When you’re looking to expand your selection of vegetables and herbs and even flowers, but don’t think you have the space, why not grow up, not out?

Walls, fences, railings, and trellises all offer easily accessible growing spaces that cost you nothing in floor area, and a surprising number of crops would rather climb than sprawl.

Even better, vertical growing turns a narrow yard or balcony into somewhere to grow food for you and your family. You can use it as a sensory garden too by using plants or flowers that have noticeable scents and tactile qualities.

Growing upwards does more than save space. Fruit and pods hang higher, so they stay cleaner and are easier to spot at picking time. A sunny wall holds warmth through the evening, giving tender crops a helpful boost.

What to grow upwards

Climbing beans are the classic choice; runner beans and climbing French beans will happily scramble up six feet or more, and crop for weeks. Peas will do the same on a smaller frame, so you can tailor your crop to the space available.

Cucumbers, courgettes, and small squashes can all be trained upwards rather than left to sprawl. Bear in mind that heavier fruits may need a sling made from an old pair of tights to take the weight, and this needs to be factored in to what you build, and grow on it.

Cordon tomatoes grow tall by nature and do well when tied to a wall or cane. Trailing crops like strawberries work brilliantly the other way, planted in hanging pots or wall planters, so the fruit dangles clear.

What to grow on

There’s a range of growing solutions, some you might have in your home or garden already. None of them need to be particularly expensive either, and you can tailor your choice to your budget. These include:

• Bamboo canes tied into a wigwam or A-frame, very cheap and very quick
• Trellis panels fixed to a wall or fence
• Netting or wire strung between two posts
• Wall-mounted pockets, gutters, or bottle planters for shallow-rooted crops.
• A stepladder or pallet stood upright, with pots on each level or maybe shelves made out of pallets.
• A clothes rail, hatstand, or mirror frame can add some character

You can see some of these ideas working in our show garden, but with a bit of imagination and elbow grease, there’s little limit to what you can use to grow up, not out.

There are a few things to remember when going – and growing – vertically. Vertical growing dries out faster than ground-level beds, especially against a sunny wall, so be sure to water little and often.

Check your fixings before the plants get heavy: a fully laden bean frame catches wind like a sail. And tie in new growth as it comes, guiding stems onto the support rather than letting them flop or hang loose.

A bare wall is just a growing space waiting to be remade into something special. Once it’s covered in beans, it looks prettier too. And by using household items like a ladder, you can give your space a personal and quirky charm. So, get growing, and think of the evenings you can spend surrounded by beautiful scents and colours.