Climate Action Countdown: Monday 24 June – Grow Up!

Create a vertical garden

To help support biodiversity in your area, today’s challenge is to create a vertical garden! It is an eco-friendly, space-saving, and visually appealing way to incorporate plants into any environment, offering numerous benefits for both people and the planet.

Creating green spaces for plants to thrive is wonderful, but it can be challenging when space is limited, especially in urban environments or concreted areas. That’s where vertical gardens come in handy! Vertical gardens have a small footprint, making them perfect for maximising space in small areas. Whether it’s a wall or a fence, all you need is a vertical surface to attach your garden to, and you can start growing.

And all you’ll need to do is repurpose old plastic drink bottles into plant containers. Not only does this reduce waste, but it also teaches valuable lessons about sustainability and resourcefulness.

Steps

Simply cut a rectangular hole in the side of a bottle (you might need help from an adult) to create your growing area.

Use scissors to poke holes in the side of the bottle directly beneath your growing area – these are for drainage so your plants don’t get overwatered!

Then fill with potting compost and plants. You can even construct self-irrigating gardens by placing your bottles directly above each other.  Then the water you pour into the top bottle drains down into the bottles beneath it.

For a step-by-step demonstration, watch Georgina’s video on creating a hanging bottle garden here or check out our home learning activity guide here.

Want to do more? Spotlight on Young People’s Trust for the Environment

The Young People’s Trust for the Environment (YPTE) is a charity that encourages young people’s understanding of the environment. It aims to give young people clear and balanced information on a wide range of environmental issues. YPTE provides a range of free education services and resources for schools in the UK, including downloadable lesson plans, talks/ presentations videos and an extensive fact sheet library.

From August 2024, YPTE will be changing its name to Better Planet Education and our exciting new website will be available at www.betterplaneteducation.org.uk.