Transform a wall into a beautiful gardenscape!
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If you've got a boring-old wall, indoors or out, you can add beauty and life by building a living wall.
Living walls, also called vertical gardens, can be as simple as a set of shelves lined with houseplants, or as impressive as a vertical grid or frame bursting with greenery.
A few things to keep in mind: You still need to pay attention to what kind of light your plants will need. Many common houseplants are tropical in origin, so they require bright, indirect light to thrive. Don’t put light-lovers on a dark wall and expect them to do well. If your design is not near a brightly-lit window, you can supplement with grow lights. Here are some of our favorite grow lights, if you need recommendations.
If you're building your living wall yutdoors, you need to pay attention to sun exposure. Plants that need full sun require 6 or more hours of direct sunlight per day. Part sun is considered half that.
Also, plan how you’re going to water. Indoors, you’ll want to house plants in a container that collects excess water, so they aren’t dripping all over furniture and floors after watering.
You should also have a way to empty and remove excess water so that the plant’s roots don't sit in water, which they do not like.
Self-watering containers are a good choice for living walls. They have reservoirs you fill that allow the plants to wick up water as needed.
Finally, if you’re hanging a large container, make sure you use the proper wall anchors, whether you’re mounting indoors into wallboard or outdoors in wood or masonry. You will need to accommodate the weight of both soil and plants.
Ahead, check out these living wall planter ideas for indoors and outdoors:
Add greenery to a kitchen wall with a super-easy DIY herb wall planter. This 15-minute projects turns a plain wall into an indoor herb garden using removable hooks.
Get the tutorial at Julie Blanner.
Planter boxes painted the same color as the wall and filled with succulents make a striking statement. Plants with a strong vertical form, such as the agave shown here, work well to create architectural interest.
Indoors, you could create the same effect by using upright plants such as snake plant.
Line a wall with clay pots, attached to a metal grid that's mounted to the side of the house. Make sure your pots have drain holes. You can remove them to water, and then replace when they stop dripping.
Dress up any wall with this combination LED grow light and shelf. This solves the challenge of giving your living wall enough light because it's already built into the shelf unit.
An indoor wall is transformed by using plants with large leaves, such as Monstera and elephant ears, interspersed with more delicate plants such as ferns.
Try it on a smaller scale by including just one or two dramatic plants. Opt for a self-watering container to make caring for the plants easier.
Natural wood shelves and beautiful brackets turn a "blah" space into a gorgeous green wall. It's easy to customize the fit to whatever space you have.
Get the tutorial at Live Love Larson.
A sunny fence is made much prettier with the addition of a succulent box. Choose plants that can tolerate full sun, and water sparingly.
Ornamental grasses such as Japanese forest grass and liriope make a striking display on an outdoor wall. Mount the grid and fill individual pockets with plantings.
Don't want to mess with live plants? Consider a preserved moss wall, which gives you all the realistic greenery but none of the work.
This set of two 7-inch tall planters come in four different colors (concrete, white, stone and black) to coordinate with your indoor decor. They're a good size for small plants such as succulents or herbs.
A harsh concrete wall is softened by placing a planter stand full of potted plants in front of it. This is an instant fix that doesn't require attaching anything to masonry.
If you don't want to try to keep a living wall, well, alive, then go with faux. We promise not to judge!
SHOP FAUX PLANT WALL ART
The more, the merrier! A wall shelf unit is filled with small pots. The repetition of similarly-sized pots with a variety of textures from many different kinds of succulents is especially appealing.
Here, it's decorated for fall, but you can update it for every holiday to add a little extra style.
Create a propagation wall with these glass vases. You can start cuttings and add a bit of greenery to your walls at the same time.
Pothos is one of those houseplants that's just about perfect because it's so easy-care. Here, it's displayed in a window box that's been wall-mounted to create a curtain of green. This is a great way to add interest to a boring indoor wall.
This custom monogram kit is perfect for creating a beautiful outdoor display. Just make sure to give it plenty of sun.
Individual grids of planting pockets can be arranged in a variety of shapes to create a customized wall garden. Plant herbs, vines, or flowers for a lush, full outdoor display.
Arricca Elin SanSone has written about health and lifestyle topics for Prevention, Country Living, Woman's Day, and more. She’s passionate about gardening, baking, reading, and spending time with the people and dogs she loves.
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