If you’re prepared to plan ahead, an entire wall of greenery will fill your outdoor zone with a lush backdrop and, when used in an outdoor room or space adjacent to your home, connects the indoors with the outside areas to provide a seamless flow, extending your living areas.
Choose from longer-term options to create your garden wall or simpler solutions for instant wow factor. Depending on time, budget and the colour of your thumb once established a vertical garden can be relatively low maintenance.
1. Vertical garden kit
Kits are available to start your own vertical garden with everything included from the watering system and support structure through to pockets or tubs to hold your plants. Most are modular so can be built to fit into any space and plant pots can be changed in and out with the seasons and your taste.
2. Mix and match
For a simpler look add pots or timber troughs directly onto your walls in groupings, filled with a mixture of different plant species to suit the conditions - available sunlight, protection from wind and access to water source. This is a great entry point to a green wall for the budding gardener, as it's less of a commitment than a whole wall and plants can be added on a trial and error basis.
3. Sunnyside
If you're lucky enough to have a wall that faces full north, you'll enjoy plenty of sunshine - perhaps too much for many plants. Succulents are your friend here with their low maintenance, low water needs.
4. Form follows function
A herb garden ticks two boxes of adding greenery to your outdoors and working towards a sustainable lifestyle - saving the cost and reducing the packaging and waste created by buying bunches of herbs from the supermarket. Leave plants in their pots to allow for flexibility or plant straight into the structure.
5. Slow and steady
Perhaps the ultimate garden wall is created by a creeping vine slowly covering the hard surfaces of your landscaping with tendrils and ever-changing leaf shapes. Choose your plant based on the amount of sun it needs to flourish and water often or install a drip system to keep it healthy year round. Consider a deciduous vine to watch the seasons change through its leaves. Some vines will need a support of wire or lattice to cling to as it grows.
6. Modern marvels
Build a standing garden upwards by stacking planters on top of garden walls or one another to create a wall and add some height to your garden display. Particularly in a rented property or apartment, this is ideal as it's portable and modular so can be rearranged for different settings or taken with you when you move.
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