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DIY Vertical Garden with Drip Watering System

Create a DIY vertical garden for the perfect small space garden solution.

This cedar vertical garden has a lot of space to grow your favorite herbs and plants. And the built in drip watering system will help make watering your vertical garden even easier.

Create a DIY vertical garden for the perfect small space garden solution. This cedar vertical garden has a lot of space to grow your favorite herbs and plants. And the built in drip watering system will help make watering your vertical garden even easier. Housefulofhandmade.com

Now that spring is officially here, it’s time to start gardening. I look forward to getting dirt under my nails each year.

I partnered with Kreg Jig to create this easy DIY vertical garden that’s perfect for a small outdoor space.

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You can plant a lot in a small space by going vertical!

This vertical cedar garden was built in just an hour and makes the perfect small space garden idea. Includes a drip watering system to keep your plants healthy all season. Get the tutorial at Housefulofhandmade.com.

We have a small backyard, but we use ever inch of it!

Between our outdoor kitchen & dining room, outdoor playhouse, seating area, vegetable garden, and of course a bit of grass for the kids to run, we are running out of space quickly.

So I am getting really good at maximizing our space. This vertical herb garden is the perfect solution. It does not take up a lot of room, but it holds a ton of plants.

And for even more vertical planting fun, check out this modern ladder planter. The two vertical gardens means I can grow even more!

This slim cedar garden is perfect if you are limited on space. It's only 8 1/2" deep and holds tons of plants. Get the build plans at Housefulofhandmade.com.

Vertical Herb Garden

Of course I added all my favorite herbs to our cedar wall garden. I have cilantro and basil and rosemary and more.

But since there was so much space, I decided to do some new herbs too. This is my first year planting lemon balm. And I have both English and German thyme.

But there was still space! The bottom 3 shelves are filled with snap peas and strawberries too. I can’t wait for them to bear fruit. Yum!

Strawberries planted in the DIY vertical garden are perfect for summer. There is so much room in this easy to build cedar garden. Housefulofhandmade.com

I did however keep the mint out of my herb garden. It tends to spread like crazy and so I like to contain it in a large pot.

Usually it grows back year after year, but last year it was mad at me for moving it while we installed the cement and didn’t come back this year. Hopefully this new plant will like it’s home and grow as well!

Plant mint in pots to keep them from taking over your garden space. Housefulofhandmade.com

Quick and Easy Garden Build

This DIY vertical garden is a fun and easy build with the Kreg Jig. It came together in about an hour.

I made it out of cedar to withstand many years outdoors. But even better, you do not have to worry about finishing the cedar herb garden. Just build and you are ready for planting.

Unless you want to add a drip watering system like I did!

Cilantro, basil, dill, marjoram, rosemary, and lemon balm planted in the DIY vertical garden. The perfect cedar wall garden for herbs. Housefulofhandmade.com

Vertical Garden Drip Watering System

As much as I love gardening, I suck at watering my garden. Sad, I know.

But I have found the perfect solution. I set up my vegetable garden on a drip watering system that is attached to our sprinkler system. Every year, I set it up when I plant the garden and magically my garden thrives.

Of course, I still have to try to remember to weed it, and fertilize it. But even if I forget, we still get a decent amount of vegetables each fall.

Plant all your favorite herbs without taking up all your space with this easy DIY vertical garden. Made out of cedar and featuring a built in drip system, it is perfect for small spaces. Housefulofhandmade.com

So I figured I would try to use that same system for our DIY vertical garden. I want to make sure my herbs thrive too.

The design of the vertical garden is perfect for adding a soaker hose to each shelf. And out the back you can attach a hose to it.

Did you know you can even buy timers to put on your hoses so they water automatically? This is going to be super sweet when we take our vacations this summer. We will come home to big bushy herbs because they will be watered even when we are gone!

Herb Garden Build Plans

If you are ready to build your own DIY vertical garden, I am sharing the free build plans on Kregtool.com.

Click here to get the plans.

And if you want to see how I installed the drip watering system, read below for all the details.

How to Install a Drip Watering System in the Vertical Garden

Supplies:

Slide the 1/2″ tubing down the back of the herb garden. Keep it all on one side of the garden.

The DIY vertical garden is made so you can easily fit 1/2" drip tubing into the back to install a drip watering system. Get the full tutorial at Housefulofhandmade.com.

Lay the DIY vertical garden face down and pull the tubing out the bottom. Cut out about 1/2″ notch in the bottom of the back.

Press the elbow onto the bottom of the tubing and then press it tight against the bottom shelf of the garden until it is flush with the bottom of the base.

Use an elbow to bend the drip tubing under the DIY vertical garden. Housefulofhandmade.com

Attach another piece of tubing (abut 6″) to the other end of the elbow. This allows you to have room to pull the drip system end around to attach the hose.

Then press on the hose adapter. Screw on the pressure reducer then the back flow preventer. Now you can attach the hose to the back of the back flow preventer.

Before attaching the hose the the cedar wall garden drip system, attach a pressure reducer and back flow preventer. Housefulofhandmade.com

Cut the top of the 1/2″ tubing at the top of the herb garden and then attach the cap. I wish I would have left a bit more room to attach the soaker hose (mine was a little short on top).

Cap off the top of the tubing for the drip watering system in the vertical herb garden. Housefulofhandmade.com

Add the landscaping fabric to the shelves of the vertical herb garden now. Poke a hole in the front of the 1/2″ tubing with the hole punch.

Use a hole punch to put hole into the drip tubing for the soaker hose to water your DIY vertical garden. Housefulofhandmade.com

Cut a piece of soaker hose to fit across the garden shelf. Press a barb coupling into one end of the hose and a plug into the other.

Use soaker hose to create an easy drip watering system for the DIY herb garden. Housefulofhandmade.com

Press the other end of the barb coupling into the hole on the 1/2″ tubing.

See how to easily attach the soaker hose to the tubing that is built into the DIY vertical garden at Housefulofhandmade.com.

Now you are ready to fill your garden with your favorite herbs and plants. And when you are ready to water, just attach the hose to the end and turn it on.

Easy as that to have fresh herbs all season long!

Snap peas and strawberries planted in the vertical cedar garden with soaker hose. Housefulofhandmade.com

Happy gardening!

-Kati with picture of blog author Kati

Brent

Wednesday 21st of June 2023

Now that you've used the watering system, did you observe that the lower the row, the more water the plants would get? I'm curious as I was thinking of a similar project when I found your page.

Vic

Wednesday 8th of February 2023

Some chumps stole your photos and are selling these planters on Etsy using your images. Links to their Etsy page are on Pinterest too. Reviews of their work are not great, either. 😬 https://etsy.me/3YyPb9O

Kati Farrer

Thursday 9th of February 2023

Thank you, I will look into that right away.

Mike

Sunday 23rd of October 2022

was wondering if anyone can think of a way to waterproof the compartments to make this an indoor or basement planter.

Rachelle

Wednesday 24th of February 2021

Did you make a post on the instructions for the DIY vertical herb garden that you built with the Kreg Jig? It looks pretty simple but it would still really help to know the dimensions of the lumber, and how it comes together. We just got a Kreg Jog and haven't used it yet- so we are pretty new to this stuff. Your vertical garden looks beautiful and I love your drip irrigation system!

Kati

Wednesday 17th of March 2021

Yes, it is shared on the Kreg website, BuildSomething.com. The link is in the post just above the instructions for the drip system.

OZ

Tuesday 28th of January 2020

Was there a reason you didn't bury the soaking hose, would be closer to root system, minimize evaporation loss?

Sue Spafford

Thursday 9th of April 2020

They can easily get clogged with soil when buried :-)

Kati

Tuesday 4th of February 2020

Didn't think about it, but that is a great idea!

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