Hanging Gardens of Stallings

King Nebuchadnezzar's Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Hanging Gardens of Stallings aren't quite up to his standards, but they're a start. Because I have such limited ground space in the front yard I decided to try a growing method I've read about: growing plants in hanging buckets, upside down. Yes, it works -- not sure if mine will work, but I rigged up five buckets this afternoon (need to get one additional bucket for the sixth hook). In the five are a cherry tomato, a banana pepper, a bell pepper, a tomato, and a parsley. I originally planned to hang the buckets higher, hanging directly on the hooks, but discovered they had to hang lower in order to avoid the shade of the porch overhang. If they grow and the leaves proliferate downward I'll gradually raise the height of the buckets. Problems? High winds and grass fiber string rotting. (Need to replace string with some small chains if I can.) I used some food-grade plastic liners to line the non-food-grade buckets to protect against chemical leaching. (Not pictured are a half dozen other tomatoes and three eggplant plants that I put in the side yard where the avo trees were planted.)

I have to admit I'm not wild about the way these look -- "buckets" hanging off the front porch of my house. I think it's the string and the fact that the plants are so small at present -- so they just look like buckets. Hopefully, when the plants get bigger the look will change. Ideas welcome!