A vertical garden having an assemblage of parts that facilitates packaging and transportation in a disassembled state and/or one or more features that provide an enhanced leakproof design. The assemblage includes a base and planter modules that are stackable atop the base to form a vertical column of stacked modules for growing plants when in a fully-assembled state. The planter modules may be nestable within each other to form a compact bundle of nested modules that is smaller in size than the vertical column of stacked modules when in a disassembled state, thereby providing a kit that facilitates compact packaging of the vertical garden. An intermediate portion of the garden may have a divider that separates a drain path from the fill port of the device, thereby restricting leakage. A catch basin may be provided for capturing debris. A modular grow lighting system also may be provided.