How to Grow a Vertical Garden or Living Wall
Vertical gardens are also referred to as living walls. If you are going to grow a garden UP a wall rather than along the ground, whether it is for building wall insulation the natural way, creating more gardening space, or for beauty, there are some basics you need to know about the construction. Here are some tips on how to grow a living wall. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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First, you need to have a very solidly-built wall to work on, or you will need to reinforce your wall so it can take the considerable extra weight you will be adding. How you reinforce the wall will depend on the wall itself.
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Do research as you shop for materials. Most living wall kits come with modular forms that are assembled in accordance with the instructions and applied to a frame that then is affixed to the wall. The most common frame for sale today is a panel that is self-supporting and can be set up independently or attached to a real wall. It is then filled with soil or a soil-less medium and planted.
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Fill the framework of the wall with a good quality, well-draining potting soil if you are building your own vertical garden. Some kits come with a supply of inorganic growing medium to use.
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Make sure you set up a tray or other drainage that will conduct excess water that flows to the bottom safely away. This is particularly important when you grow vertical gardens or living walls used indoors.
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Also make sure indoor living walls have good light. Outdoors, the more sun on the wall, the faster the soil or root medium will dry out. Sunnier outdoor walls of a structure will benefit from the insulation provided by growing a vertical garden, though.
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Choose planting material that will grow well with the temperature and light exposure your wall will be receiving. Avoid large plants that will put a lot of pressure on the angled root area when growing a pocket system vertical garden. Lightweight leaved plants, plants that cascade and plants that grow in mounds close to the root area are the best selections. Succulents, for example, make fine choices as most will hug the wall, are drought tolerant and form decorative and varied foliage that offer interesting shapes, textures and colors in both leaf and flower.
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One other style of living wall supports long vines that grow and root their way up the wall as they climb. Main roots are embedded in the ground and the medium of the wall need only be kept moist to support the climbing roots.
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Watering a vertical garden or living wall is usually handled by a system built into any kit you buy. If you build your own from scratch, you will need to set up your own watering system and make sure there is a waterproof liner between your planting medium and the wall you are growing against so the integrity of the wall is preserved. Creating pockets for plants with drip water tubing is one way to help your plants grow well. Watering, soil retention and drainage should all be priorities of a self-created design.
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There is no single way to grow a living wall or vertical garden. Hopefully, these tips will help with the basics for this unusual, beautiful and eco-friendly form of gardening.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Photo courtesy of Greenworks Living Wall Systems
