy with it if you want, but as long as you’re growing several plants on a structure and growing up, you’re tower gardening,” says Liz Baessler, senior editor at Gardening Know How. “The beauty of tower gardens is the space they save. Since the plants are grown in an upward pattern, the actual footprint they take up can be as small as a single planter.”
Vertical gardens can be outdoor or indoor, depending on how they’re built, as well as your climate and the available lighting (either from the sun or artificial light). Neither is better than the other, though. “Personally, I’ve found both to have their unique charms,” says Amber Noyes, a horticulturist and the editor of Gardening Chores. “Indoor towers allow you to control the environment to a T, be it temperature, light or pest control. I remember this one time when I managed to grow the most lush, vibrant lettuce right in my living room over the winter months, which was such a treat. On the other hand, outdoor towers can take full advantage of the natural sunlight and rain, really letting Mother Nature do her thing. One summer, my outdoor tower was home to a cascade of strawberries, each sweeter than the last, all thanks to the summer sun.”
Either way, vertical gardens are beginner-friendly — in fact, the relatively turnkey nature of many of them makes them an easier venture than traditional gardens. “The vertical design of garden towers promotes better air circulation around plants, reducing disease issues,” says Gene Caballero, co-founder of Your Green Pal. “Plus, they can be an excellent solution for people with mobility issues, as they minimize bending and kneeling.”
And as Noyes adds, “There’s the added joy of eating something that you’ve grown with your own two hands, and believe me, that’s an unmatched feeling.”
Ahead, discover seven expert-favorite vertical gardens to suit your growing needs.
The Farmstand is a smart, hydroponic device with the added benefit of flexibility depending on your needs: You can order a tower that accommodates anywhere from 12 to 36 plants (if you start small, you can add extensions later), and you can set it up outside or get the attachable LED Grow Rings for indoor use. “You purchase pre-planted seedlings, which means we’re harvesting some of the goodies within just a few weeks,” says Dee Broughton, a food writer and recipe developer behind the website Gimme From Scratch, who says she’s grown lettuce, herbs, vegetables and edible flowers on her own Farmstand. “Seeing these plants grow really does bring joy to me and my family, and the added benefit is we get to eat it all!” Broughton found success using her Farmstand both indoors and outdoors but prefers to use it outside. “The plants grew healthier and produced more in a shorter period of time,” she says.?
Cutsumpas is also a Lettuce Grow devotee, particularly thanks to its smart features that take care of watering and fertilizing. “It’s ideal for me because I travel a lot for work, and I don’t have to worry about a thing,” he says, adding he also likes the new and more compact The Farmstand Nook model with its smaller footprint. “Having a Farmstand close to the kitchen is ideal for taking my culinary adventures to the next level, and I personally love it for the fresh herbs and leafy greens that tend to spoil the most when you buy them from the grocery store,” he says.
The Gardyn vertical planter is a smart system that accommodates 30 plants facing two vertical LED lights. This one is specifically designed for indoor-use and serves that function well. “It’s perfect if you want a more modern approach to the idea of garden towers,” says Stefan Bucur, founder and owner of the home improvement website Rhythm of the Home. “Since it’s using a newer technique called hydroponics that operates on a water-based nutrient instead of soil, it will also be much less messy than working directly with soil.”?
The 3.0 is Gardyn’s newest and most expensive model, but the 2.0 version is also a worthy consideration that’s pretty similar but with a lower price tag.
This kit allows you to stack three self-sufficient gardens on top of one another on a convenient and stylish shelf. The garden has built-in LED lights and an automatic watering system to keep your plants growing strong. CNN Underscored editor Kai Burkhardt has been testing one for months and has loved how easy it is to set up and use. “Literally all you have to do is insert whatever plant pods you want to grow into the garden, fill it up with water and plug it in,” he says. “I was amazed by how quickly everything grew and how hands-off it was. I’d just make sure the gardens had enough water every few days, and after about one month, we were eating herbs and lettuce that we grew in our office.”
Not all vertical gardens are high-tech, expensive devices — and those that aren’t can be just as successful. Noyes loves this affordable outdoor tower that has five tiers of stacking pots with spaces for 20 plants, all within a relatively small footprint.
Bucur likes this hydroponic system for small spaces because of its “sleek and simple design.” The base is a compact single square foot, and the modular grow blocks stack cleanly on top. Each block accommodates four plants, all of which get watered via the hydroponic irrigation system.?
Ohler has been helping run an ExoTower at her son’s school, and she’s also a big fan. “This tower is completely hydroponic, which means there is no dirt involved,” she says. “Hydroponic systems are much better suited for indoor growing, and they cut down on mess.”
The Garden Tower 2 features a stackable HDPE plastic pot system with integrated composting in the center, with space for 50 plants in a 4-square-foot footprint. “The tower also rotates, ensuring all plants receive ample sunlight, and it has an innovative water recycling system that conserves water,” Caballero says. “This feature is incredibly beneficial for areas with water scarcity issues. From my experience, Garden Tower 2 offers an excellent balance of usability, sustainability and productivity. It’s a great option for urban dwellers, balcony gardeners or anyone looking to make the most of their space while enjoying a wide variety of fresh plants and vegetables.”?
Siobhán Alvarez-Borland, owner of the parenting blog Mimosas & Motherhood, has been planting in GreenStalk vertical planters for three years — and in fact, she loves them so much that she has three. “Our family first began using tower gardens when we were living in a condo,” she says. “With the limited outside space, we really wanted to maximize what we could grow. We first started with container gardening but quickly realized it wasn’t the right fit for our lifestyle.”
Now, she says she and her family grow “a huge variety of fruits, veggies and herbs” with this easy-to-use system that can grow up to 42 plants in a 19-inch-wide footprint (or 30 plants in the same width, if you go for the GreenStalk Original 5-Tier Vertical Planter). With this one, you grow your plants in soil and water the entire thing from the top; the self-watering system takes care of distributing the hydration to each plant. “I love that my preschoolers can take such an active role in helping us grow our own food using them,” she says. “It’s a fantastic option for small spaces outdoors, and also easy to rotate and move when needed.” (Though, it should be noted, the rotating bases are sold separately.)
While it looks similar to some of the other stackable towers on the list, this tower is actually made up of individual pots rather than tiers of connected pots — which is exactly the type of thing Ohler likes. “For outdoor gardening, I prefer the simple garden towers that are just stackable pots,” she says. “I always look for an ultra-durable plastic, and I find that the terra-cotta color planters are best for sunlight absorption without making the planter too hot.”?
Matt Hagens, founder of Obsessed Lawn, says this specific option is a “game changer.”?
“What I love about it is its versatility.” he says. “It’s easy to assemble and even easier to take apart. Crafted from durable, weather-resistant plastic, it’s a trooper in various conditions. It’s an ideal choice for beginners who are just stepping into the world of vertical gardening or for the urban gardener short on space but big on plant dreams. For those struggling with deciding which plants to grow, start with herbs and succulents. They are low-maintenance [and] hardy, and trust me, fresh herbs in your cooking will change your life.”
