DIY Garden Towers
For several years I’ve grown a variety of produce in garden towers. Yes, I first saw one on Pinterest. Someone had raised Potatoes in their garden tower. I thought that was a pretty great idea so that’s what I first raised in mine too. But then I got the idea to use them for my whole summer garden. Summer garden you say. Yes, our seasons are backwards here in South Florida. We garden in the winter and in the summer…. well…… only a few things will grow with all our heat… and humidity… and bugs… and rain…
Singer/Songwriter Jim Stafford grew up not far from here and wrote a song back in the ’70s about Florida. Here are just a couple of lines relating to our weather that I can really relate to.
Move to Florida! We’ll build you a town!
Poor Swamp creatures, runnin’ everywhere around,
never knowin’ if they’re gonna dry up or drown.
Well, that kind of sums it up. In the winter we get very little rain and have to irrigate. But in the summer……
Make Your Own Garden Tower
Yes, I know it was a long way around to get here but that is why I grow my summer garden in garden towers. These are great. Just a little welded wire fencing, cut to 3′ wide. I bend the end wires to hook into the other side to make a circle. Then I fill it partway up with grass clippings or hay. To fill the remainder of the tower, I push the hay to the sides and fill the center with good garden soil mixed with compost and worm castings. Then I plant my seedlings or seeds right in the top.
Why Grow With A Garden Tower
This allows me to grow a few things in the summer while I solarize my garden and get it ready for the fall crops. When The growing season is over, I just unhook the wire and it will lay flat for storage. Well sort of. At least you can nest them together. They still like to curl some. Then they are ready to use next summer. And all that hay and garden soil will be partially composted and ready to spread on a new garden bed.
This is a great way to garden if:
- You have really bad soil.
- You are not sure yet where you want to put your garden.
- You need to let your garden rest.
- Or like me, have a flooded garden part of the year.
They really make gardening easy too. I can pick peppers and eggplant without bending over, and when I pull the wire off, the sweet potatoes just fall out. No digging! What a bonus! This is a really great way to grow regular potatoes too. What if you have shallow soil and haven’t built it up enough yet for long carrots or long-rooted plants, like tomatoes. A couple of these will solve that problem.
By putting a garbage bag over the top you can protect your plants from frost. (in the fall or winter of course) Or cover the top and sides with tulle to keep the bugs from eating your plants. The possibilities are almost endless. Now get to work thinking of how these garden towers can make your gardening life easier.
Happy Gardening – I Hope You Have A Ducky Day!
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Mary is a gardener, backyard homesteader, and duck wrangler. She is also the owner and writer of LifeIsJustDucky.com and AGoodWordADay.com. (for daily devotions) Mary is passionate about helping others expand their backyard homesteading skills and learn to be more self-sufficient, no matter where they live.
How many seedlings in each tower?
That depends on what size you make it, what you want, and the type of plants. You can make this any size you like. I had 4′ (tall) welded wire and I made them a circumference of 6 feet. I put 3 okra plants in one. When I used them for potatoes, I put 6 potato plants in them. Hope that helps.
Greetings from Costa Rica, we also have a very humid climate and this idea is great for some areas of my country.
I could suggest adding a plastic tube in the center with many holes to add the green material that could be for composting or to add worms and so you have a tower that improves the quality of the soil season by season.
That can be a great addition!
Great advice Mary! Thanks!
Nive to hear from you. Glad you liked it.
Thanks! Great idea for the very short summer zones too. I live in Finland and raised beds will give a little bit help, but this would work too.
Marianne, Nice to hear from you. To get even a little more time out of this, you can wrap the sides with clear plastic to hold in the heat at the start or end of the season. If you are going to have a frost you can just toss a blanket over the top. I love mine!