First our gardens stretched horizontally (quite popular, that technique) – and then we had the vertical variety. What’s between the two?

If Chicago decor designers Unison have their way, diagonal gardening is the next big thing, and very clever it is, too. Riffing wildly on the millenia-old designs of terraces and ladders, the Kiikku Planter is a tiered walnut frame you prop against one wall and fill with pots of your favourite foliage. It uses your room’s vertical space, but keeps each plant separate from its neighbors, allowing easy tending and encouraging riotous growth.

Next up: How about larger-scale versions for the outside of our houses, maybe with ladders built into them? Perfect – except that popular culture seems keen to throw a spanner into the works. (Unlucky, Unison).

Image: Unison via Re-Nest