How to attach a vertical garden to a Colourbond fence?

[elizabeth1]

The council advised me, (quite strongly), not to attach anything to a colourbond fence. So my question is, if you only have the uprights @2m apart and the top rail to anchor any support frame, how do I compensate for the weight of planter boxes ? Thx 

[JennJenn72 · Accepted solution]

You could build a timber frame that has a vertical support in the middle. 

If the vertical supports are properly set in the ground then they will bear all the weight and you won't have to worry about ruining your colourbond fence. 

[Jason]

Hi @elizabeth1,

Let me extend a very warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. 

Great to see you have already received a helpful reply from another newcomer in @JennJenn72. (A very big welcome to you, too Jen!) Let me also tag the amazing @ProjectPete to see if he can share his thoughts with you. Pete is the author of our handy guide How to add an extension to a Colorbond fence which has some relevant info for you in Step 6 and has also shared some great Feature fences previously. And of course @MitchellMc will be keen to assist when he is back on the site on Friday. 

Great to have you both join us. We are looking forward to reading about all your projects and plans for around the house and garden. We're sure you will get plenty of helpful information, advice and inspiration from our amazing community members as you join in more discussions across the site.

Jason

[elizabeth1]

Thanks Jen for your thoughts on my post. 

[redracer01]

Hello @elizabeth1 

Welcome to Bunnings Workshop. I've run across this question before but I've lost the original drawing for it. So it was a great excuse to draw a new one. If I may so humbly suggest building your own frame that is totally separate from the fence. Colorbond fencing is stiff but will not carry any great weight. I reckon a maximum of 100 kg and it will start to buckle or twist. The frame I suggest is strong enough to carry any of the Whites garden wall stacker series or if you have your own pots and hanging hooks it will do the same as well.

It will not put any weight on your fence.

It will carry all your vertical plant systems.

You can build more than one to create a full fence garden wall.

You can attach a custom water drip system so that you never have to water them.

They are detachable and can be re arranged.

The whole frame can be moved.

You can build it to your own specifications and style.

It will hide the all steel look of your colorbond fencing.

Below are the pictures. Hope the idea helps. Oh by the way I maxed the height of the frame to 1.6 meters so that the very top plants are still within reach and not overly high.

Cheers,

Red

Any of these systems can be attached to the frame.

Perhaps something like this or in this arrangement.

[elizabeth1]

Thanks Jason, going with Red’s suggestions. This group is a great idea.

[elizabeth1]

Hi Red, thank you for your suggestions I’ve decided to go with the moveable tiered plant stands, building and erecting a frame is outside my capabilities 😆 love this forum.

[MitchellMc]

Hi @elizabeth1,

It's great to see that you've received some helpful replies and have made a decision on what you'll use for the project.

For others that come across this discussion, I've also put together a guide on how to build a vertical garden. It's very similar to @redracer01's suggestion, except it has the planter boxes built-in. Instead of connecting it to a garden bed, the uprights can be concreted into the ground.

Please keep us updated on your project as it would be fantastic to see the finished result.

Mitchell